The Shallow End – June 2020

Hello June!

I finally feel like I found a natural rhythm to my work day. I took the pressure off myself to reach specific daily goals, and found that in giving myself that space to follow my intuition instead of a to-do list, I’ve become more productive overall. I’ve been painting and writing nearly every day now (in case you missed it, I’ve started writing poetry!). If I miss a day, it’s no worries. If I mess up and toss a painting, that’s okay too. Because overtime, I’m slowly developing a portfolio of new art and collection of writing that I’m proud of. Yay!

As I’m working more consistently and on projects I completely enjoy, I’m finding renewed confidence as an artist. I think previously I knew I made art, but I mostly viewed what I did as being an entrepreneur “who happened to make art.” But I think I’m starting to view myself as a fine artist first and foremost. It’s not a huge change, but it is still a shift in perspective that I’m embracing. And I’m excited to see what new possibilities for the future this mindset may create… Like, maybe there will be a day when art fairs will take place again in the parks, and galleries will reopen. And maybe when that day comes, I’ll be there too…?

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I’m not watching much in the way of TV shows or movies. Bundesliga (German soccer) has resumed, so we’ve been watching that a bit over the weekends. It’s been interesting to follow different teams and players than we usually watch, so we’re enjoying it. Our local club also plays old matches throughout the week, so we’ve been watching some of the games we attended or were before our time. I can’t think of when else we would get the chance to watch that, so it’s been pretty neat!

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As for books, I’m still reading a lot of poetry. Still. If you want the pro tip on how to be a better writer it can be summed up as thus: “read a lot, write more.” (As my husband observed, that’s the formula for how to get better at anything — “study, do.”)

That said, here’s a poem a wrote:

I live in the meanwhile
the time between
waiting for things
to happen
tending to that which I can
control, to distract
from the helplessness
of that beyond my reach
meanwhile…

hope.

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Thanks for joining me at The Shallow End!