5 Comments
User's avatar
Alison Kent's avatar

Beth, what a wonderful post! I am so interested in the distinction you make between "just" painting and concentrated drawing, and it's reminding me of something I was thinking about yesterday -- curation. Do we index our sketchbooks, as Roz Stendhal does? Is it more about process or product? (See also Knitting.) When we have deep concentration like this, it does seem to be akin to meditation, so process, but is it also a draft? (rereading Bird by Bird and the shitty first draft). Sorry. Ramblings at 5:30 am but so happy to see your painting.

Expand full comment
Beth Adams's avatar

Thanks, Ali! Well, those are continual questions, aren't they? Knitting, it seems to me, is both process and product, and process is more important during the making. Once it's a product, we leave the space we call "knitting", don't we, and the product is something we enjoy, wear, give away, but it no longer has a "potential," like it does as we anticipate, plan, knit, rip out, knit again, bind and sew and block...but in knitting, like any creative form, each piece can also be a draft because it suggests other paths, elaborations or simplifications or alternatives...

This video was originally twice as long because at the beginning I was showing the flower and talking about how I was thinking of approaching it. If I post the whole thing to YouTube I'll let you know, you might find it interesting. Thanks so much for writing!

Expand full comment
Bryce Tolpen's avatar

Watching your video gave me a good sense of your process. The end result is kind of a miracle to the untrained, I think. It all came together in a hurry at the end: you had to have seen something coming that I didn't.

Expand full comment
Beth Adams's avatar

Thanks, Bryce. Yes, I guess I do see "something coming" but with watercolor especially, there are always surprises, some fortuitous and some not so much!

Expand full comment
Bryce Tolpen's avatar

Reminds me of the writing process, or at least mine!

Expand full comment