There’s a big Tom Turkey in full breeding plumage and color holding court in my driveway this week. He is spectacular — fanned out, iridescent, puffed to about twice his actual size, gobbling around. All of it apparently for the three hens foraging on the hill behind the house, who are, for the record, completely unbothered. The funny thing: the moment you step outside and actually look at him, the whole display collapses. He deflates right back down to bird-sized and starts edging away.
Isn’t he something?
Edging Away
Maybe you’ve been edging around a project, or edging away from it. Something in progress, or something still just living in your mind and heart that you want to start. Maybe you’re afraid it won’t be good enough. Maybe there’s something you don’t know how to do and that feels like a wall. Maybe you’re wondering what other people will think.
But, know this: you were born creative. That didn’t go anywhere. It’s still in there, exactly where it always was. Sometimes all it takes is a little encouragement, and someone to help you remember what you already know how to do.
That’s what I’m here for.
Outside Eyes: a new door, open
I’ve put something new on Ko-fi this week. Not a launch, not a big deal, just opening a door and letting you know it’s there.
You know that feeling, you’ve looked at the stuck work until you can’t see it anymore. You’ve asked people who love you and gotten kind, useless answers or, worse, asked people who have no idea and gotten unkind, useless answers. What you actually need is someone who will look at it. Directly. With no agenda.
That’s Outside Eyes. You send me your work ahead of time: images, writing, a voice memo, video, even the postal mail if you want - whatever form makes sense. I sit with it and see it. Then you get a Loom video of me talking you through what I see and how you might move forward. Not a critique, not coaching. Experienced, direct, outside eyes that see through the project to what’s actually going on. Including you, not just the work.
$35. One complete exchange. If you see yourself in this, let’s open that door.
The door is open.
What’s happening in the studio
Lately, I’ve noticed that recent work was feeling lifeless, constricted, like I’d wandered away from something true. So I started experimenting on some panels I inherited from another artist’s studio, just to see what would happen. Those first loose “let’s see what happens” layers are evolving into something I’m genuinely excited about: a small series of otherworldly, almost visceral botanical forms. Not planned. Found. The process knows what it’s doing, even when I don’t.
In progress.
First one found.
What are you edging around right now? Is there a project, an idea, a beginning you keep not beginning?
Click reply and tell me, I read every message and I write back.
I See Your Light,
Monette
PS — Outside Eyes is $35 and lives here: https://ko-fi.com/s/c6a79bae5d — if something has been circling in your mind, this might be exactly what you need.
PPS — I just heard him. The turkey is still out there. Still magnificent, still gobbling, still deflating the instant anyone, other than the hens, actually shows up to look. He’s doing his part.