19 March: Adaptability & Disappointment
A Watercolor Summit lesson for painting a sunset. It didn’t work out, but I transformed it into this fish.
This month I am looking at Expectations and Adaptability. I started the conversation yesterday with Expectation #1: What am I expected to do with my time. I am opening up comments for you. Please add your own examples of adaptability.
I have been a military spouse for 20+ years, an artist for 2 years, and before I was an artist I was a homeschool mom for 3 years. Right now there is a strong tendency for me to let being an artist become less of a priority. My kids are home, they need some learning structure and there is a new give-and-take of family time.
I have a lot of experience with big life-altering-plans that often change. When plans change it is natural for me to accept it and move forward. My internal voice tells me: That is the way it is. Here is a new plan. Don’t rely on the new plan too much because it is likely to change as well.
I am not saying change is easy. It is stressful and the changing of plans requires time and a lot of patience. Yesterday, I shared my internal struggle about prioritizing my time with the whole family at home. Today I want to share some thoughts on adaptability.
Adaptability & Disappointment
Last week my exhibitions and receptions were being canceled, and I didn't feel well. I even took my temperature a few times and canceled leaving the house. It took me a day or two to realize I wasn't sick, it was disappointment.
Here you can see some of my many failed sunset lessons. The lesson was to wet the whole paper, adding and controlling the colors. I don’t know how many tries before I was happy with my background and able to move on with the lesson.
Art teaches me a lot about disappointment. Especially working with watercolors. Watercolors have a mind of their own, and they demand water-control and the ability to go with the flow. Literally. A very clear plan is a necessity, but you have to be willing to let go of that plan a little as the work develops. It is easy to get attached to a plan and miss the magic that is happening right in front of you.
There is a lot of magic happening in my house. Not every moment, but I try to watch for it. Often times, I need to set my plans aside.
I’ve opened the comments for this series of posts. How do you cope with disappointment?
Give yourself grace. Honor today. ~ Tia Sunshine
I did finally finish Ashley’s lesson, and I’ve used the skills many times in my own compositions. But, the fish I painted intuitively over a failed sunset is still one of my favorite paintings.
Today’s Resources 2020:
Ashley Prejoles Art - The instructor for the class mentioned above with the sunset.
Watercolor Summit 1.0 - The online lessons that include Ashley’s lessons. I participated in 2018 and will be participating in the Watercolor 2.0 this summer (2020).