Art and Society

Art, Society, and our place in it: Where do you fit in?
I won't be answering any questions today but rather sending more out into the world for us to ponder and in turn ask each of ourselves so that maybe one by one we can bring art back into society's broader appreciation.

"ART plays no clear role in our culture.
ARTISTS have little direct contact with their audience.
ARTMAKING is indulged, but rarely rewarded."

These are the larger issues that Ted Orland feels artists today face. So the question becomes, How do we change that?

"....there was a time (and not all that long ago) when artists were employed to make new art every week-art that addressed the deepest issues of life and death and spirituality. We have nothing like that today-and it makes you wonder: how would art and artists be received today if we made work that spoke for the community rather than to the community?"
As much as I don't necessarily feel that every piece of art has to "stand" for something, I will say that artists that speak for a community do tend to stand out more and get more praise and critical acclaim. Think of rappers that bring certain atrocities to light or artists who paint murals about the environment, etc.
So what to do if I really just want to bring beauty to your world and not hash out every outrage of our society? I have lived in darkness and don't want to go back there!

Ted goes on to discuss being productive and making art vs. believing the myth of creative genius and natural talent. He discusses the "creative process" and how getting better means making a lot of art; ".....having a working command of the creative process-that is, all those elements that lead to the making of art-is truly essential"

"...................take comfort in all those small steps"

"If you develop productive working patterns and learn from the work itself along the way, you will always be on the path toward making the best work you can."

"The common ground shared by artists who make continuing progress in their work is that they have committed themselves to working on the things that really matter to them."
"So what (if anything) does all this mean for you?....................................stay at work on the things that are really important to you, and you will reach your potential as an artist"

Two weeks ago I received the second rejection of a book proposal. I Love the designs within the book and so does everyone else who has seen them. Still the job isn't getting done somewhere along the way. The knee-jerk reaction is to have a pity party about how it isn't any good---STOP! They are good-great, in fact- and I need to "stay at work" on this path. The universe around me is pushing me in this direction as well through no nonsense friends and a supportive husband and multiple paths that I can traverse down until I get the desired outcome.

Society does not need to dictate to us about our art, but does this bring us back to 'speaking to the community' with our art?
We are in charge of our own destinies though and can be successful with our art with lots of hard work. Weren't we all raised to believe that if you worked hard enough, you could attain your goals? First we must know what the goals are though and so I challenge each of you to choose one very large and one very small goal to work toward. Place a completion date of December 31st, 2010 for the small goal and December 31st, 2011 for the large goal and make it work!

Making Sense of Art

IS THIS ART?

Today's chapter begs the age old question, What is Art? I love the photo above and feel it has artistic qualities but don't know if I would call it art. It is my photo and I love the hazy look of it along with the glow of the buildings coming to light as darkness starts to fall. I didn't think about all that as I took the photo, I just loved the feel of it all.

Again Ted compares the animals to us, ".....constructing a robin's nest also requires an active effort. If I dismiss the bird's efforts as "nest-building", then why should Frank Lloyd Wright's efforts to that same end be accorded some privileged status as "architecture"? OK, robin's efforts are instinctive, while Wright's are the product of conscious reasoning, but should that make any difference?" So, should it? Wen commented yesterday, "I think spider webs are artistic but I think the spider uses them to catch his dinner." I too think animals are artistic...they are just oblivious to it. Are we artists because we make the art intuitively or because we have the reasoning and the words to describe what we do?

My comment on Katharine's blog yesterday:

I am finding the comparisons between the animal world and the human world very interesting. I think that many animals are artistic just oblivious to the art they create since they do it out of necessity (instinct).When we as artists create because we have to, it is called intuition and Ted states this is closely related. We also have the words to describe what is art to us and the emotions to feel the art we view. I don't necessarily think that the emotions have to be deep societal statements...sometimes the beauty of a moment frozen in time is enough to render someone speechless and everyone's moments/memories are different.

There are many books written on the subject of 'what is art?' and it has been discussed to death on many forums. I think every artist needs to define this for their own work vs. letting the world define their work for them. You can't let everyone be your critic. This isn't to say you shouldn't be aware of what the art world is doing so you know how you do or don't fit in-just don't let that define you.

This is all great positive self-talk for myself as I sit here today awaiting the return of my rejected book proposal. Dear friends took me out last Friday morning to 'set me straight' so to speak. They didn't conjole and say it would all be ok. Instead they gave sound constructive advice on moving forward and I was gently chided for my negative thinking. Not ones to give empty compliments, they stated my talents and told me to continue doing the work I love and everything would come in time. Impatient me still wants to yell, WHEN????.

The theme of that morning continued throughout the weekend with conversations with my husband, discussions on radio programs, and horoscopes (though normally taken with a grain of salt suddenly sounded prophetic).

I deem what I do art. Even the most traditional quilt that I have painstakingly assembled by hand over weeks/months is art due to my view of design and the imprint of my soul in every stitch.

In describing gardens, Ted says, "the most prevalent role of the garden today is simply to provide its maker with a small oasis of peace and privacy- a refuge from an increasingly harsh world." Shouldn't that be what art does for each of us whether you make it or admire it?

Making Sense of the World

I follow an artist named Katharine A. Cartwright and she has started a new book that I actually own titled, "THE VIEW From the Studio Door" by Ted Orland. This time I thought I would read along and take part in the comment discussions that happen on her blog.

This is the view out of my studio at present due to a combination of storms that hit North Carolina a week and a half ago. It is slowly getting better and I don't mind the view....I have waterfront property:)

Back to the book... In the first chapter, Making Sense of the World, Ted asks lots of questions. "What are we actually doing when we make art?" There is a lot of talk about why we make art and animals don't, what the deep need to make art is doing for us, etc. That isn't what I was intrigued by:

There is a story about a man that goes on a walk with a mushroom hunter. That example really drove home the sense of how what I see differs from what you see. The mushroom hunter saw the paths and hiding places of mushrooms where the man saw a tangled mess of moss and pine needles.
We all have a common sense of the sky being blue, grass being green, etc. but not all people are fascinated by the clouds in the sky or the weeds amongst the grass the way I am or maybe you are.

Ted talks of the mental map we are all making second by second as our brains choose which pieces to keep and which pieces to put to the background.
"The process of being unfolds as an endlessly overlapping succession of most-plausible-pictures. We become who we are by virtue of the choices we make-consciously or otherwise-about which parts belong to the story, and which parts can be left out."
Today when you go to your art, which pieces will you choose to include into your vision of the world around you???

Cape Lookout Lighthouse 150th Anniversary

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in North Carolina, they will be holding a juried art and photography show. I decided to enter one of my Threadscapes and this time I changed it up a bit. Instead of using one of my photographs, I chose to try my hand at painting instead. The picture above shows the piece once it was painted and you can see the threads laying across it while I choose which threads will work the best.
Going back to painting has been on my list for awhile now and this seemed the perfect opportunity to do so. Once the paint was set (acrylic mixed with textile medium) and the threads were chosen, it was time to take it to the machine and do my magic. I am very pleased with how it turned out and hope that whoever is jurying the art show will feel the same. I will be thousands of feet in the air on my way to St. Louis while this is happening and so I won't have time to fret over it until later.
Some are surprised to find that I don't decorate with lighthouses since my husband is in the Coast Guard. I was in the CG at one time as well and that is how we met. So even though I do not decorate with them, I have a huge respect for the men who have served them for so long before automation....my father being one of them. Although he didn't get to serve in one of the traditional ones as he would have liked, he spent a total of 4 years on 2 separate lighthouse platforms out in the middle of the ocean before they were automated as well.
We are a Coast Guard family and so I painted this lighthouse and entered this show in honor of all the lighthouse keepers and their families.

"Majestic"

If you are in the area, please go visit the show at the Core Sound Museum, Harker's Island, NC. It runs from Oct 10th- Nov 1st