The Fear Factor

Blue Blazes

Today I want to share a few thoughts on fear. There is rational fear designed to keep us safe and alive. Then there is irrational fear based on no reason whatsoever. This will be the focus today.

Rational fear:  Trapped in a Cave
                     
Irrational fear: blank canvas

                       It is crazy, but I have certainly felt this way.
Or worse get half way through a really great painting and then get frozen with fear that I would screw it up.
                       When I was a young artist I used to watch a German painter on PBS. I never liked his style of painting/teaching, but I loved his philosophy on life and art. The one thing he said that has stayed with me all these years is:

(and you have to imagine the German accent)

"I used to go to the canvas and shake but NOW THE CANVAS SHAKES!"

I still periodically feel the fear but to get through it I consider myself going into battle. I put my warrior princess hat on, take a breath and get the canvas to shake.

Sometimes the canvas will bend to my will easily. Sometimes it is a fight.

Even if the battle is furious and I lose, the worst that happens is a slightly bruised ego and a canvas goes into the trusty wood stove where all my artistic sins are cleansed.

Blue Blazes and a Fast cat

Blue Blazes

11x14 watercolor available here

I've always liked the expression "hotter the blue blazes" and it's been on my mind lately as it's been ...well hotter than blue blazes here.

This is a painting where I came up with the title first and thought black and white paint horses would be a great subject for it. I am thinking of doing a square larger more abstracted version for the small works on paper exhibit.

I've had the two 10 year old grand daughters here for riding lessons and all kinds of summer fun. They work at the barn an awful lot. Mucking stalls is one of their favorite things. (Yeah)

 I asked them to put up a few sticky fly papers in the feed/cat room. They got out the ladder and tried to do a good job. They hung one up too close to the cat door. An unsuspecting cat came through the cat door and went screaming out, running across the pasture faster than I thought it could run dragging the fly paper that was stuck to it's tail. The girls thought it ended up in Texas, but it came back for feeding time minus a bit of hair.

Another lesson learned for the girls. :)