`What I Wish I Had Learned About Art Series

Do What You Can, How You Can

Adapting your art(time) to your current reality

Photo by the author of her adapted art project for the week.

When starting a new skill of any kind, consistent practice is key to success. And yet, life gets in the way. There’s an unexpected work emergency/ project. There’s a family emergency. You just have a rough day. As many a modern philosopher has said:

Sh*t happens.

But where possible, it is better to do something rather than nothing, even if it was nowhere near what you were planning to do.

And that’s okay.

This weekend, I had an eczema flare-up (which I will be expounding upon in an article shortly). This flare-up came with inflammation that made moving certain joints in my right hand difficult and painful. Considering the difficulty I had writing quick notes, I knew I would not be able to take the time to draw or paint this Sunday as I had planned. (Thankfully, I was able to type and so I focused on writing that way for the day.)

But I still wanted to do some form of art this week, both for this article and simply to keep up the practice.

So, I started brainstorming other options and was reminded of a project that has been on my mind for quite some time.

Years ago, when I visited the Petrified Forrest, I purchased a small box of Petrified Wood in the gift shop. Due to both the warning on the box declaring that I should not open it in the Park, and then later concerns about losing the pieces/ keeping them together, it remained unopened and they never left the box. Like many of the other mementos that I have hoarded over the years, I wanted to create an art project out of it to justify keeping it in the apartment. Otherwise these mementos need to go.

And so, I decided to do a few trial runs of potential projects. I didn’t want to do anything permanent yet. I’m waiting on advice from an artist friend to make some final decisions on how I can create and display this piece.