And now it begins

I've been out of town, off to spend some time with old friends, recharge my batteries much in need of recharging, see up close the art of others, assess perhaps, how to give my creative journey a kick-start. It's one thing to look back on a year to see where I've been, as I did here, quite another to see what direction to head in the new year. I've spent the last few days catching up from the trip and thinking about that first step into the studio in 2011. As I ventured a peek into the room, I was encouraged that I didn't feel overwhelmed; the trip had worked some magic. As much of a mess as it is at the moment, I didn't feel the accustomed dread as I looked around. Instead, these leftovers from my miniatures foray beckoned, calling to me even after I'd left the room. Oh yeah!

So on this first free day to indulge myself in the studio, I decided the best course of action to begin the new year is to take up where I left off. I'm still noting the need to push myself to stay at it more than an hour or two, but that's just the out of practice thing (I hope). I'm enjoying these simple designs and working through small variations in finishing them out. I'm thinking of them as a warm up to tackling more challenging work soon.