follow the flow
explore, experiment, make, and rest
yancey towne’s art making is a weekly peek into the art studio to share learnings, current projects, and inspiration. Making art is what teaches us who we are, what we believe in, and what we can create… here’s to finding yours.
A reminder to art makers who might forget—rest is a crucial part of the creative process. Maybe I am speaking to myself more than anyone! I tend to forget how important the simple act of resting is. But without it, I don’t think I am able to push myself in new directions or even step back to see all the connections and possibilities at hand.
When I begin a new project or series, I’m excited to get moving and check off the steps or to-dos to make progress. I love being busy and productive. In the back of my mind, I’ve often scoffed at needing to pause, thinking it will hold me back and I won’t ‘get it all done.’ And, since I didn’t take a pause, I never took the time to consider what getting it all done even truly meant.
No breaks also meant that I wasn’t working in tandem with the natural rhythms of cycles. Rest provides the time to recharge and soak up inspiration, it’s a time to smell the flowers and fill the senses, to put your feet up and enjoy the sunshine.
Without the space to stop and sit, it’s hard to incorporate the learnings discovered in recent work or to brainstorm new opportunities that may lead to fun new projects or adventures. Another benefit to rest is the chance to get used to down time and enjoy using that time as an opportunity to stretch skills and play with different mediums with no other expectation other than to have fun.
Often the pace is go, go, go and when all the momentum comes to stop, a fear of how will I ever get it all back up and running again can creep in. The mind is tricky, don’t listen. Your art comes from a place deep inside and that knowledge can never be forgotten. When the time is right, you’ll pick up your pencil, paint brush, camera, or snowboard and get started again with a fresh perspective and a restored sense of energy… 💛
current projects
A few of the projects I’m working on at the moment. This is how my brain works—I have projects set up so I can drop in on any one of them, even for a minute or two. The moments add up and I find that even a couple of minutes pushing paint or making stitches helps me feel settled and more connected to my core.
knits: Soaking time! Most of the ends have been woven in, underarm holes have been seamed and neckline is complete, too. Time for a sweater bath, then a quick blocking before weaving in the colored strands.
watercolor: Lots of repeating dots and lines lately because they’re calming and meditative to make. They also remind me of the sedum below, tiny little leaves of vibrant green dotting my yard with texture and pattern.
patterns: After listening to a Windowsill Chats podcast with Mike Lowery, I’ve been picking up my pencil to illustrate daily creatures again. For the time, I’m working in large format, one creature per layer with at least five drawn on each day. My plan is to take the first handful and make some large repeating pattens with them.
paint: A close-up of a piece that has been on pause on my wall for a while now. I got to a point where I liked many of the marks, but couldn’t see how to move forward, so I moved it off to the sidelines. Now its time has come and I am looking and listening for ideas on how to proceed. In a day or so I’ll pick up some paint and start again, I’m curious to see what happens.
Thanks for reading! If you’re working on a project of your own, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
nice sweater pattern