Finding Time and Staying the Course
Pullout couches, hospital recliners, and other places I've written this newsletter
Carving out time
How is it April already? Time is maybe the fastest thing in my life right now as I find myself in a slow period, both personally and creatively.
In February, my family and I rallied around my grandma to help her recover from surgery. While she’s doing great despite the many hurdles, recovery is a slow process. It’s forced me to move slowly with it, at a pace that would feel refreshing if only I could relax into it.
Despite collage being a slow art form, pieces developing at a snail’s pace, I’m not a very patient artist. I prefer immediate results and the instant gratification that comes with them. Collage has let me lean into slowness in a way that I couldn’t before — one of the many reasons I keep coming back to it.
Unfortunately though, it’s almost impossible to scratch the collage itch on pullout couches and hospital recliners!
So what to do when you’re feeling creatively antsy?
The only solution I’ve found is to wait it out, to surrender myself to the slow crawl and carve out time to sketch and collage when I can (and not when I think I should).
For me, this looks like chipping away at this newsletter while eating too hot pizza rolls before going back to the hospital. It also looks like planning to come straight home this evening so I can spend some time at my desk.
Will I actually collage instead of taking a nap so long that I forget what month we’re in?
Who knows! But I’m carving out the time and giving myself plenty of grace along the way. Stay tuned to find out how it’s working for me.
Staying the course
It’s something I’ve been telling myself lately, to stay the course.
It can mean all kinds of things, from seeing through the collage I’m working on or to keep smooshing clay around until it looks bird-like. Mostly, it’s a reminder to myself not to abandon ship when art feels hard.
Art has been difficult for me for many years, mostly by my own doing (hellooo perfectionism). It’s only recently become something I feel not only passionate about but connected to again. I even feel good at it most days!
But I still make “bad” art all the time, and when that time and energy feels wasted on a lackluster result, I try to remember that it’s only a learning curve and not cause for an existential crisis. It’s a “bad day, not a bad life” and all that!
That’s not to say that I won’t fantasize about throwing my collage scissors into the canal the next time I make a bad collage. I’ll just come to my senses quicker. 🤪
What gets you out of a funk on bad art days?
Inspiration and rumination
Folding laundry to: Lola Young is a talent and Wish You Were Dead is my new favorite jam
New on my desk: A Sailor Fude De Mannen fountain pen! Its nib has a 55 degree angle that makes deliciously chunky lines. This isn’t even sponsored, I just really like it.
What’s inspiring me lately: The sage green lichen in front of my grandma’s house and wet concrete
![Three photos from my life recently. The first is a picture of my feet in front of a wet tree branch. The lichen on it is sage green. Next is a photo of a squirrel caught with a nut in its mouth. The last photo is a picture of three gardening books from the library.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc249fa7-136d-4094-9f85-9318352919f9.heic)
![Three photos from my life recently. The first is a picture of my feet in front of a wet tree branch. The lichen on it is sage green. Next is a photo of a squirrel caught with a nut in its mouth. The last photo is a picture of three gardening books from the library.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3530b121-8628-4bba-84fe-e67f1d8b13e0.heic)
![Three photos from my life recently. The first is a picture of my feet in front of a wet tree branch. The lichen on it is sage green. Next is a photo of a squirrel caught with a nut in its mouth. The last photo is a picture of three gardening books from the library.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0aabb3a-8206-4b9b-94ee-afae0c6cad49.heic)
That’s all I have for you this week! Let me know what you’re ruminating on these days in my notes.
Until next time,
Jade
Music by FASSounds, Isaiah Mathew, and Chillmore
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