Setting Intents or Resolutions

It is January 2023- a new year with opportunity and promise. It is often recommended that artists set intents or resolutions or goals for the year. In reviewing the definitions of these words, they all have the underlying meaning of relation to "purpose" or "decision to do something." Goals are defined as "an aim or objective that you work toward with effort and determination."
Since painting is a form of self care for  me, I choose art to be my focus for resolutions; my purpose of intent for the year. For me painting is one form of healing I seek in my life. When I go into the studio the visuals of the easel and blank canvas, the smell of paint, my brushes sitting on the work table and the sounds surrounding the space inspire me.
Through painting, time is often lost and my mind becomes laser focused. I seek to create; however I also seek to find joy in the process. Finding joy is not always easy. We as a culture tend to put expectations on that process and limit creativity with fear of producing. I try to remember that a piece of art is only perfect when we also honor it's  imperfections.
As a senior (in age) artist, I mentor and take lots of classes to learn and add to my skill. Taking classes from other artists is part of my intent for the year. Also learning to paint en plein air as the master impressionists did is a goal.
My biggest resolution or purpose this year however; is to paint with joy - not with abandon but with a heart open to allowing the process to unfold. The painting I have attached above was quite the challenge for me. It required the skill of taking a chaotic photo and designing its basic shapes, values and colors into a cohesive art piece. The greatest challenge though, was entering into the process with joy and diminishing those thoughts of fear- I can't do it!
Whatever your intent, resolutions, or goals are for this new year of 2023, I hope you will embrace joy in the process. We can then say on January 1, 2024; it was a good year.

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