the process of elimination

For the past few days, I have been debating on what direction to take my Art Lab project. My plan was to tackle a piece I have been putting off for about 6 months. I have spent the last 2 weeks trying to purchase the necessary equipment to complete it -- including a high res image that was only available by mailing $50 to the New York Public Library. I mailed the money order on December 29th, and as of Wednesday, they had not yet received the MO. I can't believe how many important things I've lost in the mail. In any case, without a high res. of the image, I'm not confident I'd get the results I want.

Today--my first day at Art Lab--I set up my space. I anxiously addressed the first task I had assigned myself for this project, despite the lack of an image to work with, or a decision on what to do about that. I very casually timed the bleaching of my canvas, and ended up with a canvas that was not only too light, but too frail. The old fabric ripped with the slightest touch. So, my decision was made for me. 6 months of staring at the piece I wanted so badly to finish, ended today.

Timing is everything, and it was very nice timing when just before this somewhat devastating episode, I admitted, "things are going well, but I'm still in my experimental stage." Anne, very quickly noted that aren't we always in an experimental stage... and that, isn't it all an experiment.

Reflecting on that made it easy to drop my 6 mo. goal. Without much effort, I took one step toward a new vision, and tested my colors on a different fabric - a newer material that would not require bleaching. I have some ideas about the direction I'd like to take, but am not as clear in my vision as I'd like to be. I think I can figure it out tomorrow though with a little bit of research.

Art Lab's first open day is this Sunday, January 12th, and I plan to be back on my feet by then. Come by 906 Harney between 12 and 4pm to check it out, meet all the artists and get a special peek into our processes, struggles and successes.