I get offered solo shows a couple of times a year and I rarely accept so this really isn’t too far out of my normal. But this one was during my “down” time so in theory I could part with my originals for a month with little inconvience. Somehow it just seemed like too much work.

But I did agree to do it. Thanks Clara.

Robert, seriously good advice (as always) I just had my yearly physical and blood work and I am in perfect health, for the health I’ve got anyway. I’ll just keep plugging along.

Undaunted, When I figure it all ( the happy boost thing) You’ll be the first to know.

Lorie, Thanks so much for offering support and commenting. Welcome. And I promise I am usually downright perky. Or is it snarky? whichever.

I am sorry you are in a winter slump and I agree with Robert when he suggests the Daylight lamp. I live in northwestern Montana and the winter days, as well as being short, are often gloomy. I used to suffer with extreme winter blues, but now I have one of these lights on my desk, as a desk lamp, and it has turned it around for me!

I love the totem animals you posted and would love to see a Raven- one of my favorite birds! and they believe in having fun, so maybe in painting one, some of their playfulness will rub off onto you and help you out of the doldrums!

happy painting!

That kind of feeling is something I had sometimes when I was doing art full time. It came when I was getting so stressed over it that I didn’t have the concentration to give my art the best quality I could. I didn’t enjoy doing it. What I did just for money lacked something.

I looked back some time later at the things that went unsold when I was burned out. I noticed mistakes in the “lifeless” “technically good but uninspired” pieces that I wouldn’t have made if I’d been in a better frame of mind. Things that I knew how to do well flew out the window. I did bad compositions, was lazy about things, didn’t do it well because I was tired of doing it.

So whatever it takes to get back to where you love what you’re doing, do that. For me it was that I got depressed at not being able to afford to keep my favorites, any of them. I needed everything I drew or painted to sell and was too worried about selling in order to survive.

Also check your health. Run through a list of “am I too tired, too hungry, too sick right now?”

That burnout and the depression underlying it was that I was in denial about my disabilities. I’d done some things to save money like move away from where I set up, out of the French Quarter to a cheaper larger place. Cleaning up my apartment was physically harder and so was going out to the Quarter to set up for street art.

I was feeling the chronic exhaustion. I had all unknowing set up my life so that in order to keep up with activities of daily living, I was spending more body energy than I had available. Things started going by the wayside, like cleaning up my apartment vs. getting out to paint to make the rent. I cut too many corners to survive and the crash when it came was a bad one — months of bed rest staying with friends.

I was also unaware of how physically disabled I am or that my problems were physical at all. I thought it was depression. Everyone around me thought it was depression all my life.

No one noticed the limp, how slow I walk or that I’m crooked. This still blows me away to this day.

So if something is going wrong in life in your blind spot, that could be it. Health concerns, lack of light, stresses you’re blowing off that are things that need attention could all contribute to this loss of emotional energy.

Do you have enough rumination time?

Art or writing take some premeditation. Take some fooling-around time, looking out a window, goofing off doing other things while casually thinking “oh that would be awesome to paint” and that whole mental process.

If it is the light, it may help to get more lighting. Especially color-corrected daylight lighting. I bought a Daylight lamp a couple of years ago and love it, that has reduced how much the SAD gets to me in winter. I still hate winter, don’t function as well in winter and loathe the short days but it’s not as grim as it was without the lamp.

Good luck. I feel for you with this. Whatever’s sapping your energy, I hope you can sort it out and get your life in balance.

Paint something true and beautiful for yourself. Something you always wanted, both wanted to do and wanted to have in your home. Even if it’s something no one would ever imagine a Mona Majorowicz painting to be, that may open up the floodgates. If you have a secret love for Impressionist landscapes or weird abstract collages, now might be the time to try it to break out of the funk.

Take care.

For me personally, I’m in no hurry to re-arrange my postponed girly night from December. I’m just not in the mood for it right now. If you find something that gives you a kick, let me know what it is!