Hilarity for the masses

So... I came across a blog Dooce® two years ago or so that is funny while being bluntly honest. She has a bazillion followers and I think they said 1.6 million twitter readers. I am not one as I just don't care about twitter. If I care what you are doing I'll call you, but otherwise its just stalking.

If you need some internetting diversion its a great place to lose track of an hour of your life. I just wanted to share that little nugget along with this one...  I too (like Heather of Dooce) have a crazy Australian Shepherd. I put things on his head and take photos of him. Who knew people wanted to see these things and buy calendars of the photos. My photos are not nearly has fab. I'm just reaching for a way to be as cool as her. I have two Aussies so that makes me twice as cool or twice as crazy. Read her blog and you'll understand.

Watson a.k.a. Wat sporting Mrs. Potato Head glasses. Fashionable? Yes.

Today is ours and today alone.

Working with both children and adults that are learning art gives me quite the perspective on how people feel about the art they make. Children freely jump into their projects without needing samples or detailed instruction to make it their own. Sometime I barely am able to finish my instructions before they start with reckless abandon. I try to talk about my samples to explain bits and pieces of art history - why the artist did what they did and what it says about the artist. But they look at me wide-eyed waiting for me to give them the go ahead to draw or paint or dig into their clay. They don't care what came before them they just want to make what they have in their heads and hearts. When they are finished you can see the pride on their faces as they talk about what the made and why.

Adults are another story. Not that they don't jump in whole hog, but they make wincing and contorted faces as they glace at others and back at their own piece. When I ask about the piece they just made I rarely hear pride in the voice or even praises for themselves. I know that as adults we think people will judge us as cocky if we like what we create. I think its time for a change. Embrace your "mistakes" and differences and celebrate the fact that you are creating. You are learning and improving every time you pick up your brush or ball of clay.

I chose the piece featured at the top, a painting I have hanging by the front counter, to express the need for embracing our present. Our present level of perceived skill at an art form, our present era of art and available mediums. We may not be where we want to be but if we don't love where we are today how are we to move forward tomorrow?

What did you create today? Did you look at it and say "hello art, I like you."? No?! Well you should.

The Fear in Art

Hello all... I bet you think I'm going to talk about the birds again. Haha I am not! I just like to have pictures to entertain and amuse.

Instead, I'll talk about a book I found at a cute little book store and coffee shop in the Haymarket in Lincoln over the weekend - not overwhelming full of books. I felt like I could actually find something without finding 18 of the same type of book and wondering which one to get because they were all about the same. I purchased the new Dr. Seuss book "My Many Colored Days" that he wrote back in 1973 but was illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher after Dr. Seuss' death. Although that was a great find (didn't know it existed) my favorite find of the day was "Art/fear - An Artist's Survival Guide" by authors David Bayles and Ted Orland. I've read maybe a third and everything thing they say about creating art is everything I've ever thought and questioned put into eloquent words.

I wish I could assign the book to everyone and have a little book club meeting to talk about all the things they bring up line by line. But, since that isn't going to happen I'll just share little treasures from the book along with a few of my ramblings and jumbled up sentences to go with it. Let me also just state that this isn't just a book for painters or ceramicists but for writers, designers, quilters, crafters, and anyone who ever thought "why did I stop making ____? or How do I do this art thing like all those successful artists?"

For those of you out there that do make art I'm sure like me you have wondered if you are doing it right.  What if when you pick up your brush you take the potential the supplies offer and mess it up? What if you start something and it goes nowhere or if you finish it and its horrible (even if only to you) Sometimes you blame the paint or the weather or the sunlight (or lack thereof) and of course your "talent" as the reason your art just isn't good enough. In the book I'm reading they talk about this uncertainty in creating art and they say...

"Its always like that. Art is like beginning a sentence before you know its ending. The risks are obvious: you may never get to the end of the sentence at all – or having gotten there, you may not have said anything. ... In making art you need to give yourself room to respond authentically, both to your subject matter and to your materials."

I'm encouraged, inspired and intrigued everytime I pick up this book. Its like a special understanding hug just for artists and artists at heart.

Color me ready for spring

Before my trip to Austin I finished up a painting that was requested to go with a previous painting of a little girl with a baloon. I spent three days working on this watercolor creation. I teach watercolor and obviously paint with watercolors occasionally, but I prefer the quick drying, easy to paint over my mistakes acrylic. I find that I happily spend time on the details of a person and thier clothes but when it comes to the background I'm all about getting it over with. I should do more with watercolor and see if there is a way to paint with it that I actually love.

I'm working on a large watercolor painting of a hillside in Greece. I'll have to post it when I get all those Greek houses painted. I'm going for outrageous colors and lots of details. Stay posted...

House vases... getting closer

I've been slacking on my blogging for a bit. I'm back and plan to share so much in the next few weeks. I took a lovely little vacation to see family in Texas. Saw Austin for the first time and loved it. It was so nice to escape snow and below freezing temps to see grass and the sun! Any whooooo....

I wanted to show some of the houses that are completed for the Houses for Haiti. My glazing volunteers disappeared into the snowey night and I haven't seen them since. I hope to get the rest glazed this week so I can share the whole little village. For now you will have to oooh and aaaah over the four that are ready to go.

 

  

  

 

It takes a village to make a village

We had our Houses for Haiti event last Friday. It was so much fun to see what people made and how they took it in their own direction. They are in the drying process and will be fired tomorrow and Thursday so they can be glazed in gorgeous colors and sold. I can not wait to see them all done and colorful. I'm adding this project to my list of party options since it was hoot and so easy to do. (I think)

They were slab built and Roberta of Artists for Hope even created a detailed little rooster sculpture to add to her "entrance". Clay is such a versatile medium and you can get wonderful results at almost any skill level. If you haven't tried creating in clay you really should. Its therapeutic to get your hands dirty while creating objects of beauty. Just be aware you will need a tub of moisturizer when you are done -  especially in the winter.

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy in the mean time. We had 12 houses/vases all together. They look like a funky little village of mud houses right now. My husband even made a huge vase that looks like a church.