Asking Questions Finds The Way

How many times do you paint a painting and say, "I don't really like it"?

It happens often for me. I tried painting realisticly. I tried painting in layers. I tried painting with textures. I painted a thousand pictures. It never felt right. It is never what is in my head.

I took an online workshop with Nicholas Wilton during Covid called Art2Life. The thing he kept saying is it a "yes" or is it a "no"? I didn't understand what he meant.

Now, my life has taken unexpected turns, I have had to feel things I usually turned from or buried inside. So, lately I have learned to embrace the gut, the feelings--pay attention to it even. Recently, I am painting more abstracts, with no intention to start. Am I scared? Sure! But I have begun listening to my gut. Is it a yes? It is a no? That is how I decide the next step. Do I like this color? Do I like the texture? Do I like thick paint or thin?

Everyone says "I don't have a style" or" I need to find my style." What does that mean? How do you go about finding it?

Well, play! Listen to your gut. Listen to that little voice inside. Try new materials. Look at things in new ways. Does it make you say "yes", or does your gut say "no"? Listen. Experiment. Wait for that soul inside to sing.

Follow that voice. It doesn't matter what others think. All that matters is what you feel.

Go create. Let your soul guide you.

Below are two paintings that I recently discovered my soul.

I hope you like them.