Expressive Mixed Media Portraits in Progress
I hope this finds you well and inspired. I wanted to share the idea of embracing imperfection in the creative process. I’ve been working on a new series of expressive mixed media portraits with the goal of bringing more abstraction into the work and it’s been challenging.
I’m documenting the progress of a specific work in progress from its early, intuitive phases to show how much things can change from one phase to another. I believe it’s important to showcase the raw and unpolished stages of the creative process, as well as the polished parts, because not everything has to be perfect or “count” in the final piece. The early stages are all about freedom and enjoying the creative process and is where I feel I learn the most about myself.
Embracing Imperfection – Taking Joy in Creativity
This photo collage shows three stages from the ugly beginning in the top right around to where it sits in the studio now. I purposefully made the first layer of color and strokes bold and jarring – ugly on purpose! That gives me freedom to work with something on the paper to react to and intuit my way forward with. Holding the idea of embracing imperfection helps me feel into the vulnerability of creation and take joy in the raw, unpolished stages of the work. I feel like this really helps me create on a more personal level as well as making more resonant work.
This new series is also an opportunity to explore a different palette, as I mentioned in my last update. I’ve returned to a brighter, more varied palette that I’ve used in the past and it’s already feeling more expansive and expressive. This picture is missing three additional colors for more dark values, it was a little too middle-middle:
If you’re curious to see more, don’t forget to check out my Pinterest account. I’ve been sharing quick updates and other studio bits there, offering a behind-the-scenes look at my artistic endeavors. It’s feeling a lot like a sketchbook or artist journal, and I’d love to connect with you there.
Thank you for being a part of the creative path with me- your support and encouragement means the world to me, and I’d love to hear from you about your creative work.
Shine Your Light!
Monette