begin everything - finish nothing

Tracey Pereira

GCSE Art Rowan Pereira 2009

I thought it was soon but when I checked this morning I discovered I had missed an anniversary ... one of my own in fact. My first full year of blogging was a couple of days ago.  It hardly seems that long.


Now I could ramble on and tell you facts and figures about who visited, from where and all that jazz but  its "Hakuna Matata!" .... or in English .... "its in the past!" .... In truth, I don't do nostalgia very well at all I'm afraid ... unless I've had a glass of something ... which isn't often because as much as I like a drink, it doesn't like me... my feet swell up - how strange is that?  No, I prefer to look forward and really like the idea of starting new things. I'm one of those people that enjoys the process of doing or making something more than the finished product. My garden is a good example ... I like the clearing of the land, the digging and the constructing much much more than the maintenance of planted beds.  I suppose its rather zen-like in so much I enjoy the journey more than the destination.  Anyway this was on my mind yesterday as I considered if perhaps the blog had now come to its natural end ... after-all  I had started it, nurtured it a little, learnt about widgets, html,layouts and links and to all intents and purposes all I now have to do is to post a blog here and there and maintain it. 


This was my thinking until I read this article by Jerry Fresia discussing 5 ways to grow as an artist.


Now I'll be honest, much of the article went over my head but a comment by Picasso on 'finishing'  hit a cord with me. 


".........As soon as the freshness evaporates (we are bored or lost or acquire interest in something else), stop. Do not think in terms of finishing. Picasso lectures eloquently on this. Finish is the death of our work because it means we are painting an expectation or “to be like” and that puts the brakes on painting to see and feel more deeply. Every beginning is a new prompt, a new point of departure. Begin everything. Finish nothing. "


So you see .. I think this gives me the permission I need to start as many projects as I want to and to have the many WIP's that may follow BUT more importantly it also gives me permission to have them without guilt or a need to complete them, making the UFO a sanctified being!


So where am I now .... looking forward to starting more projects and what better place to remind myself of what I have started (but not necessarily finished) than my chubby mummy blog!