Home again

I'm back from Ohio after an uneventful flight. I really do love Southwest. Nobody's perfect, but they're way better than average.

After a week of hard work at the Barn I've been thinking a lot about just that--hard work. Yes, I have my lazy, slack-jawed moments in front of the TV, but generally I think I'm pretty hardworking. Or, perhaps it's just that I'm in constant motion--mental and/or physical. The last week has reminded me of the importance of spending time on an idea or design and going deeper; approaching it from different angles and resolving issues. Looking back at my work for the last year it has been, to a large extent, a series of one-offs. Now I'm feeling the need to focus on design work and to do more series work. In doing so I think that I will improve my critical eye and ultimately improve as an artist. I've also got to develop a mentoring relationship of some sort, either here or somewhere reachable by mail. I need some consistent critical feedback.

For the last couple of years I've tried to set a developmental goal. The goal for the last 12 months was to improve my knowledge of color theory and my use of color. I believe I've achieved that, though clearly a lifetime of applying and refining lies ahead. I think that the goal for the coming year is going to be to create a body of work that:

• Covers a limited number of themes
• Explores each design through several media (e.g., art cloth, art quilt, painting, drawing, photography)
• Includes design and color iterations (i.e., the same piece executed in multiple design variations)
• Applies what I have learned about color
• Requires a deeper study of design principles

If I can do that in 12 months (along with everything else that's on the calendar) then it will be a banner year. Someone blow the starting whistle.