This week I have been rejigging my studio around to start printing in it (I used to print in our basement before but the cats made it challenging). But I am still really struggling to actually get going. Every morning I get dressed in my printing clothes but end up doing admin jobs, submitting my gas and electric meter readings on line etc etc, never actually taking the lids off the ink.....
I remember Tracy Emin describing preparing for the Venice Biennale many years ago, saying that she spent a few weeks not actually getting any work done but then she worked in a burst close to the deadline and did not see that time before as wasted but as a way of gathering creative energy. So I’ve tried not to rush myself, just accepting there the lull.
I wrote that in the morning and after doing all the jobs I could think of, I did actually do some printing. I am working through an old OCA printing schedule, as a good way to get me going, so started with mono printing, using acrylic paint with some medium added to stop it drying too quickly.
I’m toying with the idea of writing notes with this doing these printing exercises. I always used to get fed up writing my OCA notes up (what a bore!) but actually, I do look back at them from time to time, they remain a helpful reference and make me get my ideas in order. The OCA courses have been such a useful framework for me to clamber around in, even the time consuming, boring stuff. I’m thinking about my piano too, I always want to fly into the music, full of expression, and my teacher pulls me back to dig into the piece, getting tiny chunks right. Over and over again I have to return to doing the basic ground work, and ultimately, even after my complaining and moaning, I can see (hear) the benefits.
On a final note, when I finish the exercises and am left with excess paint, I always just randomly print stuff in my current sketch books. I always enjoy that, no pressure or expectations, I’m just using up the paint and I always enjoy the happy random stuff that gets thrown up.
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