THE MAKING + THE LETTING GO.
My artwork (center) featured in the beautiful home of Hill Rondero, Ro House Studio, for the Charlotte Symphony Guild’s Heart of the Home Tour.
It’s been almost two weeks since I was a featured artist in one of the homes on the Charlotte Symphony Guild’s Heart of the Home Tour. It took me a minute to catch my breath and come back to things after that. I think I needed a little space to regroup and recalibrate.
I created five pieces for the event, and several of them came together in a pretty compressed window of time. That’s not usually how I work, or really how I like to work. I tend to move a little slower, sit with things, come back to them. This felt different. The creating was more focused, more intense with the deadline. At the same time, I’m really grateful for the opportunity to share my work with my local community.
Another recent work featured in the home of Hill Rondero, Ro House Studio for the Charlotte Symphony Guild’s Heart of the Home Tour.
Seeing the work in the home was really interesting. It always shifts something for me when it’s not just in my studio or home anymore, but out in the world. Seeing it in Hill Rondero’s personal home made the shift feel more real. It starts to feel like it belongs to a space, to a potential collector, not just to me.
Two of the pieces sold during the tour, which I was really grateful for. I did have a moment where I thought… that was fast. Maybe too fast. I had just finished a female portrait hours before delivering all of the work. And don’t get me wrong, sharing and selling my work is a genuine honor. But usually I live with my work for a bit before it leaves my space. I have more time to photograph it. I see it in different light, pass by it without really thinking about it, just let it be around. That didn’t really happen this time, especially with several of the pieces. It made me realize how much that in between space is actually part of my process. Not just making something, but being with it for a little while before it becomes something outside of me. I don’t think I fully understood that until now.
Françoise, mixed media portrait, in the home of Hill Rondero, Ro House Studio.
I also had that familiar feeling again, looking back at the work and thinking… how did that come together like that? Not in a questioning way, more in a curious, noticing way. I don’t think I could make the exact same piece again, even if I tried. Or at least I’m not entirely sure I could, and I don’t think I’d want to. Each one feels tied to a moment, and once that moment passes, it’s gone.
It also reinforces something I’ve felt for a long time… that the creativity comes from somewhere deeper than just me. It often feels like it moves through me, like I’m a conduit for it. Not to say there isn’t skill involved, but there’s another layer there that I can’t fully explain. The source feels like it comes from something greater than me.
Two of my most recent mixed media collages.
The three remaining pieces are back in my studio now, and I can already feel the difference in having a little more time with them. I added all five pieces to my website if you’d like to see them.
And as always, thank you for being here, reading and taking a look.
xx,
Michel
