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jigglyjoy
Posts:11
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| 10/25/2007 11:09 AM |
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carroll's_art
WOW! Awesome works. I feel blessed to be on the Artist's Network.
I'm starting a class monday, it's about mixed media. Hoping it will expand my horizon's, and open my eyes into something else creatively.
Joyce |
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vmcguin
Posts:13
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| 10/27/2007 8:38 PM |
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Why Make Art? I guess we've all asked ourselves that question at one point or another. My family and friends act amazed sometimes when I finish a picture at how I can do what I do. Yet I know for myself there are times when I cannot draw a straight line. I had a friend in college that took piano lessons from the time he was 6, he could read the notes, and play any piece of music you put in front of him, but until I started sketching again, I didn't understand why he always said, that he couldn't feel what he played. Art in any form is a part of us, it's a passion, it's rage, hatred, love, gluttony, and all the other emotions you can think about.
You said your a church secretary. Have you tried religious themes? Old stories from the bible? Genesis, Adam and Eve, The Flood, David in the Lions Den, King Solomon...Yes these are all pictures we've seen growing up, but the difference is that each one has a bit of the artist inside of them. If you have a digital camera, and if it's alright with your church, take pictures of the congregation during a service. Put on canvas what you feel inside.
I learned when I put the text books away, and started painting what I felt, my sketches took on a life of their own. Don't give up 
I hope this helps a little bit, please let me know how things come along.
Vilma
Clarks Summit, Pa
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Johnjteeee
Posts:3
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| 12/11/2007 7:20 PM |
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| I think that was a good discussion of the "why we do it" it's a whole other issue as to what to do with it once we've made it. Being socially accepted doesn't mean it's worth it's weight or selling art shouldn't be involved in why we're doing it, I think everyone can see that...that said many art pieces will end up in the corner of the studio. That's ok. I think getting people you meet to come and visit your workspace and maybe discover "the art in the corner" is the way to go. Wheither it's online or physically showing your art in a local restaurant and/or coffee house could be the way to go for getting that art out into the appreciating public's eye. I wouldn't give up, I would just try to get better |
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catti
Posts:16
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| 12/12/2007 3:47 PM |
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| My uncle is an artist, quite known, but still works night shifts at the local hospital. He is not too keen on selling his stuff, or at producing what the crowd wants. Another person I know is selling her paintings at very high prices, but she never had any education, and the art is very mainstream, like what you buy at IKEA. Guess people have different motivations.... |
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banina
Posts:3
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| 01/19/2008 3:26 PM |
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I think it is interesting that an artist yearns to be creative without anyone telling him/her to draw/paint/sculpt...etc It is within every artist to express some how in the world ideas and ways of being creative. Why make art? Make art and be creative and weld, and sculpt, and paint, and draw and sew....because it is within an artist to do so.
www.creativeglossary.com
Banina
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FrankLeeding
Posts:11
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| 03/28/2008 2:07 AM |
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(I have enjoyed reading *all* of the comments in this
thread - it is the one thing that we can do that
is "not lieing" (as we *must* do as artists) when
we write on that great mystery of the why-ness of
things.)
I always have problems with being a "successful" artist.
I tend to create what i want to see and feel that i should
do as an artist. That some people (who are not themselves
artists) actually like it is always a nice high and that
they will pay money for it even more so. This being especially
true since in American culture you are almost ENTIRELY judged
or valued by how much money/wealth you have - it's the ultimate
obsession that i'm glad that i don't have much of. So, of course
i could get lot more for my work than i do (i also have friends
that do that with no qualms)...
Of course, i'm willing to work on commissions, but then we go
back to my own style and such. If they want me to pull out
the projector and paint something for them IN OIL - then it
just drives me crazy; i almost always refer them to someone
else. I simply haven't got time to paint light-houses and cute
OIL PAINTINGS that *must* be in oil, after all that's what
REAL ART is supposed to be (i know friends that do that sort
of thing and have no problem charging them $500+ for the work).
If i was in it for the money, then i'd have gone into real
estate or become a auto dealership owner, etc. I tend to donate
a lot of work for charity auctions and such -- slipping one of
my business cards in with the work: "Just in case"...
Me? I do it as Picasso once said was one of our main motivators
because (like children) we enjoy it so much. I also see some of
my work as being a part of the on-going 50_000 year old conversation
of this thing called "art".
So, i guess my main point is that we as artists MUST create - we
are the piano in the concert hall that when it stands silent and
empty it might as well be a pile of scrap wood, springs and black
lacqured pannels. The only thing that we CAN do is produce
art - whether it's acting or music, or .... and our "dayjob" allows
us to do that. I enter shows on occasion - or when asked to; i've
had people actually pay the entrance fees for me because *they*
want my work to be shown. Other friends are afraid that i might
well die in obscurity, etc. Oh, well it's for the here and now
for the most part. I often volunteer as an usher for local
theatre and enjoy it immensely - again i am a part of the
community of artists and they "live for their art". One of my
closest friends sells appliances at a local mall BY DAY, but
at 7pm he "comes alive". I sell at the local art sales - again
volunteering to "watch the tables" for people who have to drop
their stuff off and can't be there. We may paint/create in
isolation (well, us painter/sculptor/etc types) but we ARE
a part of a greater community. If you travel and mention that
you are an artist you will find us everywhere - waiting tables,
working in the library, etc, etc, etc - you just can't keep
those artists down; doan tchuh gnogh? Friends of mine who
travel for shows and such find that there are *always* people
who will put them up - only the Amnesity International group
has ever impressed me as being that close; yep, i "man" the
tables for them regularly: Torture is one of the things that
i *absolutely* can not put up with (regardless of the *supposed*
need).
It's sad that in the USA we aren't valued more. When i worked
in industry i found that most of the *foreigners* that i worked
with (especially from the middle east and the far east) were
much more interested in my art work (i also write poetry on
occasion) than my "success" in the business world.
But, again to the economic necessities of life. Since canvas and
paint is so expensive and such (i usually paint in acrylics these
days mainly for the rapidity with which i can work). As such the
"stack in the rental locker" grows slowly - i don't really care
for the "graveyard" reference -- We all remember how a lot of
the ASL (Art Students League) works from WW II ended up in
the back of junk shops or being striped down since canvas
made a good insulator for hot water pipes in the post-war
housing boom). So, as such, i tend to think out designs
and sketch them in my note books and if i really feel up to
it "draw them out" as a series of "snap shots" - almost
always "ink on paper" and for me personally, i get the
satisfaction of knowing that i have "added a footnote or
two and maybe one or two solid paragraphs" to that 50_000
year old trail which all artists have/do/will tread. And
of course, i would kill for to be able to paint everything
that i would like to do. But, again, i really *wouldn't*
kill to do those things - and there-in lies the irony and
tragedy of my life as an artist. And oddly enough by almost
any "normal" measure of "success" - i must necessarily be
judged a failure. But, oddly enough i judge myself to be
one of the great artists of our time; after all i *do*
"paint with my own brush" and as such owe nothing to any
"school" or "style" other than that produced by my own
conscience, will and inner-vision.
Finally as for selling art: Sell it! - it's the note
in the bottle and the entire world is our ocean. And of
course we (me? you? they?) all need to use the web better
as well. A friend of mine swears that evnetually every
paper will have a full-colour pull-out section like you
see for the local super-markets, malls, etc. with various
artists' works in it.
Oh, well - onward INTO THE FOG... (what fog, i don't remember
any fog... 
-- well, that's my 2-1/2 cents Altarian,
Frank http://art-squeek.angelfire.com
********************** BONUS TRACK *************************
One of the most interesting "little" books that i have come
across (well worth searching out at your local library)...
Bayles, David and Orland, Ted (1983). Art and Fear.
Capra Publishing. Santa Barbara, California.
BEGIN BLOCK QUOTE =============================
Do artists have anything in common with
each other? Like any good question, that
one quickly generated a flurry of relatives:
How do artists become artists?
How do artists learn to work on their work?
How can I make work that will satisfy me?
...
It's an odd cluster -- not arcane enough,
perhaps to interest scholars, but too elusive
to attract pop psychologists. Perhaps, that's
just as well. We live in a world where the
ready-made observations about art making are
typically useless, frequently fatalistic.
...
How do you describe the (reader to place words
here) that changes when craft swells into art?
Artists come together in the clear knowledge
That when all is said and done, they will return
to their studio and practice their art alone.
Period.
That simple truth may be the deepest bond we share.
The message across time from the painted bison and
the carved ivory seal speaks not of the differences
between the makers of that art and ourselves, but
the similarities. Today those similarities lay
hidden beneath urban complexity - audience, critics,
economics, trivia - in a self-conscious world. Only
in those moments when we are truly working on our
own work do we recover the fundamental connection we
share with all makers of art. The rest may be
necessary, but it's not art.
Your job is to draw a line from your life to you your
art that is straight and clear.
END BLOCK QUOTE ==============================
So, that my friends is it: When all is said and done,
the half-truth that we tell ourselves that we are shamans
sustains us and allows us to ONCE MORE go into our studios
(alone), and pick up the brush....
Peace to all,
Frank.
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lyyang
Posts:4
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| 04/02/2008 8:30 PM |
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Great thread =) It's awesome reading through all of these and see where people are coming from, and what drives them to create.
For me it's a question of balance -- I work full time doing Information Architecture -- which pretty much is creating boxes for ideas and information and shuffling them around to make intuitive interfaces. It's fun and rewarding, but by the end of the day my brain is fried.
So I come home and paint to readjust myself. I like to refer to it as "painting the demons out of my head" -- By creating art it feels like I'm loosening the constraints I've put on my mind to do my job during the day. And on and on it goes -- It's worked well so far, we'll see how things go from here... |
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http://www.suckatlife.com
http://blowatlife.blogspot.com |
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Maggie429
Posts:319
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| 04/04/2008 10:57 AM |
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| Hi - Really enjoyed reading all the notices. Painting to me is the only place I can be 'me' and when someone likes my painting or I am able to paint something others fine beautiful, interesting or some type of emotion, then there is no feeling like it. Between work, home and everything else... there is nothing like sitting at a canvas and creating something that obviously only comes from within. Quote: Art is not about thinking something up.. but getting something down. |
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Mgi
www.hoviscreations.com |
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