08 October 2007

Pondering the UFO

Yes, I'm still around. I've had an allergy attack this past week that has turned me into a human booger factory. But thankfully the doctor gave me some stuff that has me feeling only half crummy so its back to business as usual...

I still have more photos of expo to post but I'll do those later, because I have a much deeper topic to ponder with you dear reader....the UFO.

No, not little silver saucers floating in space. You know what I mean, after all, if you are reading this then you are most likely an artist as well. And if you are like me, you have a well trained innocent expression whenever the topic comes up that says, "What? Me? I don't have any UFOs laying around." Nice try.

Since I've been not feeling so hot and entertaining myself by laying on the sofa with Dooley watching bad T.V., I've had the pleasant opportunity to stare at all the half finished projects laying around the house that need attention. Unfinished Objects (UFOs) get no respect, it seems.

In my defense, much of what currently has UFO status is due to a lack of time, not enthusiasm. But if I creep out of the denial that often leads me to pretend I have no UFOs in the house, I have to admit that a lot of the times its that I just get seduced by a new project and abandon whatever I am working on.

What's even more odd is that a lot of the time I drop something when its almost completely done. I'm done with it emotionally so it doesn't get done physically. And then I start to resent it so it really doesn't get finished.

I suppose its a universal problem among artists. Maybe we should start a 12-step program to deal with it. But then if everything was done, we'd be buried underneath tons of art with no hope of escaping. Oh good, that means I shouldn't finish those up....onto new projects....

2 comments:

ladyturnip said...

I have lots of UFOs also. I use to number them and check them off when completed. That was about a year ago since then they have taken over: the studio, dinning room ,kitchen. I have UFOs in my bedroom (I mean in my bed) fabric, beads, spools of thread. I sometimes hang a UFO on my bedroom wall to study it as I fall asleep. I think I going to schedule some vacation time just to complete UFOs.

Anonymous said...

this bit - "What's even more odd is that a lot of the time I drop something when its almost completely done. I'm done with it emotionally so it doesn't get done physically." - is what happens with me very often. I have many, many more UFOs (in all manner of media & disciplines) than completed works. It's not resentment that puts the nail in the coffin for me though, or not directly; it's guilt/shame. UFOs can turn into millstones or albatrosses if you let them, and when I'm feeling down I do.

OTOH, every now and then I stumble upon a new product or technique or skill which is just what some abandoned project has been waiting for ... nice when that happens.