I have been working on this flower painting for days. It was too orange. Then it was too red. I wanted pink. I wanted to stamp the center with the bottom of a dime-sized circle brush handle. I don’t have one. I had a small brush. Small colored dots around the center it is! I sprinkled a little salt on the green background. It was ok. Did I stop? Oh no! I kept on layering and mixing different tones of paint. I used Neocolours, watercolor pencils, gouache, acrylic paint, and a pen.

What do I have to show for all of this? I have a compelling lesson. If you reach the awkward phase of insecurity that’s when you should trust the process and keep going. This week I have two interesting paintings where things got awkward. I used to give up and throw it out. As I painted my yellow pot, there was a moment when I said,” I don’t want this painting in my journal book.” I’ll rip it out. Begin a fresh new page. It’s fine to start over and let a project go. There is always the beginning phase where we don’t have all the answers. That’s a good place to be. Everything I create is growth and process. It’s all good right? I’m still not ready to call my pink orange flower painting done but it’s done for now. That is one of the beauties of painting in a journal book!

A butterfly goes through a cycle before it becomes a fluttering beautiful butterfly. Don’t judge your painting with a brush in your hand! Not my words, but words of a really good podcast.

Process is king! Let go and trust it. There’s no good or bad art. It’s just beautiful art!

Siempre,

Mireya