Keepin' On

A start on some roses...
(c) Lesley Powell 2018

Sometimes I'm really fired up about a subject I'm working on, and I can't wait to rush back to the studio every morning. But then there are other times. Other times when it's a matter of summoning the discipline to "show up", and just keep working. Non-painters sometimes think that art stems purely from a burst of creative energy--but there is always a lot of study, practice and technical development behind the creativity. And (at least for me) it's important to maintain a routine, to avoid a long hiatus in the work, if I want to keep moving the skills forward.

I recently read a saying attributed to the great musician Artur Rubinstein. He said , "If I don't practice the piano for one day, I know it. If I don't practice it for two days, my family knows it. If I don't practice it for three days, my public knows it." There's a lesson in this for all of us!

In Madeleine L'Engle's book Walking on Water, she reflects on the process of making art. L'Engle notes that the moment of inspiration does not come cheaply, nor to those who fail to work hard for it. She comments on the "strange paradox:  your technique must be practiced until it is as close to perfect as you can make it, and then, and then only, are you free to let go, to let yourself get out of the way." And that's when the magic happens.

"Yellow Roses, Footed Vase"
16 x 12, oil on linen
(c) LEsley Powell 2018

This very same point is made in a totally different contact in the book Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella. Alas, I don't have a copy so I can't find the exact quote. But the concept has always stuck with me: the great golfers practice ceaselessly, until their club choice, swing, judgment, and strategy are second nature. Only then can they walk onto the course the day of the tournament and relax, rely on instinct, feel the game, and win. I hope that some day I can bring this same level of instinct to the canvas! Meanwhile, practice makes perfect. Here's to Keepin' On!