Inspiration & Relevance

This post revolves around two things:

inspiration, and relevance.

Last night I dreampt about Madonna. I dream about her occasionally. It's odd when you consider that I don't like her songs much, but I find her strength and drive fascinating. When I woke up, I had some of those half-formed ideas that sometimes turn into art pieces. I ran out to the studio to turn the heat on, and do some thumbnails for a new series. Are these connected? I don't know, but I may want to figure that out... I'm working on revising my artist's statement, using Alsyon Stanfield's new book about promotion: "I'd Rather Be in the Studio". In it, she uses a series of questions designed to help artists get clear about the inspiration behind the work. How am I going to incorporate dreams of Madonna into an artist statement? Should be interesting.

And relevance: This photo of my shoes seems irrelevant, but the fact is, I love the way the light comes through that sliding glass door, and shines through the screen that's leaning there. Noticing things like this, I photograph them. That's relevant to the creative process, just as relevant as the ideas that flew out of my head and into the sketchbook this morning; ideas for pieces that spring from my love of this place I live, and from the losses of last summer's Angora fire.

Alternative Gallery Spaces

As a born-and-raised New York girl, I loved this post on Alyson B. Stanfield's ArtBizBlog. (I just clicked on the link on her site that goes to the actual New York Times article, but as it's "yesterday's news", you have to register to read the whole thing. Read an excerpt at Alyson's blog).

It concerns a rather brave art gallery in chi-chi Chelsea. Here in Tahoe, we also suffer from a dearth of gallery space, and my friends and I are always trying to think of possible alternatives. If anyone has any great alternative gallery stories or suggestions, send it along!

Oprah for President

No new photos today; Alan took the kids on a trip to Death Valley, leaving me camera-less and all alone... not that I mind. I love being left alone for awhile. (Although not TOO long... )

But that's okay, because I can't show you the new art helmets anyway... they're going to be a surprise, so don't say anything, okay? I'll post them for you to see when they're finished, which will be Friday, with some luck. It's somewhat of an excersise in how quickly an art helmet can get done, if it needed to... but that's not why I'm making these particular pieces.

(I can't tell you that either; it's a surprise, remember?)

In the meantime, with my noisy boys gone, I've had time to think about Alyson Stanfield's question she posed in her newsletter last week:

What does success as an artist mean to me?

I know I can answer this, but it's something that I FEEL more than something I can put into words, so I've been working it this week. It's been really hard to put the sensations onto paper. But there are some parts that are easier to articulate, like, oh, say: be on "Oprah". (ha!) I don't watch tv much, and never during the day, but somebody told me to tune in to her follow-up on "The Secret" last week, so I put it on while I made dinner....and you know what? I love Oprah. How can you not love Oprah?

But I digress. Success, my vision for my art; I'm still working with it. Got a couple more days before the boys come home and chaos resumes.

Art First!

After I finished that last post, I found Alyson Stanfield's weekly newsletter in my Inbox. Here's an excerpt:

"At the same time, I worry that you might be neglecting your art. I fear that you might get so caught up in building your mailing list, posting to your blog, and sending thank-you notes that you forfeit precious studio time. Don't let this happen. There will never be enough time in the day to do everything you want to do, so get over that fantasy right now. Realize that you will always have to squeeze in the business stuff while you continue making art. Sure, there will be times when one is weighted more heavily than the other, but your art should always take precedence. Your art should always be first. Without it, you are not an artist.You're studio time is sacred. You're an artist and artists make art. When they're not making art, artists think about making art. Artists talk about making art. Artists read about making art. Artists must make art in order to feel whole. Without the art, you are miserable and are without a career. Without your devotion to the rituals surrounding making art, your art suffers.You already know this, but I'll repeat it for effect: the art market is highly competitive. You should be concentrating on getting better and better at your art, not just on your marketing. You should put your art first.
Know This . . .Without the art, you are not an artist."

Copyright 2008 Alyson B. Stanfield.
http://www.ArtBizCoach.com

Perfect timing. Thanks, Alyson.

An Art Year: Shifting Balance

Happy Solstice, Art Fans!

It's seven degrees here, at 12:15 in the afternoon.

SEVEN. Degrees.

But that's not what I sat down to write about. This is my "end-of-year" post, partly because it 's the Solstice and partly because I'm just feeling that way today. As I sit here, my other computer is cycling through its screensaver photos, and I'm reminded of what a good year it was. In her newsletter this week, Alyson Stanfied wrote about using this time to focus on our accomplishments, in an article called "Celebrate Your Wins", that might help jog our memories. I plan on using this, either on my own, or with the Underground Artists (if they're willing!). Because I know that some days I feel like I've made a lot of mistakes this year, but with age comes at least a small bit of wisdom. So I want to focus on what I learned, and what I accomplished this year, before heading into the new one.



I live on Saint Nick Way, in a place called Christmas Valley, and a reporter for the local paper came by the other day to interview me for a piece she was doing on said valley (read article here). We sat down to talk in the studio and she asked me how long I'd been doing this work. I had to really think before I answered, because I've been at it since before my first son was born 13 years ago, yet it was only this year that the balance shifted between my responsibilites to my boys and my responsibility to myself and my art. And so I told her "a year". I've really been doing this with intention and a sense of commitment for one year. And I think it's been a pretty good one.


A frickin' great one.


In the spirit of gathering up myself for this new one, 2008, I feel myself being drawn to return to some 2D work. I sat down and did a quick piece on the morning of my Open Studio. It's a start. And it was fun. More to come, next year. For now, the work space will be transformed into a wreath-making, gift-wrapping station.


Happy Holidays, and stay warm!

Art is an Endurance Sport

I did a little ranting yesterday: on my blog, and at my Underground Artist's meeting... on the subject of yesterday's post, and I'm grateful to my fellow UA's for listening to me; they've heard this before. And thank you Kristen, for the observation that became this morning's post title; it's brilliant!

We were talking, also, about the appropriateness of a mountain biking class that B. and I are signed up for... is this "who we are"? When I identified myself as an artist, finally, it became important for me to also figure out who I was not. (I said I was a late bloomer!) I'm NOT a mountain biker, but I have kids, and they love nothing more than barreling along a sandy trail, jumping off of rocks. So I felt I should know a little more about this. And in the process, maybe a little more about myself. Do I have what it takes to make it through this class? Do I have what it takes to make it through this particular round of questioning my art; to make it to the next level of commitment?

Maybe papier mache isn't the end result, but at this point, it's part of the process, and I've got to start where I am. I can go anywhere from here. And since I had a middle-of-the-night insight into how to finish this piece, for now I'll just keep going...

In the meantime, here's a quote from Alyson Stanfield's upcoming book . . .

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own.No apologies or excuses.No one to lean on, rely on, or blame.The gift is yours—it is an amazing journey—and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins."—Bob Moawad

PBS on Art

I just got around to reading some past newsletters from Alyson Stanfield that have been building up in my inbox. A few weeks ago she wrote about "seducing" one's viewers. In it there's a link to a PBS series called art:21 that unfortunately won't be showing in my area! But it looks great. Check out the website. It's going into it's fourth season, so maybe everyone knows about it, but it's the first I've heard of it.