OFF THE WALL - Art by Cat Insley

2010-01-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Her name is Sylvia White and she posted this on her Facebook page. Pretty much sums up who I am ..... born an artist.

"It's not something you can turn off. It bubbles up when you least expect it. If you would allow it, it would consume every waking minute of every day. You work hard to fit in to the normal world...family obligations, work, the challenges of everyday life. But, admit it, all you can think about is that unfinished painting, sculpture, poem, or whatever, fill in the blank. You know you are different.

You may have suppressed the urge for years. Parental pressure, societal influences, may have forced you to conform temporarily, but eventually, it WILL emerge. "Normies" call it the creative impulse, or urge, the drive to create. For men, it's usually around retirement age or after they have achieved a level of financial success, when it becomes acceptable to make a career transition. For women, it's generally when they get close to 40, get divorced, or transition out of motherhood...the time when they realize the window of opportunity is closing.

Lucky artists (usually with supportive parents) are able to embrace their creativity at a younger age, and acknowledge their life will never be normal.

There are just not enough words in the English language. It is a popular urban legend that Eskimos have hundreds of ways of saying the word "snow." We just have one word for artist. And, it is one of the most misunderstood words in our vocabulary today. Imagine it's career day at your local high school and the counselor asks, "How many of you know what an artist does?" Seems like an easy question, your hand pops up, we can pretty much all agree artists create things, books, music, paintings. But, therein lies the problem. The question should not be what an artist does, but, rather what an artist is.

Most of us, including artists themselves, harbor the misconceived notion that being an artist is a career, or a chosen profession. The natural (and sensible) conclusion to that assumption is being an artist, like any other chosen profession, should result in some monetary gain. Hence the development of the stereotype "starving artist" or struggling artist, both terms refer to the lack of income artists are notorious for. The two words starving and artist have been so inextricably woven together that our collective consciousness can no longer define the word artist, without including the connotation that artists will always be deprived financially. The myth also conveniently includes the artist finally achieving financial success, but only after death.

But, what if we could separate the notion of artist as wage earner and artist as creator? What if it was in our power to change how people THINK about what it means to be an artist? It's a huge leap for most people. But, if you start the dialogue with everyone you know, it may be a beginning. We must get people to understand that "being an artist," is not a career or a profession or a way to make a living. Any more than you would expect the fact that you have blue eyes or red hair will enable you to make a living.

Artists need to redefine themselves for themselves so they can educate the people around them to accept the fact that art making is an integral part of who they are as individuals, it is NOT a job, NOT a career, NOT a profession and NOT something you chose. It chooses YOU."

First Clue on the Path to Finding My Style

2008-01-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

So I'm watching this documentary about Chuck Close, whom I enjoy immensely. And he says something that smacks me upside the head. When I get the exact quote off the tivo, I'll edit this. But it's something to the effect that, out of 8 or 9 photos that he takes of his subject, he knows the right photo to use for his painting when he sees it. He just "knows".

He doesn't follow a rule of composition. He doesn't have the model sit for hours on end for the painting. He doesn't elaborate over the lighting, modeling, etc of his subject. He just snaps pictures that are quite similar and he "knows".

Suddenly, a bolt of lightening hits me. I have to trust myself. I learned all the rules in art school, working in advertising design, studying the work of other artists, and learning when a piece works or why it doesn't work. And now I just "know" when the composition arrives at what I am after. I have to stop thinking and start feeling. And stop second-guessing myself.

I did two little ATC's today. Tomorrow I will revisit them, add a touch here or there to finish them. And then I will post them here. Creating them was an act of joy. They are an example of the art that comes easily from my soul. When I paint in this way, my conscious mind leaves the physical plane and dances in the realm where creation resides.

It comes so easily that I tend to reject it. I wonder what would happen if I embraced it? I'll let you know.

RECOGNIZING YOUR PERSONAL STYLE

2008-01-08T17:03:00.000-08:00

One of my goals this year is to find something in my own artwork that I would consider my “style”. I tend to land all over the map when it comes to the area. I used to have a style. It was tight, rigid, and carefully executed. I was fascinated by circles and incorporated them into most every piece. For example, this piece titled, “Lady of the New Rising Sun”. She is from a one-person show I did based on the last works of Jimi Hendrix.

Soon after that show, however I was financially forced to give up my gallery/studio in town. Funny how transitions like that create personal changes. One thing led to another, and pretty soon I found myself on the other end of the continuum, producing loose fluid work like, “Strut”.

I became fascinated with creating figurative abstracts through arbitrary line and swatches of color. As I started applying paint in a more impasto manner, I became intrigued with texture. I played with fiber in an effort to employ light and shade as an element in my work. In, “Wild Iris”, one discovers not only the obvious figure posed in the center, but overall, the image of a flower, the Iris, emerges. I used muslin and a gesso stiffener to sculpt the texture. I experimented with burlap, paper clay, yarns, silicone; anything that would provide an interesting texture to the canvas.

In, “Mystic Journey”, I let the viewer create the image. The stark whiteness of the textured canvases allows the work to change depending on the time of day, colors reflected near the painting, direction of the sun as it moves through the sky. The open area in the center of the work allows the viewer a place to rest, reflect, meditate.
Unfortunately, my rather traditional local market wasn’t overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the concept. And since on-line art supply houses are reluctant to trade paints for artwork these days, I was faced with the practicality of having to make a sale now and then.

Now I am back at square one. I have been “playing” in the Artist Trading Card world for the last year or so. It has given me the opportunity to stretch and experiment without the expenses and storage requirements associated with paintings on canvas. I have also had the great gift of meeting and networking with wonderful artists all over the world, who share my passion and challenges.

But I feel the need to get back to painting. With the new year, I’ve become more organized and resolute about marketing myself as a fine artist. Baby steps have taken me from Etsy, to this, my first blog. I am researching web site providers. I’m even attempting to conquer accounting software as a record-keeping method.

Still, all of that has no power to generate sales for me if I lack a defining style.

It seems to me that the public needs to be able to identify, classify, categorize the body of an artist’s work in some way. It gives one comfort, maybe excitement to be able to group like objects together. And if one is drawn to the particular style, so much the better.

Pity for me. I like to play. I am the mad scientist of art. But I also love to sell my work.

Well, I’ll keep looking for my “style”. When I discover it, I’ll let you know!