I love the Carved Out Time for Art feed on Instagram and the minute I saw the post about choosing a word for the year I knew I wanted to find one. I hadn’t made any specific resolutions for the new year and having a word seemed much more real to me – and something I could hold myself to for the long haul (and easier than saying “less chocolate” and breaking that 5 minutes later. I’m pregnant. All I want is chocolate). 

But picking one word is hard!  It took me a long time (it’s mid February…) to choose. I knew what I wanted it to mean and have sort of been embracing the idea behind it, but wasn’t sure about ONE word that fit. I’ve finally settled on INTENTION. This word fits the goals and thoughts I have about all of the aspects of my life: art, motherhood, marriage, home, friendship – you name it.

Particularly on the art front, working with intention is an important goal for me. I have made some big plans for expanding my work and markets, and all of these require focus. Having intention for my studio/office time is crucial. Even more importantly, I want to approach painting with intention. This means making more art, more often, with more thought. I don’t mean to take the spontaneity or fluidity out of painting; that’s part of the excitement of standing in front of a blank canvas or letting the paints or mood guide my actions. I just mean that I want to work on my craft more, engaging more in the process rather than the product, and letting myself completely commit to new ideas. This isn’t easy for me – distractions are always around and my mood or energy level can definitely get in the way, but I’m trying to hold myself to the intentions I have and keep working.

As far as the rest of my life, living with intention means making my actions purposeful. I’ve been trying to increase this at home and I feel like it’s causing me to slow down and process things more. I’m starting my days differently and allowing time for small motions that I’d never really planned out. I’m enjoying simple actions like making coffee, writing letters, and watering plants, rather than trying to cram these things in without thinking about them. It’s nice to feel present and unhurried. I’m a natural “good intentions” person with a lot of ideas about things I can make, fix, do for others, or even logically maintain in a normal day, so I’m bound to fail regularly, but I think starting slowly and committing to some small intentions is a good beginning.

I’m hoping that being intentional with my actions will continue to help me be a more present mom. I want my time with Ren to be just about us and to not always be preoccupied with to-dos running through my mind. So far it has been a really good start. Obviously we still have A LOT of chaos (he’s two. I’m me). My intentions are always at the whim of his very strong opinions and my own forgetfulness/laziness/avoidance, but it’s something I’m excited to keep working on. There’s no way this can be bad for either of us.

I hope you see my successes reflected in my work. I think you will. It’s nice to have this one word idea to keep reenergizing me each day. I’d encourage you to participate and if you do, I’d love to hear what you decide to use as your word!  

One of my small “intention” projects for my studio has been to make some watercolor swatches to show the shades of different brands. This was surprisingly therapeutic, and something I should have done a long, long time ago. It will help me be more aware of my options as I paint and hopefully broaden my use of colors.