Finding Warm Light

I loved Jim's analogy in class of how painters will sometimes move or vacation in spots that provide them with the right, warm light. There, they will start a bunch of paintings that they can then finish at home when the light there has changed appropriately with the seasons.

This made me think of the way I'm approaching my final project. I have decided on it, but I sometimes fear that I'm not spending enough time at it, just because I have no tangible product in the works yet. I have spent hours searching for inspirational work and experimenting with sketches that play with balance and with painted sheets of trial textures, color combinations, and washes. I have been, I suppose, finding a warm light, a place of security and starting ground. I like that this is something I should see as progress, rather than feeling anxious about the product.

I've actually been considering something similar in relationship to my personal plan for creativity and how it is working (or, as is more accurately the case, not working). I find it interesting that I always give myself a personal checklist of sorts and that I prioritize it such that I get the 'not fun' stuff done before I allow myself to do the 'fun' stuff. For example, in my marking, I always force myself to finish a set of essays before I mark a class set of projects. This is because I think I'll be more effective that way - I'll work through the more laborious stuff in order to get to the more enjoyable. But, if I'm truly honest with myself, this rarely works. It generally just means that I put off both things. What if, instead, I allowed myself the 'warm light' start of doing the thing I am more personally motivated to do first. Might I not then find myself in a better frame of mind for the other work? I would perhaps feel more productive, more capable, more 'on a roll'. I think I need to try this out.