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Most recently, I have had phases when I did not want to paint. Weeks went by and there was always an excuse not to dedicate some time to practice. Which gave rise to a lot of questions. What if the well is empty? What if there is no juice left in the tank? What if the inspiration is gone? And the practice becomes boring? I move away from boring things, I move on. I know myself by now.

Now that I am back in the corporate world, there is de facto less time for painting, and I feel I have reached a plateau. The same techniques, the same colors, the same substrate. I wonder how artists who became known for one thing, can keep up with the exact same style year on year. One might argue that it is never exactly the same, that this is a quest and that there is this endless search for perfection and fulfilment. Yet I wonder if for some, it was not a curse and that they felt trapped and bored. Not that I am any close to being known for a style or known at all for that matter. I just imagine that the little insidious questions I have in my head were and are amplified in theirs.

What to do? Should I simply close the door of the room that is my atelier right now, only opening it up for the occasional visitor? Maybe it is time to give my writing a bit more attention, which is very true indeed but I think colors would painfully haunt me.

There is only one way. Persevere. Keep going. Feed myself from the fires of other artists. Look at nature. Explore. Try out. If it is bad, throw it away. If it is semi-bad, keep it for a rainy day and look at it again with fresh eyes. If there is something emerging, continue digging. Art-making has cycles and phases, like Life itself. 

Making art should be a pleasure. It is a privilege, a wonderful opportunity to join the symphony of creative minds.” Une chance”, as we say in French. Make it a fun experiment and the magic will come back!