“So it’s been a while since I’ve heard from you.”
The past two months a lot has changed and I haven’t been producing a lot of new art. I’ve stayed away from social media, too.
“Write about the process”, my old studio mate Roxy told me. So there you go – a creative update.
Deserts & the urge to grow
Art made me face the existence of deserts in my life, something calling from the inside: it’s dry here, we need to find water.
My inner scientist immediately asked: Define water.
To which my inner poet responded:
Water is the wet season: walking the dog twice a day in the pouring rain and feeling alive.
Water is crying over things gone by and crying over joyous new things never expected.
Water is following the path of least resistance. Not because it’s easy but because we’re meant to move and change. Never stopping, just flowing around obstacles.
Water is calming down to see clearly. Know thyself.
Water is daydreaming in the shower, imagining “what if”, and listening to the siren songs of the heart and the world and trying to discern between the two.
Water is rebirthing through grace.
The heart just said: Let water happen. And it happened.
What else happened?
An illustration opportunity: I was invited to make an illustration for Mieke Lannoey’s book Crisis as Threshold Experience (Dutch) (published April 2024). The irony: it’s about navigating through a metaphorical desert, being challenged to take matters into your own hands and carve out your own way by leaving (false) securities behind.
A new (old) creative project: I rediscovered my abandoned manuscript of 4 years ago, when I buried my dreams of becoming a writer. Now I’ve fallen in love with my story all over again. Think sci-fi, female scientists wanting to shut up men for a while but things getting out of hand… I’m loving every minute of writing and have a few more chapters to go…
Mars/Pyrenées is sold! My biggest artwork up until now is sold! Mars/Pyrénées (currently on display on the first floor in the sitting nook at Hooghiemstra, Utrecht) found its permanent home with Hooghiemstra since so many people stopped to look at it. I’m honored and grateful to know many more people will be able to see and enjoy it.
What felt like a stagnant time in my creative life, turned out to be just a different season. A time of contemplation, experimentation, observation, and making new connections – in the meantime reaping what I’ve sown.
I’m reminded that living creatively isn’t limited to studio practice or the amount of tangible creative output.
The season of change hasn’t ended yet as I’m readying myself for a change of jobs. Art-wise, I’m just letting creativity do what it does best: find its own way in the time in between.
Until the next update, I’d love to hear from you. Do you notice the winds of change too? Are you in an artistic or creative rut and do you recognize my story? Let me know, let’s stay in touch!
Anouschka