The year is winding down to a quiet finish. A new year is just about ready to begin. 2024 was a big year for me, artistically – I changed mediums after decades working in acrylic (and mixed media). I tried soft pastels for the first time and found myself utterly in love with them.

Newness being what it is, it has been a learning process with its own unique challenges, and this gets me thinking about art as a process (and a practice), and the artist as a being and a creator. There’s an “open question” here, and we each have to answer it our own way; do we seek out education, study independently, or just “do the damned thing”?

I was delighted to receive some books over the Yule holiday very much focused on art, two quite practical and technical, two that were more “depth of knowledge” oriented and less specifically focused on my needs in this moment. I’m content with that; I find my inspiration in a lot of places, including books. I’m eager to dive into each one – there’s so much to learn!

I’ve been surprised how deeply social pastel as a medium seems to be – so many groups and societies! I’ve had the opportunity to meet several well-estalished pastelists in my area – mind-blowing talent and amazing work. It’s quite humbling. Often. So many of these well-established artists are also credentialed professionals with impressive MFAs and CVs that read like grocery-lists of juried shows hither and thither. Amazing. I’m suitably impressed, no doubt – but is it my path? Hasn’t been. It’s not my way. I’m also not wholly inclined to just stumble about doing this-n-that discovering too late that it is a poor practice to mix this medium with that one, or to use X product as a fixative because it is known to damage the paint. Things like that are already known – and available to learn from well-sourced material. Artistically, I’ve tended to fall somewhere between; not particularly social (and less inclined to join things), unlikely to to enter juried shows (it’s quite a lot of work, and I’d rather just paint)… and as far as education goes? It’s a lot of time and money to spend on classroom instruction when I could read a book and spend more time at my easel. That’s tended to be my approach over a lifetime, and it has served me adequately well.

I’m not dissing artists with MFAs – for those with the commitment, time, and money, it’s an impressive and likely quite satisfying achievement. I’m not looking down on artists who “just do the damned thing” always learning as they go, mistakes and all. Those artists sometimes discover amazing things that we can all learn from and make use of. The art itself does not care one whit whether the hand holding the brush is an educated one.

What I’m really saying, I guess, is that it is a new year – a new opportunity – if you’re feeling inspired, create something! Buy that first set of paints and brushes, give it a try. Sign up for that course. Join that group. Be the artist you are, yourself, your way. We all benefit from that. Here’s to an exciting and inspired new year. ❤