CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY! You can win this painting (aka why I think we should show up and clap)
I was teaching a workshop this past weekend and was talking with my students about recurring themes and imagery. Sometimes we are drawn to certain images, concepts or words, and they show up over and over again in our work. Personally, I think it is important to allow them to continue to show up, rather than think (with our monkey mind) "Oh not another house - (or figure, or flower, or heart), - how cliche! Why do I paint the same things over and over again?!!" We do not need to consult Freud to understand why some imagery has personal significance for us, but knowing why our intuition or subconscious mind keeps bringing up certain concepts is not as important, to me, as being open to the idea that there is a reason why those concepts continue to do an encore performance, and just show up and clap enthusiastically when they do. For me, houses show up over and over again in my work. Honestly, I never begin a painting thinki...