Perfectionists Procrastinate

Yes, we do.  All of us.  A perfectionist is most often known for being to some degree OCD, and perhaps irritatingly focused on tiny details, and getting them all correct before calling a project, or a conversation, or any activity, finished.  But because perfectionists are so focused on getting things "right", we tend not to attempt those things we know we cannot do to perfection.  Like, at all.

I call myself a Recovering Perfectionist.  I try to convince myself that I do attempt things that my earlier self would not have, and that I'm better at leaving accomplishments alone when they are "good enough." But it's probably self-deception. I rarely clean.  I am not good at it, and I find it a never- ending cycle of frustration.  That's the procrastination side of me.  Since I don't do it well, and find it completely unsatisfying, I put it off.  I did not realize, however, that I have put off posting to this blog, for like, forever!  I am sorry.  Today I am putting up several new pieces.  In 2014 I began to explore watercolors and have become absorbed in them.  "Matched Pair" is a watercolor piece I did for my neice's wedding present.



  "Sancerre, France" is a watercolor piece done for my husband's birthday, from a fascinatingly maze-like travel picture, which had a completely blah color scheme that I pumped up. When my computer will allow another insert, I will edit the blog and put the image here.

  And "Worshipping Angel" is an acrylic piece done mostly with palette knives.  It was inspired by my wondering if the wings and haloes we expect angels to have might be formed from Light emanating from within them reflecting back the glory of God, and because we 'see' the radiating Light, we think it has physical form.  Just a thought, transposed onto canvas.  Perhaps there will be others to come.  This image, also, is being blocked by my program.  I will edit it in here as soon as possible.  (Now, for a senior citizen, I'm doing pretty well!)

Ceativity Takes Many Forms

For six months now, I have been settling into the very first Parsonage in which we have ever lived.  It was a dark and dreary place when we arrived, but the church people have hearts of gold.  They painted rooms with colors they allowed me to choose ahead of our arrival, and cleaned and scraped and made it welcoming.  I've been decorating, like that TV show, Decorating on a Dime, with mostly what we had in our home in Portsmouth.  But I also made new cushions for our outdoor white wicker furniture, and turned it into living room furniture.  It went from a dark, musty cave to the brightest, and my most favorite, room!  I'm putting loving touches on every single room.

There is a shed out back that hadn't been painted in so many years that it was gray barn board with some hints of red.  I repainted it red, and added Wanda and Wilbur peeking out the doors.  So, now it's a barn.  Grins.

I also worked from summer till the first week in December painting life sized Nativity figures for our neice and nephew. None of us had any idea exactly what I had to do when this project began!  But the monumental work was totally worth the effort.


My husband is currently still working in a corner of the downstairs office space, but our intent is to get him into the real church office at Calvary United Methodist, one of his three churches.  My office is mostly set up, but there is still SO much to do to finish arranging my studio that I find I am working amidst clutter.  (Not my favorite thing to do!)

My latest passion has been creating mixed media pieces on 16"x20" canvas board, and they make me happy.  There are pictures of the completed ones on another blog of mine,  www.angelsinpaint.blogspot.com.

Currently, I am collecting all the materials needed for my next passionate endeavor: wall decorations of angel stick figures with lots of fabric and laces and edgings and bling!  That will be my "go-to" project once I've begun, kind of like some of my friends keep knitting baskets by their chairs in the TV room.

I will post pictures soon.  Today, for some reason, the blog will not upload them. Please feel free to scroll down to earlier posts or to go to the blog mentioned above.  You can also see why I paint in my testimonial blog, www.spiritinspiredart.blogspot.com.

Blessings on this upcoming New Year!