Frustrated Mom and Artist!

Today I felt compelled to pull out my box of incomplete art doll bodies and pieces and finish one project I've been messing around with for a while.  I'm sitting in the studio, grumping at the unfinished art doll.  I realize that the body is way out of scale for the size of the head and extremities I already made, and I am really unhappy with part of the design idea for assembling the piece.  Hemostats are great for yanking out the stuffing so I can cut down and resize the body.  I'm wrestling so much with scale that I feel like I'm just floundering and guessing.  I need to learn more.  See?!?


I broke my own rule with respect to art.  I looked at a few other artists' work that participated previously in the project that I've signed up for and they're amazing!  Alarmed at the thought of strangers picking up my project and guffawing (the technical term for snorting is disdain) at my efforts, I immediately started doing all the wrong things - going back to reference books to look at other artists' work for inspiration, criticizing my work and busting my own chops.  This time, I caught myself and tossed the books down, closed the web site and reminded myself that I used to do art for fun, it's not a competitive sport, and I've have GOT to knock it off and keep in mind all of the advice I'm getting from friends willing to put up with my eternal self-doubt while they continue to encourage me.

The family is all home for the long weekend.  It's actually harder for me to work when they're all home and I can hear televisions and computers, the fridge opening and closing, splashing in the pool...sounds that remind me that there's fun stuff going on outside the studio.  I think I need to take a break, refresh and defrost my brain and THEN try to get back to the project at hand.