art & fear

this is my first finished piece from senior studio. i used acrylic paints, pastels and pencils to create shia labeouf, lil' wayne and marc jacobs. the subjects seem very random, yet i wanted to include an inspirational actor, musician and designer. i'm pleased with the outcome. however, i only plan to hang wayne in the final exhibit. i think that his portrait came out the best; it really captures his essence.

-"Talent, if it is anything, is a gift, and nothing of the artist's own making. This idea is hardly new: Plato maintained that all art is a gift from the gods, channeled through artists who are "out of their mind"- quite literally, in Plato's view- when making art."

-"Art is human; error is human; ergo, art is error."

-"The place to learn about your materials is in the last use of your materials. The place to learn about your execution is in your execution. The best information about what you love is in your last contact with what you love. Put simply, your work is your guide: a complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your own work."

the third quote, taken from a section entitled 'expectations', is my favorite line in the entire packet. it suggests the idea of working up instead of clearing your slate and beginning something new. while experimenting is important, there will always be traces of past work in every piece. whether it be subject matter, materials, or even format, previous work allows an artist to grow into their own personal style. i love looking through my past sketchbooks and reminiscing. even though the work may seem elementary, it is a place to start. it allows me to see the improvements i've made as an artist over the years.

my spring break was split between two exciting, inspiring places: new york city and puerto rico. over the break, i received my acceptance letter from the new school meaning i'll spend the next five years making art in manhattan. i can't even verbalize how excited i am. it feels unreal after waiting for so long... anyways, i began to brainstorm various project ideas, mostly in puerto rico. my family spent two nights at a quaint resort in the mountains of utado. i used lots of watercolors, painting the nature around me and filling in gaps with my usual gel pen designs. i hope to experiment with the sea in my future endeavors. the waves in particular are so beautiful, almost a splatter in the middle of a calm, relaxing environment. perhaps i'll try working with acrylics to recreate waves? i'd like to use some mixed media as well so it's not too cliche. right now, i'm working on a clay sculpture of my cat, mushkie. i think it will be a short, simple exercise with watered down pastels to represent her calico spots. tomorrow, during the double block, i want to work on a big, elaborate paper cut. even after many months, i still think about alexander demaria's work on a regular basis. it is so involved and detailed.. just my sort of thing. perhaps i'll do a little series of various paper cuts, different settings and objects? maybe i can incorporate the waves into this work somehow. i have a place to start and i'm just going to let my work flow from there.

learn it & use it for life

personally, i loved the excerpt from twyla tharp's the creative habit: learn it and use it for life. she put a lot of focus on the artistic process as opposed to outcome. i like the comparison to scratching a lottery ticket, this makes creation seem like change or a convenient occurrence with various materials. her personal process is somewhat uncertain, therefore she is constantly revising her work and growing as a creator. she warns about various troubles in the arts, something like writer's block. i have come across the feeling of being unable to generate ideas and it is frustrating. i like her comparison of going from little ideas to big, developing work into something more substantial. one of my favorite quotes describes how to approach ideas and pursue them:

"The Harvard psychologist Stephen Kosslyn says that ideas can be acted upon in four ways. First, you must generate the idea, usually from memory or experience or activity. Then you have to retain it- that is, hold it steady in your mind and keep it from disappearing. Then you have to inspect it- study it and make inferences about it. Finally, you have to be able to transform it- alter it in some way to suit your higher purposes" (pg. 101)

i think that twyla tharp is an inspiration in this excerpt. she brings up another issue that i've experienced, the need for originality. when making art, it is easy to be cliche and predictable. throughout my reading, i noted that "individuality must be maintained". it is easy to be inspired by other artists, yet translating that inspiration into a personal creation is difficult. additionally, there is the problem of having an idea and losing it. the ability to hold onto brainstorms is incredibly difficult, yet twyla suggests a few solutions. for her, it makes the most sense to constantly videotape herself when trying to come up with a dance. in this way, she has permanent evidence of her work and process. similarly, artists can document their process through pictures and notes in a sketchbook.

project update: i've finished my marc jacobs painting. it is a mixture of acrylic paint and pastel to create a realistic representation of the designer. my next venture is going to be painting lil' wayne. i've already drawn the outline and plan to begin painting/filling everything in during tomorrow's double block. my final picture in this series is going to be shia labeouf. i found an awesome picture of him crouching in a swimmer-esque position without his shirt on. this means that each person in this series will be shirtless which creates continuity. marc jacobs is pretty small, approximately 13 x 8 in. going from my sketch of lil' wayne, he will be 15 x 12 in. i'm planning on making shia a little bit smaller and i'll hang them in this order: shia, marc, wayne. this means they'll increase in size but use the same materials and process. i like how we're on a first name basis. i'm very excited for the outcome of this project! i'd like to experiment with paper cuts, mixed media and paint markers, but i'll save that for another day...

workspace & processes

hamlett has done a great job capturing the artistic process in his photographs of studio visits. there are a lot of recurring objects in these studios, including canvases, paint and brushes, mixed media materials as well as large, open walls. each studio has it's own unique look while maintaining the materials necessary to make art. i like that hamlett takes pictures of his feet in various studios. these photographs show the vast differences in environments. some of the rooms are carpeted while one, joey slaughter from monroe, la, appears to be outdoors with a ground covered in gravel. i think that an artist's space depends entirely on their own personal taste. while some prefer overly decorated studios, others find inspiration from a clean, open space. in the end, the art produced depends entirely on the artist, not their studio. while hamlett compares art studios in his collection of photographs, he also manages to capture the artist's work. this is important to include because an artist's job is to produce their own original pieces in their own environment. personally, i would love to have a small, quaint space that is clean, organized and covered in my own art. a window over my desk would provide good lighting along with a view. however, i certainly wouldn't want a lavish studio for myself. making art for a living is based on the outcome, not necessarily the location of the process. as long as i can produce meaningful pieces, i don't care where i am.