The Yips

When most people hear about the yips, they either think about sports or TV shows that have an episode based around the yips (Psych, How I Met Your Mother).  Who knew that artists could suffer from this affliction as well?  Wikipedia, the most reliable website on the Internet (when are they going to invent a sarcasm font?!), defines yips thusly*:

"Yips or the yips is an expression used to describe the apparent loss of certain fine motor skills seemingly without explanation in one of a number of different sports."

Well, I'm just going to have to log on and change their definition to include painting, because I've got a bad case.  I've heard people talk about the yips as sometimes happening due to increased pressure - a big game coming up, a lot of things riding on a match, etc.  For me, I think it's my impending Graduate Thesis Exhibition (Opening on November 21st with my defense on the 29th) that has brought on this case.

I seem to be unable to mix the right colors, get the right effects, or generally make my paintings look the way that I want them to.  Increased pressure led to increased stress, which led to my mad painting skillz defenestrating*.

But not to worry, I have a plan.  It will involve some abstract painting, chocolate chip cookies, swimming laps, finger exercises (a la Pete & Pete, when the Petes' Dad was trying to get his fingers to fit in the bowling ball, Rolling Thunder, again), meditation, and possibly carbo-loading.  But not all at once.  And probably not carbo-loading.

I'll let you know how things go.  In the mean time, I'd appreciate any prayers, good thoughts, or chocolate chip cookies you wanted to send my way!  But mostly the prayers and good thoughts.  And the chocolate chip cookies.


*I may have the Painting Yips, but my ability to use ridiculous words has increased forthwith.