Experimentation

There has been little consistency in my artwork lately, other than the presence of a figureand that I am doing it every day. I have been experimenting with abstracting the figure.  So far, I don’t think I have pushed the actual abstractness of the figure very far, just the backgrounds or the style of presenting the figure.  I worked really hard to create a consistency in my work and now, I am all over the place using different mediums and different styles.  And, I am having a lot of fun.  I am feeling confident enough to play around.  I was talking to some artists yesterday about how hard they work and how they are trying to convince the people around them that it isn’t a hobby, but serious work.  I get that.  We all want to be taken seriously in what we are trying to perfect.  But, even in the midst of hard work, it should be fun I think and I am currently at that place because I gave myself permission to see what I could do.  Anyway, there is no convincing others of the value of your work.  You just have to keep going out to the studio and do it.  There is no perfecting in creating artwork.  You can build skills if you work at it, but there is no final destination.  Doing it is the process of learning and learning should be fun I think.  I don’t think I will ever be “taken seriously” at least by my family.  Go Figure!

Baby Steps #15- Metaphor

6"x6" watercolor collage Price $50

Baby shoes are a great metaphor...new beginnings, times gone by, loves found, loves lost, innocence, baby steps, things forgotten, things remembered.  I posted on FB trying to find out the name of my first grade teacher.  Boy did that stir up a lively conversation which included old (literally) friends, out of touch friends, associates, and even people I didn't spend any time with.  Talk about "things remembered!"  What is your first memory?  For a long time I had a memory that involved fear and the world changing into a blur of colors.  I loved that blur, despite the fear. When I was a bit older and understood language a whole lot better, I suddenly was able to make the association of the memory with an experience I was having at the time.  It was winter and I was sledding.  My memory was probably of the first time I went sledding.  The whole world tilted again with that memory and being able to put words of explanation to it.  There have been other times in my life when I felt the sensation of the world tilting or slipping, but none of them are as pleasant or exhilarating.  I had kind of sinking feeling last fall during the election campaign....but that was a whole different thing!  Go Figure!