Being a Creative Octopus

I was lamenting to a friend on how it's difficult for me to stick with one media in painting, She said, that's how you explore and make discoveries. And while I already know that, it still feels like so much can be going on at once and there can be a lack of focus.

There are several "stations" in my studio:, a table near a window for watercolors, two walls for acrylic and a corner for oils. I've been roaming around my space over these last few months while staying in place, basically picking a media when the mood strikes and then diving in. While I've been liking some of the results, I haven't found that one focus to keep me consistent to create a body of work. And then just yesterday, I came across this little ditty on social media.

"Maybe the reason you have a hard time choosing one thing is because part of your calling is to inspire and to change. Show the world that things can be different. Maybe your gifting is seeing things in a way no one's ever thought to think. Maybe it's not a lack of focus but a greater capacity to hold many things. Maybe you are a creative octopus and if you were to choose just one thing it would be like chopping off one of your arms. — and that won't help anybody."

HA! I loved all of that so much. But more importantly, it did give me a chance to review how I work. Honestly, working between several mediums is really about experimentation and it sort of freshens your brain a bit by switching gears. Especially when I get in a rut with ideas of WHAT to paint. So if I'm working on a group of paintings in acrylic and they're just not doing what I want, then I move over to my oil paint section and see what needs attention. More often than not, I start using a different tool or color and then think AHA! I could do something like this to fix my issues in acrylic-land! So I run back over to what I had been working on and added something new to "fix" my problem.

Multi-tasking at it finest. And while I do love to immerse myself in a painting and try to work on it until it's finished, it's a good reminder to distract yourself and find a new perspective. It can certainly pay off to be an octopus.