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Why I'm Changing My Perspective About Working Slowly

7/5/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
Work in Progress: The Wolf Triptych artist's book
© Cherry Jeffs 2019
Mixed media on reclaimed dressing table mirror, 44 x 38cm

"I work very, very slowly." I admitted, rather shamefacedly.

I was replying to the artist son of a friend of mine about progress on my artist's books.

I can't tell you the relief I felt when he told me that he also works very slowly and finds the work so intense and demanding that he can't focus at it for more than a few hours a day.

​In that brief conversation, I realised that working slowly and deliberately - often getting up very close to the piece -  is how I find focus. It's how I reach that place called Flow.
​

 (A topic that featured heavily in my last post.)

Of course, there are times when I speed up! (Yes, I am the girl who once made 365 pieces of art in a year!) When I'm deeply in the flow sometimes it feels like I catch an updraft and am carried along without volition, barely able to keep up with the things I want to get done.

But when that's not happening, I plod along in the tortoise-like manner that is fundamental to who I am as an artist. And I need to be ok with that.

So here's what I've been on working slowly since January. 

From thrift shop find to triptych artist's book

Picture
Development of The Wolf triptych from £5 thrift shop item to oversized artist's book.
As you can see by looking back at the image at the beginning of the post,
I have now rejigged the hinge mechanism so that the back panel is level with the front ones.
Unusually for me, as the new year dawned, I had no clue what I was going to be working on art-wise. Then a couple of days into the year, I almost literally stumbled across this vintage mirror outside a local 'retro' shop.

I had no idea what I was going to do with it but, at £5, I knew it was worth buying on spec.

I started off with a vague idea of something Japanese-style and black, but somehow it evolved into a red-riding hood parable. (There's probably another post in the evolution of the idea.)- 

​The front is still unfinished: I have some more work to do on the figure and the trees. And then there's the wolf. (Is it's ok to have a wolf that appears to be smiling in a friendly way?)

And, beyond initial sketches, I haven't begun on the inside, so I
 still have a long way to go.

But all I can do is emulate the title of one of my favourite podcasts, and hurry slowly.

(Oh, and I promise to post blog updates of my WIP's more regularly for those of you who aren't on social media - which I totally understand, btw. But please make sure you subscribe to my blog feed, so you don't miss the updates!)

​

© Author: Cherry Jeffs



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2 Comments
Fritzie
8/5/2019 02:52:38 pm

I think we each have a pace that is natural for us for a particular undertaking, including how many hours a day we can work at a high level on something creative or cognitively demanding. I would argue we have an individual pace too at walking, chopping vegetables, or taking a shower.
Some of it is physical and some is how our attention works. Some is patience, some is the challenge in what we pursue, and some is how we manage the mental component. By this last I mean how much planning precedes the physical aspects of the work and how much is undertaken in the physical course of making.

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Cherry Jeffs link
8/5/2019 04:51:25 pm

Yes, you're right Fritzie. I'm generally VERY focussed and organised when I work. I don't tend to waste time wondering what to do or getting distracted. I plan so I know what my next actions are. That said, I do allow myself to deviate from the plan when I'm painting because progress is more important than which order stuff gets done in - unless it's critical to the workflow. But at least I can say I'm fully present when I'm working :)

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