Doing Easy Art

Public Post

Greetings, my dear patrons. I wanted to talk for a moment about creating "easy art".

To set the stage, I first wanted to let everyone know that I AM ANIMA has finally concluded, and that BEOKAY: The Dark Art of Self Therapy is in the editing process for a physical and ebook launch. This was the cap on a series of work spanning the last five years, and the entirety of this Patreon. Black Hare patrons are treated to the works in their entirety on the "anima" post tag. With that weight--and a physical illness--finally lifted off of my chest, I've never had an easier time creating the work I need for myself.

This reminds me of  Sasha's mentor, Pete, who was dining with us at GenCon 2018. Topic of discussion moved to Sasha expressing his difficulty working on a series of gender-non-conforming subjects, tying in their ethereal qualities to the natural world. Sasha felt he wasn't delivering on his commission queue, nor on his personal pieces. One painting wasn't really inspiring him.

It begs the question: What do you do when the art you need to make is so difficult?

In most cases, I'd say push yourself and learn your limits. But that's coming from me, the kind of person to not only drag myself through a field of broken glass, but cover myself in lemon juice first, just to make sure I really felt it. And this question normally comes from novices, not people who already sacrificed years of study and get that art isn't always going to be easy or fun. I've done that metaphorical self-harm with lemon pretty much my whole life. But that's not the right solution for every person, nor for every problem of mine. And it greatly contrasts with Pete's suggestion, (which I'm paraphrasing):

"Pffff, I just do easy art. I'm not going to freak out about the things that won't help me create."

It reminded me of our Santa Fe friends, Colin & Kristine Poole. Going "full-Poole" is a lifestyle choice to be as artful and prolific as possible. In this mode, all of your experiences, choices, relationships, and conclusions foster proliferation in the work most important to your soul. This is why they don't have a living room, a couch, or a TV. They don't even take days off because the work they love brings them joy. Why take a break from joy? Pete's work is similar. He's in love with his subject matter because it's full of exciting potential to him.

For Sasha, this means, letting go of the pieces that he doesn't click with and moving to the ones that bring him joy. And for me, that looks like doing as much fun personal art as I can, while never shying away from processing my negative feelings as well.

Check the image above this post. The far right image of Ramses (the black panther) is going to get his own post once he's completed, but for now I can tell you that I painted him for 8 hours straight, while I was feeling very, very angry. I gave myself permission to vent my negative feelings, and I journal'd the hell outta them with this picture. A constant balance of not running away from pain and resting in it to teach you something. Turns out that kind of work really kicked my butt out of this slump that held me for weeks.

Anyway, Patrons, public, just wanted to say that there's no formula for personal progress. Your individual journeys are an art, not a science. But there's something to be said about doing fun studies while also doing work that scares the shit out of you. It's worth talking about giving up when you don't even love what you do, versus falling in love again when you lost touch with your feelings. As Sasha does more streams, I get more time and energy to do the art that comes most easily to me, and you get more to see.

Thanks for reading, friends. And good luck in pursuing your joys.

Love,


-J