Pages

Friday, August 19, 2011

Working Away


This will be short and sweet. I'm working well after a period of letdown following my trip to Telluride. I wonder if others have the mood swings I do to deal with on top of everything else. It's fascinating, really. How differently the world looks on some days than others. I liken it to a piano. Some pianos have x number of octaves. Artists have 10x number of octaves. Higher highs. Lower lows. 


I'm not saying we're nuts. Just a little amped up; a little different. It can be a blessing as well as a burden. 

That's all I have for today. A good day. When I am working it is a good day.

27 comments:

Unknown said...

the face is so sad, it goes well with blue

Anita said...

Due to the sudden turn in the economy a couple of years ago we turned out home into an arts and antique store...So I go to auctions and spend lots of money on stuff for the store...Now, realize I am a frugal as one can get...a super star at cleaning up junk and making do...SoooI have a pattern now that I hate! I go to the auction then am wired all night and can't sleep. Then I have a day of regret and depression. Then I get on with it...I love that I was born a creative woman but it does have it's challenges...Crazy in Montana and lovin' it!

Brian Kasstle said...

I can very well relate my friend. I worked in my journal today and it was a wonderful day. And yes I can relate to the mood swings and I am a guy!

Cheryl said...

I totally get it. I get so amped up about something and it throws my sleeping schedule all out of whack so it takes me 3 days to come down and relax at the normal level of amperage. During those 3 days I'm sleeping too much and eating not at all. It's a drag sometimes. But I do love being on that high when work is flowing.

Bren Graham Thebeau said...

You're words resonate with me Judy :-)

Jacky said...

It's hard to know what's "normal" isnt it? Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with my mood swings!!!! Being a creative woman certainly does have its up and downs.

Your painting is beautiful....

Jacky xox

Cassy said...

Hoping for the best of everything.
Have a happy weekend!


Cassy from Acoustic Guitar Lessons

MB Shaw said...

Yes, yes, yes, I totally get it.

Roberta said...

So hear you on the mood swings...I thought it was just me and my hormones...lol
We've been traveling ALOT this summer and I'm always excited to go and then to get back home. But then I have a day of melancholy right after we get back. I chalked it up to being out of routine for so long as well as the letdown of the ordinary. Ya know...it's like Christmas or Vacations...you plan and dream about them for so long and then afte they are all over...it's like...NOW what? I tried to take a photo of my eyes on Monday for a challenge and the camera picked right up on my sad eyes. After a day...I snapped out of it and like you...working in my studio always helps. Have a wonderful weekend. Fondly, Roberta

Sharon Lovejoy said...

These pages are brilliant and I love them.

After I finish a television appearance, talk, or a book or other assignment I spiral down, down, down. It is somewhat like having a baby and then bam!

The only thing that works for me is to work. Work.

Your pages touch my heart.

Chin up and plow onward,

S

Susie said...

I couldn't agree with you more. The way things are unfolding in my life right now I go through those highs and lows several times on any given day. And indeed, I think creative folks are often hit harder by the hills and valley's we encounter because we see everything deeper, we experience everything, we notice the big stuff as well as all the tiny details that we find in our worlds and it is that 'collective of bits' that our souls thrive from and do so from both places; the high places and the low ones, sometimes from a place so low we must wonder if anyone can see us down there. Artists must learn to navigate their very own landscapes and we don't always have a map from which to work because it's being drawn as we go and it's constantly changing.

Liz Hampton-Derivan Studio said...

Oh, yes. The ups and the downs - Depressed and don't know why, then elated...and in the studio happily creating. Good days are when the art piece seems to come all together, it's like some intuitive magic!

Love your portraits! Beautiful journaling.

Lynn Cohen said...

I get the lows after I finish a piece; but worse if one sells. Crazy huh? Selling is such a rush, a high and then I MISS the darn thing.
Then then there are the dry spells. Am I really an artist?
Where did it go? Was I ever good? Was anything I did good?
Then something shifts and I start creating again and I like what I do and I feel good about myself again as artist. It cycles.
Not trying to understand it...just live it and remember that the good time rolls around again eventually. Hope that helps.

Unknown said...

Yes,this sounds all too familiar...I was feeling low the last few days. I feel so much higher after a little painting today. Love the faces on your last journal entries!
Much Love,
Jenny♥♥♥

patti said...

Cyclical as Lynn says! And moody, yes. Highs and lows, all wonderful and necessary to an artist's life!

dorylyn said...

I know the feeling. For me it comes after a wonderful piece of art is birthed. Or the ending of an artfully challenging class. Or those wet little goodbye kisses from my granddaughters. Eventually the feeling leaves because a new thought for a project begins brewing, someone else is offering an "omg" art class, and the phone rings and the little girls are coming back! Oh, something else I have learned, "normal" is nothing more than the dial on the washing machine! You are amazing Judy Wise!!!!

Judy Wise said...

oh dorlyn, I love that saying.

Pilar said...

Thank you for this post. I have been in a bit of a down rhythm myself and have been feeling a bit anxious and upset about it. Your post validated that I am not crazy and this dip is just part of the creative cycle.

xoxoxoxo

Healing Woman said...

I have adrenalin rushes and so thankful for them. The amount of work I accomplish is amazing. I usually don't have a "down" when the rush is over, just a more relaxed frame of mind. As artists, I think we are prone to thinking and acting differently than most other people. I wouldn't have it any other way and I bet you agree.

Laurie said...

You have TOTALLY PEGGED IT. What a great way to describe the highs and lows.

essay writing said...

very beautiful!

Beth said...

Oh yes, the moods. Sure! I think of you as smiling and blonde but of course this dark-haired pensive beauty is inside Judy too, as she is in me. No doubt she'll perk up at the sight of some roses, or ripe tomatoes, or hearing that other voice saying, "OK, let's get busy with the wax!"

Parabolic Muse said...

Hi. I'm printing your page to read. My eyes are more high maintenance than they used to be. I am back in town and happy to see your site. But sad that you were let down by something/one.

I'm always thrown by how different my outlook is on some days. I'm mostly thrown by the fact that it seems to take me by surprise. It is something I should be prepared for, or have tools for combatting, but it seems that it always stuns me. How dark things can get.

I wish you only light and understanding!

Parabolic Muse said...

OH! Are you okay?!

Caterina Giglio said...

I quit trying to figure out normal a long time ago, I just go with what I feel in each moment ... your pages are a great reflection...

roc said...

i love looking at your journal pages. can you tell me what kind of ink you use when writing? is it a dip pen with different inks? or do you use some kind of marker?

ginaquinn said...

Judy, I can definitely relate. Strong emotions like sadness are wonderful for me creatively especially when it comes to my writing. Yes- higher highs and lower low's are both the bane and the blessings of being an artist.
When I discovered art for myself about 6 years ago~it seemed now I had a way to pour out at least a little of what was deep and secret within me.
~Gina Quinn

P.S
See you in class!