Spring Seed Planting
Spring always brings the desire to garden and plant seeds. Growing up my family always tended a garden and in the summer we would have fresh veggies with every meal. I have vivid memories of sitting on the front porch of my Granny’s big yellow house helping her tip off the ends of the snaps we had grown. Once I asked her if the little beans inside the pods we were topping could grow a new bean plant. She said, “I don’t know, but you could try.”
That was all the encouragement I needed. My knowledge of proper gardening was quite limited, and still is. All I knew was that if I had the seed, the soil and the sun there was a chance I could grow something. So I took my little bean over to the side yard and dug into the dirt with my hand. Carefully, I made a place for my seed to nest. I packed the dirt back over it and walked away, excited and curious. In a matter of days there were sprouts. Not long after that there was a full fledged plant that produced a few beans that summer. Granny told me over and over that I had a green thumb and I would blush, so proud of that little plant.
Madam Judy’s House
This painting is inspired by my Granny’s yellow house, memories and ancestral lines.
I have been thinking about that green bean experiment lately. I did not need to know all the science and the details, didn’t have to research and become an expert gardener to make that grow. Never checked the ph balance of the soil, or had any idea how deep down the seed needed to be planted. I think I might have watered it once all summer. What it took was the desire to indulge my curiosity, a surrender to the process, acceptance of whatever the outcome might be, and the willingness to give it a try. I’m back at that place of curiosity, surrender and acceptance now.
Loud voices and naysayers would have us believe that to grow anything we need to become experts first. That we have to learn the “right” ways, the “prescribed” methods and formulas. But the truth is, we become experts while in process. Curiosity and desires guide us to our own expertise, which is unique to our timeline and development. That little seed of mine grew, with child me not knowing anything about how to make it grow. I just gave it a chance.
This spring I approached a new kind of soil, with seedlings I have been nurturing for a lifetime. I’m curious to see how this plant sprouts and grows.
For as long as I can remember I have been making art. Some of my happiest moments in creation were well before any formal training. And, if I am being honest, the formal training part sucked the life out of the process for a while. It set up boundaries in my mind about creating “correctly.” As if that is a thing anyone can define for you. It has taken me multiple cancers, a lot of grief and a concerted effort to get myself back to creating from my own expression. Recently my personal Imaginative Realm has been welcoming me home and inviting me to grow from its fertile soil. In there I can return to the simple joy of the creation itself, regardless of what might come of it. There I have nothing to prove, no need to impress others with skills, or to create with a market in mind. I can simply make art because I have my own visions and ideas. They want to be made seen.
Now, I am finally ready to just put this seedling in the earth and see what grows.
I have been making new work. Work that wants to be shared. Its voice was loudly asking for a platform and a place to connect to the outer world. So…I am giving my artwork and images a portal designed for them to connect to others at my website www.amymakesart.com. Like seeds in the soil, I feel like I have to just begin to trust that if I give it over to process, it will grow into whatever it should be.
I’ve set up a few collections. planted in rows…
It is with trust in the process, surrender and acceptance that I open this portal. As if digging in the dirt with my hands to plant that little green bean, I have dug into the process of finding a way to give my creations a platform. Now, I am trusting that I don’t need to plan, or to study how to do any of this. If I waited to be an expert in all the things I was told it takes to be successful in sharing my art, I would limit my own growing potential. I would never have a planting season, much less a growing one. At this point in my life, I want to focus on things that are meaningful to me, things that want growth. Creating and sharing my love of the creative process are the seeds I have carried for a lifetime. I have faith that the other pieces will fall into place.
So I invite you into the tiny garden I am planting. I welcome you to look around and see if anything I am growing sparks your curiosity. I’m always happy to connect and have conversations about the pieces in my collections, so message me with any questions. One way I know an artist’s garden grows is with new eyes…so please feel free to share.