Author: MaryGwyn

Artist-Art Educator-Art in Healthcare

The Breathing Heart

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”  William Wordsworth (from Becoming Minimalist.com)Screen shot 2013-10-23 at 10.27.02 AM

Why do we start blogs?  Ask that question and many answers will pop up.  The most popular are to make money or to promote a business.  But a funny thing happens along the way.  The heart starts to get into it.  The people that become a part of the community interacting with a blog start to become personally meaningful. The blog content begins to focus on who these people are and why.

A popular blogger, Cristian Mihai, answers the questions of his popularity on a post for The Daily Post at WordPress.  Mihai says he began his blog to gain audience for his books and was determined to make a go of it.  Along the way he made some discoveries. Of one such discovery, he states, “If every post you write means something to you, it’ll undoubtedly mean something to other people, too.”  And secondly, he believes consistency is vital.  Make a regular post and stay with it.  But follow the heart.

Penny Howe in her blog, The Why About This, has a post entitled, “What do we do next, we bloggers, we artists, we people?’  When the heart has begun the process of making a daily foray into the blog post, what next?  Howe says make a plan of action.  Plan the next moves based on what the heart has revealed.  If the goals from the blog’s beginning have changed, take a look at the new goals and arrange the plan of action around the new goals.  But first determine what those goals are.

“The best recommendations are still found in the personal realization that blogging changes you,” writes Joshua Becker in Becoming Minimalist.  Becker says blogging not only changes your life, it changes the life of the reader as well.  He believes writing a blog will inspire others, and the writer in the process.

In making the plan of action, advocated by Penny Howe, perhaps a look at the heart of the matter is at hand.  Self- promotion or business promotion may have been the initial reason but as the heart began to speak more openly and coherently, the reason possibly changed.  As the heart begins to breath, encourage it to continue.  Breathing is a good thing.

SEO, So So

“I’m not a marketing person.  I don’t ask myself questions.  I go by instinct.” Karl Lagerfeld (from BrainyQuote)Screen shot 2013-10-22 at 10.56.16 AM

How does the whole Search Engine Optimization(SEO) thing work and is it important for artists?  It may depend on two factors.  First, how tech savvy you are may indicate how effective SEO is for you. The second factor depends on how much time or money you have to invest.  The whole point of SEO is to get your website on pages one through three of the big search engines.  If your website does make it to page one through three, does that equal success?

This is not an easy conversation for artists who really just want to paint.  Whether or not it is important to take the time to become more tech savvy is naturally up to the individual.  Artist Rizwana A. Mundewadi, writing for Absolute Arts is not so sure it is vital for artists.  Mundewadi states the more important thing is to write from your heart about your art.  She believes, you, the artist, are the best person to write about your art.  You are the one with the passion.  Mundewadi states, “This some how is felt even on the net, there is a connection with genuine hearts.”

Duran Inci, writing for Optimum 7, says SEO can be very rewarding for artists and muscians and a strong marketing component.  However, Inci advises the use of a company with the know- how and successful track record particularly for artists.  His article gives several tips for finding the right SEO company for artists.  The most important point Inci makes is long-term commitment.  There are no short cuts or quick fixes.  The rewards come from staying with the plan.

Smashing Magazine features an article on the SEO topic by Paul Boag advocating the same basic idea as Mundewadi, though with more tech information.  Boag makes it plain that people should take control of their own websites and blogs.  Boag outlines a good plan for doing this with the point that the primary driver of traffic is good content.  If you want more traffic, write good content that people are interested in.  Feature useful information people will want to share with others.

The bottom line is SEO may be helpful if you have the time and/or money and especially the interest.  If you do not, concentrate on what you do have.  Most artists have a passion for their art.  That is the key.  Write about it.  Tell people what you find in your art.  Talk about what you are passionate about in a way that is useful to other people.  Become as tech savvy as you want but above all, be who you are.  Let your heart shine and others will connect.

Edible Adjustments

“To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that is very good but that most can’t eat it.”  Leo Tolstoy (from Brainyquote)Screen shot 2013-10-19 at 11.01.51 AM

Does making a living diminish the subject of political statements in artist’s works? Many artists feel very strongly about political causes and seek to project this viewpoint in their art.  However, artists also want to make a living doing the work they are passionate about.  The difficulty may be in finding a marketable role for an artist’s work while maintaining a passionate direction.

“Visual Arts has a role to play in encouraging us to search through the ‘fragments and bigger pieces’ of our world and to piece them together in ways which allow us to explore, describe, contemplate, manipulate and bring them alive,” writes the author of an article for Artstuff.net. The statement suggests a political motivation is a requirement for art creation.  Artists must have a higher purpose in their work to adhere to this role for art in today’s world.

The Art Newspaper, reporting on the Frieze London art fair, makes the following observation: “Reflecting complex social issues, political situations and personal causes is important to many artists, but confrontational works are commercially difficult.”   Though the artist’s role is to encourage searching, too much searching may not sell art.  While one writer is suggesting art’s role is to prod the viewer into a form of enlightenment, the second writer says that politics does not necessarily sell art.

Artists make art because of an inner force.  Success comes from the ability to steer this force into a commercially viable direction followed by aggressive marketing.  If the goal is to promote a deeply felt political cause it may be worth contemplating how that can be accomplished in a way more likely to stimulate exploration than as an outright in the face statement.  The inner drive may be difficult to steer but worth the effort in the long run if seeking commercial success.  Making art edible “to the majority of men,” may mean a little creative adjustment.   After all, we all want to be edible.

Colorful Fridays-The Queen’s Red

“I love red so much, I almost want to paint everything red.”–Alexander Calder (from Color Research)Screen shot 2013-10-18 at 10.59.01 AM

Did Lewis Carroll base the character, the Red Queen, of Through Looking Glass, on the War of the Roses or on Queen Victoria?  There is much speculation but the monarch was apparently an amateur painter with a preference for alizarin crimson.  However, many artists, like the former Queen, love this juicy color.  Botanical artists once frequently used this deep rich red. But artist beware. With alizarin crimson, it pays to read the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Alizarin crimson was introduced in 1868 by German chemists, Graebe and Lieberman.  Handprint.com states alizarin goes on strong and dark but dries to a much lighter maroon.  Both Handprint.com and GurneyJourney.blogspot.com give alizarin crimson very poor ratings for light-fastness.  James Gurney states alizarin will fade out of the painting considerably over time. PR83 is the chemical name of this rapidly fading alizarin crimson.

Gamblin paints has solved the fading problem of alizarin crimson by creating a lightfast substitute, slightly less intense, called Alizarin Permanent.  And another choice for artists from Gamblin is the warmer but equally transparent Perylene Red.  A little experimentation might make either of these reds a successful alternative.

Golden Paints has, also, come up with a solution to the lack of light-fastness in alizarin crimson by blending the quinacridone reds with Phthalo Blue-green shade to come up with Alizarin Crimson Hue.   Golden gives Alizarin Crimson Hue a light-fastness rating of I, the best rating, another good substitute.

Brainpickings and Making a Mark are two blogs with a series of Queen Victoria’s watercolor sketches.  The Independent has a story on the recent unveiling of the exhibit of Queen Victoria’s watercolors, along with other royals artwork, at Windsor Castle this year.   She painted quite a few landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and a number of sketches of her children.  Enjoy the Queen’s paintings but maybe not her color preferences!

Channeling

“The position of the artist is humble.  He is essentially a channel.” Piet Mondrian (from Artpromotivate)Screen shot 2013-10-15 at 10.45.29 AM

What makes an artist create? For some it is the process of art- making. Others are obsessed with some particular subject, model or location.  some just want to make a living.  But does that really explain what makes a painter, paint or a sculptor, sculpt?  There are lots of postulations on the subject.

Artist Charles Spratt has several different ideas.  He says, “It must be for the love of it—it can’t be for the money.”  Spratt is likely right on that point.  He goes on to discuss the pleasure of creating and developing new ideas.  The satisfaction of selling work is also a good reason many artists continue working, according to Spratt.

In the Painted Generations blog, author Barbara Hartsook gives three reasons why painters paint or writers write.  Her first reason is, “to lose oneself in play and discovery.”  Artists get lost in the process of creating and by the fascination of experimenting with the materials.  Secondly, Hartsook states, “To reconnect with oneself.”  And lastly, she says, “To express oneself and tell stories.”  What this author has laid out is likely very true with a number of artists, may be even the majority of artists.  We play, we connect, and we tell stories.

The LaMantia Gallery wrote on the subject of why artists continue to paint the same subject repeatedly.  The writer gives three reasons: “market expediency, pursuit of perfection and experimentation.”  Artists staying on the same subject because it sells might be a very good reason to continue with a particular subject.  The other two reasons suggest that it is something the artist is compelled to do whether in search of perfection or for the fun of experimentation.

All three writers give good reasons why artists paint.  And all are right.  “For the love of it.,”  is important.  To lose, reconnect, and express oneself is part of the process, too.  Making a living is vital for most artists, as is the pursuit of perfection.  But the long and short of it, no matter what reasons you may give, is, simply, artists create because they must.  Inside every painter is a little Voice that says, “Paint!”  And writer, “Write!”  Sculptor, “Sculpt!” While all other reasons are true, that little Voice is the only one that matters.

Experimenting Experimenters

Screen shot 2013-10-14 at 9.07.17 AM“Let us see how high we can fly before the sun melts the wax in our wings.”         Edward O. Wilson (from The Painters Keys)

Many artists are experimenters who constantly search for new ways to express themselves through their art.  They look for new techniques.  They try different media.  Some even come up with non-traditional materials not generally thought of as art making material.  Others look for new uses of traditional materials.  Still others seek out new and different subject matter.

The UK’s Daily Mail has an article focused on artist Gerald Toni and his use of coffee and tea to paint beautiful life-like works of people and objects set in coffee houses.  He uses various blends of coffee and tea from all over the world.  The amazing range of color values in his paintings come from years of experimenting with the different coffee and tea blends.

Watercolorist Carrie Lin, as told by Margaret DeRitter of Michigan Live has developed a unique method in her paintings using different papers such as yupo and rice paper.   For the rice paper work she uses a crinkle technique perfected with years of experimentation.  In the yupo paintings, she applies ink, allowing it to slide over the slick surface of the paper.  Lin then uses both techniques as the background for her beautiful abstract paintings.

If you are in the mood to try for something new and different, Amiria Robinson has outlined techniques, methods and materials to try out in a series of articles for Student Art Guide “Entitled Beyond the Brush.”  You might try painting with a mop or maybe your feet.  You could experiment by painting with a rag.  How about turning things around and dipping the paper or canvas into the paint instead of the other way around?  Robinson described a number of lively suggestions worth trying just for the fun of it.

In the process of experimenting, artists are forever evolving and changing the way people view their world.  This constant evolution brings color and expression to our lives.  I wonder what the next development in the art world will be.  Artists are always bringing new things to life.

Summer’s End

Here’s a tribute to the end of summer.  Fall is now here.  Today is the day I always realize that summer is gone for this year and fall is fully here.  The zinnias will return next year.  Click the pic for a montage of beautiful zinnias.  zinniaEnjoy!

Let Them Make Art!

“ I gave them paint.  All it takes.  These politicians make things too complicated.”

Elena Thomas (from Artists Talking in A-N)Screen shot 2013-10-12 at 10.46.49 AM

Put a group of people into a room full of art supplies and watch what happens.  People find ways to create things.  They experiment with materials, forms, and limitations.  They solve problems.  They begin to talk to each other in different ways. They even bond.  And, generally, they have fun.

Bob Bates is the founder of Inner City Arts, an organization to provide art -making projects to urban youth.  Bates, in an interview with It Magazine believes the process of creating art leads to better self- confidence.  Bates states, “Making art requires thinking and decisions: what color will I use, how can I make this stand up, how can I make this stronger, quieter, brighter, more bendable.”  The self -confidence comes as they see the evidence of how they solved the problems in making their individual art.

A research study by Julia Kellman of the University of Illinois, Urbana, found that people facing life -threatening illness were able to begin opening up and talking about their illness as they participated in art making projects together.  The group bonded in the process of making art, leading to a greater feeling of safety to expose personal feelings and talk about what they were experiencing.

Lisa Phillips, writes in The Artistic Edge, “Artists are constantly pushed to explore unchartered territory.  The truly great ones are those that produce new and exciting work that has never before been created.”  Artists are always, by their very nature, pushing for improvement, to do something better than the last creation.  Each piece is a learning experience that leads to the next one.  Creativity begets more creativity.

As artists know, art making brings about creativity, problem-solving and bonding.  It could be a very child-like, simplistic answer for much bigger problems.  Picasso is frequently quoted as having said, “Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain one when we grow up.”  Wouldn’t it be a hoot if all politicians were required to go into a room full of art supplies with orders to make art?  What a lot of problems would then be solved!  However, as the old saying goes, “If wishes were horses .….”

Reference:

Kellman, J (2005). HIV, art and a journey toward healing, one man’s story. Journal of Aesthetic Education. 39(3), Fall 2005