During our recent play date, we had ten people…totally cool! At one point everyone was talking to someone and artistic cross-pollination was happening amidst all that conversation. I had just pulled a gel print, using the green piece of painter’s tape, so I applied it this piece of black paper. I borrowed the stencil someone else had just finished utilizing. I filled in a few places with gel pen, then proceeded to use acrylic brush pens to write the big pink letters. And there were consequences, as the last ‘s’ in the word ran off the page…a consequence of poor spacing. I then noticed that I spelt ‘hesitation’ wrong. I cut a scrap piece of the paper and rewrote the word correctly, then glued it to the piece…another curfuffle as a consequence of extemporaneous work. Sometimes you just have to take the risk and live with the consequences.
Here are the words of this quote:
Make up your mind to act decidedly
and take the consequences.
No good is ever done in this world
by hesitation.
- Thomas H. Huxley 1895
As a calligrapher, I have been trained to plan out EVERY mark on the page, every time, and if it is not perfect, start again. After a while that can be exhausting. It was fun to be extemporaneous and just deal with the challenges that that presented. Spacing, misspelled words, even dealing with the anxiety of doing things wrong. It was fun, cool and worth the risks. Chances are you might not have even noticed my curfuffles if I had not pointed them out. All too often we are harder on ourselves than anything other people could ever dish out.
Let me encourage you to take the consequences of your actions, ideas, and curfuffles. Be glad to test yourself and your skills. Sometimes the best path is the unplanned one, the day without an agenda, and the morning where you have no idea what is going to happen. All of us need to experience the freedom and energy boost one gets when you jump right in and take a risk. Like the quote says, no good is ever done in this world by hesitation…
Ann Art Gallery Blog 