Perfectly Imperfect, a lesson for all ages.
P.S. save the date for my annual print sale!
Before I get into todays notes, my annual print sale starts next Thursday! I’ll also be retiring a number of prints in an attempt to keep a more curated collection. If you’re planning to take advantage, now is a great time to start measuring your walls! Please leave any questions in the comments.
Hello! It’s good to be back.
As it turns out, my ambitions for churning out an email each Thursday morning have fizzled to a more manageable weekly-ish email whenever I finish writing, but in the spirit of today’s topic, and perhaps my new year’s resolution, I’ll settle for perfectly imperfect just fine. Aka do less. Take that January.
Earlier this week, on a snowy day off from school, we occupied ourselves with early Valentine’s crafts. My daughter found herself extremely frustrated she didn’t draw something “perfectly”, and as many four year old frustrations go, hysteria ensued, followed by crumpling the work and throwing it in the trash.
I immediately found myself trying to calm her down, hugging her and giving her a pep talk:
“The beautiful thing about art is that it isn’t perfect! These imperfections are proof it was done by hand! Your hands! Hands that nobody else can replicate! In fact, the imperfections often make something much more interesting and personal to others.”
I don’t know how much of this really sank in, and even while saying it, I felt that familiar pang that appears when doling advice you yourself need most. The lesson applies to art of course, but also life. The two just happen to be very closely tied for me.
The truth is, when I’m creating with my kids, I find myself envying their ability to just sit down, put crayon to paper, and start creating with no end goal in mind. They’re purely doing it for the process. Escaping to that meditative state that hooked me on art in the first place.
Their uninhibited marks are raw and unrefined. Pure and uninfluenced.
Is there any amount of un-learning we can do for us to return to that natural state? And how do I help them preserve that magic?
Unsure, but I’ll keep trying. I certainly won’t be perfect at it. Cést la vie parenting.
It’s decided - my motto for the year: “perfectly imperfect.”
Table Talk
Some perfectly imperfect inspiration:
Speaking of cést la vie, I recently returned to Hillary Kerr’s Second Life Pod interviewing Clare Vivier. I’ve been infatuated with the brand Clare V. for some time and love her ‘perfectly imperfect’ design philosophy. Also a fan of both their Substacks -
+ - and not that anyone asked, but I organized my fave Clare V. pieces here.A favorite children’s book that’s been helping us navigate perfectionism.
My artist/mom pal Lucy Reiser (who also has a Substack:
) just recommended this book to me. Moving it to the top of my list.And finally, an art tip: next time you’re drawing or sketching, ditch the eraser. Better yet - use pen. Live with the mistakes! The wonkier the better! As one of my favorite art teachers says “details are for de-horses.” Aka, less is more.
x
Katherine
P.S. Thank you all for the kind notes and messages in response to my Love Letter to LA last week. Still sending lots of love.
x
Katherine
Thank you for sitting at the art table with me! If you want to follow me @katherinecorden.art I’d love to have you. And if you have anything to share, please leave a comment below.
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Loved the sketching reels so much!
We need the book “ish” because this is a big struggle in our house! Those perfectionist first born baby girls.