Birthdays

Birthdays are weird...

or maybe they're just weird when you get older. Not that I'm getting so old, but let's just say I'm teetering dangerously close to...no, I can't even say it.

But my problem is that I always want to do the Exactly Right Thing on my birthday, and that puts alot of pressure on me. So you'd think I'd be in the studio. But I wanted to take a day off. So I chose to head out to the mountain and ski; just a few runs. And it's beautiful out there; absolutely gorgeous. But what I realized yesterday, after 36 years of skiing (and still a timid intermediate) is that it's not My Thing. Not anymore. I'm giving up trying to be a Cool Skier Chick. I am choosing not to invest the time it would take to improve my skiing, because I'd rather invest it in becoming a better artist.


For awhile after I realized that, I was mad at myself for going out there, but then I realized:

I did the Exactly Right Thing for my birthday. And I feel so much lighter.

Studio Time, Skiing Time

Speaking of time spent in the art studio...(weren't we?), I didn't work in the studio on Tuesday. It was so beautiful and sunny and gorgeous out that I took the day off from making art, and took my kids skiing. But, art never leaves my mind for long, and I had one of those cool mini-epiphanies that's about something you already know, but it comes to you in a new and useful way.

I was watching my older son ski, and he's so comfortable and relaxed on his skiis; just looks like he was born on them (he practically was). And here's me: been skiing since I was eleven, now it's a few decades later (give or take) and I'm still just a solid intermediate. And (here's the mini-piph) I realize that it all comes down to the time one puts in. Even after all my years of skiing, he's got so much more time on his skiis than I do (especially since having kids!) that it's just second nature to him.

And, so it goes for the art. The more studio time you put in, the more you're going to feel comfortable on your skiis. No, wait... The more studio time you put in, the more comfortable you become with your art: how you make it, how you get it out in the world.

My husband is taking the boys skiing today. And where will I be? In my studio!