I have this praxis of writing morning pages (the Julia Cameron way). I have done them on and off for many years. I do them first thing in the morning. I write by hand in a room lit only by candles (– this to try to fool my inner critic to believe I’m still sleeping …)

Sometimes I fill my pages with dreams, other days I write my worries. Some mornings I write boring resumés, and some days I ask myself questions to see if my sleepy self can come up with better & more amusing ideas.

Today I asked my morning pages for suggestions regarding how to continue my “intuitive mark making” process — and in the back of my mind I also have a bigger, more philosophical question to sort out, namely: Why is the ‘old-fashioned’ genre of still life so important to me???

This is the guidance I got:

(The sleepy teacher in me helped me make a list 😇)

1. I will go on making my quick marks on paper (at least for another week), using paper hinders me jumping into the ‘produce a nice painting’ mode.
2. Do Joe Packer’s online class Organic Structures- Spatial Experiments in Collage, to help me find new ways of loosening up (Emily Ball).
3. Work on my own mark making alphabet – a concertina?
4. Regarding the philosophical side of things, I will start a longer journey into studying the still life genre, to try to find out more about why I find it so attractive. (A quest like this will hopefully keep my logical brain busy for a while – stopping it from interfering too much in my art making)

Oh – the joy of lists!