November 2024

but should I give up on art or make even more art?

View this email in your browser “This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.” - James Baldwin Finding the Light I started planning a new oil piece at the end of October and recently took pics of my model. After my show and all the dark pieces exploring trauma, I wanted to pivot to the more joyful aspects of growth. (Inspiration photos I’ve taken recently on my walks and of my lovely model, Janea.) Something that always brings me joy during November are the bright yellow gingko trees. Where we live, they always seem to hold out the longest of all the seasonal colors. While other leaves have fallen, the gingko leaves are “late fallers” and I always pretend they hold out just a little longer for me since this is my birthday month. I’ve wanted to include their fiery foliage into a painting for years and I was excited to finally get around to it. Yellow is the happiest color and I was feeling hopeful. I had felt weighed down for several months dealing with various challenges and I felt like maybe I was finally turning a corner and resolving some things. Then November 5th happened, and all my hope fell fast. Personal problems were put into perspective, but also overshadowed by despair. I was and am afraid. Sometimes I paint my feelings, but other times I must paint the feelings I wish to have. Besides adoring their obvious cheery color in the Fall, I love gingko trees because they symbolize resilience. They are one of the oldest trees on earth and are considered living fossils. They outlasted the dinosaurs, and survived Hiroshima. These trees have seen some shit. Authoritarians have various tools for achieving power, but when indoctrination, manipulation, and intimidation don’t work on swaying you, they will try to break your will, your spirit through force. Right now, remaining joyful, connected, and creative is our recipe for resilience and resistance. Finding light, being light, and creating light is my tiny act of defiance. I wrote something about being hopeful (blah, blah, blah), and then deleted it, because as I sit here I don’t feel very hopeful. I can still experience joy though. I can still help someone else experience joy. When I feel exhausted or scared I look to the Queer community and POC because this is nothing new to them. While it has never been their job to light our way, they continue to do so. They know burning out isn’t an option. (Two hours in. You can watch a process video here. Go help a gal out with that damn algorithm!) I want to let my little light shine. I really do. I also want to give up on everything and everyone and cry and take a very very very long nap. Yet here I am typing a stupid newsletter to almost no one and making art for almost no one because if we break we won’t outlast the dinosaurs. (And don’t get me wrong, crying and napping WILL be required for the resistance!) Inside the Studio Holiday Hustle During November, I spend a lot of my time in the studio preparing for holiday markets. I started painting little woodcut ornaments when my kids were tiny and I’ve painted and sold hundreds over the years. Every Fall I wonder how I’ll manage to come up with something different. I have friends and customers that have built up quite the collection of dolly ornaments over time and I think that’s very sweet. I’m happy to be a tiny part of their holiday traditions. These are a few I’ve painted so far. (The frogs seem delighted to be here! The cats, not so much.) While complaining to a friend that I was all out of ideas for ornaments this year, I said to her jokingly “I should just paint a bunch of naked people on black backgrounds” referencing my previous art show. She loved that idea and I realized I did too. So here is my little collection of festive figures. (If no one buys these, I will have a tree full of bodies and that sounds pretty neat honestly.) Ornaments can be purchased at my upcoming holiday markets. UPCOMING EVENTS! Tinsel Town This indoor market with local makers is always a good time. I’ll bring holiday cards, stocking stuffers, ornaments and all my usual loot. Plan to come early if there’s something specific you’re looking for. It gets very busy! (I was given the task of whipping up the promo poster for Tinsel Town this year, and I must say that yeti is looking terribly cute and cozy.) Mistletoe Market A festive outdoor market similar to Art in the Park, just on a different weekend. If you can’t make it to Tinsel Town, be sure to stop by! Saturday, November 30, 9-1 Hurkamp Park Fredericksburg 22401 Outside the Studio The Art of Branching Out One of my oil paintings, “Masking” was recently chosen for the group show, Intertwined, at Dacia Gallery in NYC! While I am unable to attend, it is always an honor to exhibit alongside other talented creatives. The other pieces selected for this show are really stunning, and I’m thrilled to be included. It’s fun to see my work outside my little town. The Art of Trying New Things I recently decided to join a figure drawing class. Working with live models under time restraints can be very challenging and I haven’t done it in over 20 years. I didn’t really know anyone in the class very well so I felt a bit nervous, but in I went with my little sketchbook. It was hard. It was also fun and cool! (Artists can work in whatever medium they choose. I went with charcoal on toned paper.) The week of class I was absolutely exhausted from many days/nights of my brain refusing rest. Being under a time restraint with a live model for a few hours was the meditative calm/focused intensity I desperately needed. It’s impossible to worry about your to-do list or your kids or the future under those conditions. Sometimes because art is not only my passion but also my job, I am unable to just explore and practice things. Time is limited and precious, and there is pressure to get paid with what I’m able to crank out. Carving out some time to just draw and know it doesn’t have to be good or sellable was very freeing. The Art of Accepting my Place I haven’t had much time lately for adventuring but I do try to make little getaways to the water and woods, even if it’s only for a short hike in the woods or a little walk to the pond or river. I remember my place in this big wide world. I remember that there is still so much goodness and beauty everywhere. I think of all this earth has seen before me and all it will see after. I notice the vast expanse above me, and the minuscule detail below me. I remember to breathe. The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. - Wendell Berry Current Amusements Reading Something In the Woods Loves You, Jarod K. Anderson I haven’t finished this one yet but I’m really enjoying it and think it’s very timely. While struggling with longterm depression, the author reconnects with nature in an act of desperation and finds fresh perspective, calm, and meaning. The book is divided into seasons, and in each chapter he explores different flora and fauna and lessons he has learned from them. I can relate to a lot of this, and while simply going outside is not a cure-all (he also writes about his experience with medication and therapy), understanding our connection to nature, being in nature, and learning from nature really can be transformative. I know darker days are coming, literally and figuratively, so I’m consuming excellent content to get through it. Watching Perfect Days This Japanese film follows the routine life of Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. It won’t be for everyone but I’d love for people to give it a try. The style is minimal and meditative and one of those movies I will keep thinking about for a long time because it’s so uniquely thoughtful and beautiful. His endearing character portrays such a wide array of emotions while barely speaking a word. A dichotomy of hardship and contentment, humility and pride, loneliness and connection, strength and vulnerability that’s worth a watch. Luna finds her light. As we approach Thanksgiving, I give thanks for you. You have gifted me with your time, attention, and support and that is not something I take for granted. Thank you for being here. If you enjoyed this email, please reach out or share it with someone you love. Work in progress, always, dolly Copyright © 2024 Dolly Whitley, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe