Last time I spoke a little about this shift in perspective. This week I want to talk about how i see it relating to the shift my work is taking by pure physical form. frenzy of line/mark-making becoming slower, thicker brushstrokes. and feeling where I am in the middle of the shift; flipping the script.
Before my illness took over, I worked very intensely on the paper. scraping, erasing, sanding. often wearing holes in the paper. Sewing, repairing, or letting the holes be. It was very physically demanding.
I don’t have that kind of stamina or strength or mobility in my limbs. I needed to adapt.
I discovered digital media and eye gaze painting. Amazing technology and something very cool to train your eyes as your brush/pen.
picking up a brush in my mouth and painting. This is a process. I am still learning and practicing. Attaching the brush to my wrist is not ideal as my arms don’t have strength for this.
Physically I am actually forced to slow down my mark-making. My marks are thicker. larger areas of color. a painterly aspect I never considered myself to have.
Fascinates me that somehow thicker impasto is where I am drawn. feels as tactile as the sanding and scraping I used to do. But not so frenzied. It is a shift in intensity.
Somewhere it seems lighter. It feels in sync with this shift in perspective to begin with the light.
I have no idea where it will take me, but that is where I always trust my work. It always seems to foreshadow where life goes or leads me. Teaches me more and more about trust and faith.
Do you have seasons and shift in your life? How do you move through them?
paint much love, always,
Connie Karleta Sales
a.k.a. This Crooked Little Flower