Drypoint Etching and Relief Print Mash Up

This is a post from Belinda Del Pesco’s Art Blog Belinda Del Pesco.

Drypoint Etching and Relief Print Mash Up

This is my fourth mash-up of reduction linocut print and dry point etching. I worked on it intermittently through the Fall and Winter months. The deep dive into process was a blessed respite from my panicked obsessing over the looming loss of a family member to cancer.

I think artists sometimes get too consumed with racing towards Finishing a project. We loose sight of the joy in the making.

Working on art slowly, and deliberately till a project is finished is not easy for me. But in tough times, I think it’s wise to barricade art-making to a simple, single task. Focus will naturally block out less-than-pleasant mental meanderings and worries.

The partially finished projects stacked in my studio are a testimonial to my perpetual distractions. But staying with this fourth print mash up – exclusively – made it easier for me to sink into Creative Time when I needed it most.

By committing to this project, I removed the quandry of deciding: what to make, or which media to reach for… The prints for this design stayed hanging in my studio on a drying line for months, waiting for me to dive back in, and take a mental rest.

Iterative Learning

Each of the past four mash up prints I’ve posted had a steep learning curve. I’m not an expert, but I love to try new things. Even if the results suck, I’m usually compelled to try again. Perhaps the path to Expertise is paved with Experimentation? What do you think?

As artists, I feel strongly that we should get cozy with the notion of the Re-Do. If failure deflates your inspiration balloon, re-inflate that baby with smart self-talk.

Most of us will make improvements while learning a new process only by DOING. Reading and Thinking about art will not magically transform our skills. Studying can inform, but I believe it takes hands-on to really transform a skill set.

Creativite Expression is a hands-on endeavor. Pick up your art supplies. You’ll get better with practice, especially if you re-direct your inner-critic (with a Bossy voice) towards more positive messaging, and Get Busy.

Swap out and replace your ‘I can’t Do This’ mantra with a repeated message of ‘I’m learning to do this.’ Encourage yourself. You’ve got this.

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you in the next post -

Belinda

P.S. Thank you – from my heart – for all of the supportive comments, sweet condolence emails, and loving messages you sent after reading about our loss of Melanie. I felt comforted and held by your kindness, and I’m so grateful.

Art Quote

You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.

T. H. White, The Once and Future King

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