Art-iversary

Charcoal on Paper, 11 x17, 2023, Helen Ries

This week marks my three year art anniversary. 

At the beginning of May 2020 when it became clear that the pandemic was not going to end anytime soon, I started drawing and painting. For three years I have invested at least 10 hours a week in my art practice and I feel as though I am still very much a beginner. And…that is OK. 

For a long time I have been running hard to keep up, trying to figure out what I needed to do or achieve, how to gain approval, what to change, accept or sacrifice to feel I had succeeded. I have moved quickly, pushing, aiming, forcing and driving forward. 

My art practice is not actually about the drawings and the paintings, although I do love it when they work out. It is about stopping the competition that rages between me, myself and I and finding a new and lighter way to live my life. It is about experimenting with patience - art is not just about the act of drawing or painting. There is a lot of time needed to learn, plan, prepare, and of course clean up. It is about self-acceptance, learning that a bad end result is not a failure. It is about being authentic, particularly when I remember who I am painting for and why. It is also about humility, that 50+ years of colourful life experience doesn’t advantage me in any way. And about compassionately ending the narrative that plays on an endless loop in my head, telling me to do more better.