Art Supply Hoarder Seeks New Hobby

Almost anything creative interests me, and that’s a problem. The boxes and shelves of art supplies continually grow to proportions that make my neat and tidy sister have fits. She’s mostly able to restrain herself from calling me a hoarder. And when my items start oozing out of designated areas, with a long-suffering sigh, she’ll either politely mention it to me or clean it up herself. The second option usually pushes me to do it myself because her way leads to things getting tossed or donated, objects of which I’m assured I’ll never miss anyway.

She does have a point, because much as I love the thought of spending my time in creative abandon, the reality is, I often don’t make the time to do it. Oh, I have grand plans. Just this past week of Thanksgiving, I was going to spend hours diving into watercolor painting. Watercolor has long been the bane of my creative efforts, being more technical than a dabbler like me can master with only a few hours here and there and a generally unforgiving medium. Paint over a light section and all the work before is POOF, lost with hours seemingly wasted.

I didn’t actually pull out the watercolors over Thanksgiving break. I colored with markers and ink. I drew a bit. I watched some tutorial videos on YouTube. There’s a lot to learn from YouTube art videos, but they also tend to be a reason why nothing gets done.

Probably the medium I’ve spent the most time on is soft pastels. For not quite a decade, I went to the South Bend Museum of Art every Tuesday night for eight weeks in the spring and another eight weeks in the fall for classes with a wonderful teacher named Cathy McCormick. After you attend the first 8 week sessions, the classes become more like open studio time while Cathy would teach the newbies. She would make time to come around and help out her veterans, chit chat, and sometimes pass out helpful handouts to work through on skill improvement.

While being surrounded by a group of talented artists working in the same medium, inspiring and helping each other, was wonderful, it was the accountability I miss. In the studio, there are few if any home distractions (as long as the phone remains in the backpack). There’s nothing but you and your canvas and an ever-growing supply of pastel colors and brands to try out.

The pandemic put a stop to pastel class for a while, and during the time away I discovered pastel dust and allergies aren’t a good mix. Not that I didn’t know it. I rarely did pastels at home because of dust. But actually being able to breathe decently certainly made me reluctant to go back to class.

So what’s an artistic hoarder to do?

I decided it’s time to pick up a new hobby. I’m interviewing other mediums to decide if they can be my new best friend. Watercolors are exciting but intimidating. Charcoal creates as much dust as pastel. Digital painting is intriguing, but I already spend too much time in front of a screen. Unlike my grandmother who was disgusted by the mess of our first pastel workshop, I love getting my hands dirty, so ceramics could be the one. But like pastels, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it from the comfort of my home.

And let's face it, I’m a commitment-phobe with art mediums. I want to do them all, so maybe a mixed media approach will work best for me?

I’m determined to make a decision by the end of the year and not only that, but a schedule. That accountability is essential. Because I’m never happy sitting and doing nothing, and yet it seems like after work, I’m tired enough to make nothing appealing. And so I’m also determined not to be a commitment-phobe when it comes to that schedule. Every Tuesday night, starting after Christmas break, I’m diving into art for three hours, as if I was in class.

Wish me luck on this New Year’s resolution.

In the meantime, I’ll continue relearning fundamentals, sketching, coloring, and most of all I’ll try not to be seduced by that old comfy chair. (It’s actually not very comfy, which makes it all the more sad.)

Zara Osterman

Project Specialist

Communications

Below: A shelf of one of Zara's art stashes, a pastel painting in progression, and two finished pastel paintings.

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