I disappeared for a month

To run away from burnout

Hello! It’s been almost a month of me not writing anything here… I took some time off because of two reasons. First is that I’ve become a little bit too much overwhelmed with social media. I know I post quite a lot - for many weeks I’ve done it almost daily on multiple platforms. So I decided to take a step back and rethink my strategy for promoting my works online. I still don’t have an answer for that, but I’m working on making my workflow more organised and pre-planned, so I don’t have to worry so much that I don’t have anything to post.

The second reason was that I had a sense burnout was approaching. I could almost feel it breathing down my neck. And I really didn’t want it to come. So I tried to do some things differently to stimulate my curiosity and just have fun. First I tried using multiple new materials, different painting techniques etc. But as I tested more and more different stuff I became even more anxious with my work. I needed something simpler. And then, one day I grabbed a pencil to quickly sketch an idea that just popped into my mind. It struck me that I haven’t drawn with pencils for almost a decade. I never really liked doing that, so I used them just to sketch compositions for my paintings and it was the first time I’ve become so drawn into this medium.

Simple sketches created only in grey have their own specific poetics and delicacy. This ephemerality reminds me of quick notes made on scraps of paper, bills or napkins in a café. They have something of the fleetingness of the moment and they are so light that the wind could carry them away.

And so, just like that, I was saved by the simplest possible solution – pencils. I waved goodbye to my burnout and started another sketchbook, just with pencil drawings. I’ll share more of it with you, when it’ll be finished. For now new ideas are blooming there in their own pace.

All right, that's all for today. I just wanted to say hi and let you know that I'm still alive.

Have a lovely afternoon,

Karolina

P.S. How is your end of the summer? I feel tired of the heat and I just want autumn to arrive.