Success…what does it mean? I was talking about this to another artist and comparing notes. The conclusion is that success is a sliding ruler - you strive to achieve one thing, then when you reach that goal you think what next? Now that I have achieved what I set out to do, am I satisfied or do I want to look to the next goal? How do I measure personal success?
For me this photo is my current breakthrough. Standing in front of a huge canvas I have painted during this residency when I haven’t touched paint seriously for 10 years. That to me is a personal best. I might in the future, have new goals but for today, this canvas is on the wall and on view and I am proud of myself.
It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks because for me even the act of creating it was a breakthrough. Putting it on the wall to show at the BigCi Open Day exhibition was a breakthrough. Including this in my artist talk is also a breakthrough as I reveal my vulnerability.
I don’t consider myself to be a painter and yet…maybe one day I will add that into my credentials. Each and every step of the journey of creativity is a small, steady walk that takes me closer to who I am and how I want to express myself.
We can spend a lifetime denying our deepest desires but sooner or later they come to remind us that they are there, waiting for us to make time for, to pay attention to and nourish with care. This for me is the greatest gift from this forest residency in the Blue Mountains. The time and space to search and find who I am and how I can express myself in so many diverse ways.
Leaps of faith are necessary. Encouragement and support are vital. People who can champion you and your experimental steps enable our success. It takes a village to grow up a child but it takes a community of like minded, inclusive thinking creatives to nourish an artist’s talent and confidence. I’ve had that here and today I get to talk about my experience at the Open Day.. It is a breakthrough to success.
Forest Floor detail.