I had a light-bulb moment the other day. I realised that churning out paintings and experimenting with new techniques are mutually exclusive (for me). Last year, I decided to focus on just a couple of techniques and this year I decided to add a couple more techniques as well as a new medium. Oh, and I’ve also been experimenting with colour mixing this year! I feel like my productivity has really stalled to a crawl this year, buried under a groaning mound of experimentation. Too much new makes Katherine decombobulate.

Above is one of the inevitable failed pieces that fell victim to me not knowing what the hell I was doing. I’m still rather fond of the drawing so it’s been relegated to the “failed/old & crap paintings worthy of a do-over” pile.

I certainly don’t regret biting off more than I can chew as I’ve developed quite the nifty bag of tricks this year. Having said that, I have resolved to dedicate next year to getting stuck in to just hammering out some of the paintings I’ve had my mind’s eye on for an age. I actually edited that – I’d originally resolved to stop experimenting and start producing immediately but then I thought about all the things I still haven’t tried and there’s only a couple of months left in the year anyway, sooo… what’s the harm. I think I’ll see how I feel when I begin the next piece.

I’m always looking for ways to “un-clutter” my art-making process so that I can get some traction and make some real progress with my skill-set. I’m totally anal that way.