disengaged

there are times in the creative process where it is far more beneficial to just let go of the thinking mind and allow the hands alone to do the work

I try to remember that when coming to a feeling of being blocked, of not knowing what to do, when I spend more time thinking about what to do than actually doing anything

this wasn't so much one of those weeks more, it was a week when there wasn't much time available and I didn't want to get caught up in over-thinking things

and so, I looked to the meaning of the name I chose for my Substack newsletter:

 "Thinking With My Hands"

a way to give the thinking mind a rest and let my hands move as they will

or as a friend aptly put it:

"getting out of my own way"

the week kicked off with photographing some linen cloth I had randomly gathered here and there, rolled into a cylinder and let sit in a jar with a small amount of watered down ink, allowing the colour to seep up the height of the roll

I got a couple of good images and then decided to edit them with an end-game to print any interesting outcomes on both fine art paper using my inkjet printer and transfer film to print them onto handmade paper too fine to go through the printer 

without really thinking about what I was doing I just started zooming in on the image here and there, looking at what showed on the screen, and then taking screenshots that I could later edit 

I wasn't looking for anything in particular, not trying for a particular look, just moving the slider to see how things changed, saving anything that appealed

more screenshots and image duplicating, editing this way and that - it didn't take more than 5 or 6 minutes and I had many to sit back and choose from

it's so interesting how things can change so quickly, a nudge this way or that in almost any of the editing options and the image can change rather significantly

I enjoyed that freedom, to do without actually trying for anything, so I took the same thinking to my brush trials

still working on them daily along with pen trials using a calligraphy marker as well as a wide-nibbed fountain pen, enjoying the simplicity of moving a pen or brush across the paper, over and over again

I'm still doing simple lines and curves, approaching letter forms but not trying to rush into them, mostly just practicing a flowing "script"

pleasantly methodical is my best description of the repetitive nature of this work that fills page after page, day after day

I keep them for a day or two to reflect on but then they are consigned to the fire

 the working at it with my hands is more important than assessing the results with my brain and the best way to dodge that is to burn them so into the fire they go

no attachment, no thinking I need to keep them for reference, nor collage, nor anything at all

the work is a means to an end and if I start thinking I need to keep it for any reason whatsoever I will quickly become attached to both the process and the outcome

all I want or need to do is trust in the process and keep making the marks day after day

there will be time enough for the work to become something else

take care,

Jillayne