Pushing Boundaries

This year's 52 WEEKS PROJECT has passed the half-way mark which has got me thinking about what I'll do next year.  It seems early but I know that my creative brain needs a long lead up time to find that thing that sings to my heart...that idea that will carry me through and push my boundaries a little.  The past two weeks have been a time of experimentation and generating ideas, pulling out my charcoals and pencils and gouache paints once again.  I haven't figured anything out yet but am excited by the immersion in new ideas and getting my materials together. 

A few thoughts have been to work on a black gesso background (I like how it always makes colours pop), focusing on portraits (but that may be a huge stretch to create one a week that I'll be happy with), creating a body of work based on the historical villages and museums my family always visits (somehow that seems to be more like archiving rather than creative expression for me), painting fairytales (that seems a bit hefty for a weekly project, too), working in a different media (but, oh how I love acrylic paint), working on a new substrate (but as much as I love acrylics, I also love stretched canvas), to working more abstract or realistic (but, again, I love working semi-realistic), and on and on and on. 

I know that the ideas tend to come when I'm focused on my work,  when I experiment with new (or re-newed) media, and also when I take time to wander and sketch.  But I also know they find me unexpectedly as I go about my day, caring for my family, doing those mundane chores, and dealing with my work at the library.  Suddenly I realize what has been capturing my attention for some time and there's nothing more that I want to do than to capture that in paint.

So, at this point, I think I need to stop thinking for awhile and just do what I do.  Wish me luck!