🌱 A quiet reset · Art With Courage

🌱 A quiet reset

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been coming back from a viral infection, and it forced a reset I didn’t plan.

As my energy returned, I was reminded of something simple. Over the last year I’ve done a lot. Making work. Sending to open calls. Teaching in person and online. Writing a book. There are to do lists, systems, and structures that help keep all of that moving.

But the things that actually help me regain focus and momentum, without which none of it would be possible, have not changed.

👀 What still works

What works for me isn’t going faster or trying to be more efficient. It isn’t skimming or pushing through. It’s slowing down in the right places and looking properly.

= Staying with things a little longer than feels comfortable.

= Choosing less when things feel overwhelming.

= Writing things down to expose what really matters.

= Letting quiet noticing become raw material for creative work.

✍🏽 The hand as a way back

I’m sharing the image here from a blind contour drawing I made recently. It’s a simple exercise where you draw your hand without looking at the page. I use exercises like this often, both in my own practice and when I teach.

They’re well known in the art world, but I use them with a different emphasis. Not as a drawing exercise, but as a way of rebuilding attention. The hand becomes a way of noticing when the mind drifts, and gently bringing it back. You don’t force focus. You stay with something long enough for it to return.

🎨 How the work evolved

That approach has followed me through everything I’ve made. It’s how I moved from realism into abstraction. One realist painting reached the second stage of the John Moores Painting Prize this year, and the abstract series that followed grew out of hundreds of small, low pressure iterations that we informed by my particular approachto seeing, from my bed to when I have been travelling. That work will be shown at the Royal Scottish Academy in January.

Looking back, what stands out is that none of this came from chasing motivation. It came from staying connected to the practice, especially in between projects.

🧭 Looking ahead

As I look towards the new year, I’m leaning back into that way of working. Travelling more. Looking more deeply at places, people, colours, and shapes. Setting a few clear intentions, but also leaving space for things to enter rather than constantly chasing them.

🔁 Creative Reset

I’ve also turned these ways of working into a live workshop called Creative Reset Art of Attention. There’s a limited time early price available at the moment, so if this connects for you, you can join for much less right now.

You can find the details here 👇

👉 https://artwithcourage.com/artofattention

I also shared a short reel on Instagram today showing this hand drawing and reflecting on attention and reset.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSubinTDNop/

If this resonated, feel free to leave a comment or tap like.

Engaging is often the first small step in choosing a direction, even before you know exactly what that direction is.

💬 Over to you

How are you thinking about resetting or setting direction for the year ahead?

Wishing everyone a steady and thoughtful start to the year.

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