Musings on Art and Fear Frustration
I decided to start reading Art and Fear again – it’s one of those books that I pick up from time to time. I do think the title is all wrong though. I am not afraid of success, but rather get frustrated at the snails pace of my journey. And, I suppose success is a subjective term here – it means different things to different people.
The authors write:
“At some point the need for acceptance may well collide head-on with the need to do your own work. It’s too bad, since the request itself seems so reasonable: you want to do your own work, and you want acceptance for that. It’s the ballad of the cowboy and the mountain man, the myth of artistic integrity and Sesame Street: sing the song of your heart, and sooner or later the world will accept and reward the authentic voice. Jaded sophisticates laugh at this belief, but usually buy into it along with everyone else anyway.In the non-art world, this belief system is a driving mechanism behind the American Dream – and the Mid-Life Crisis. In the art work, it’s a primary buffer against disillusionment.”
Here’s what I think: Art (or at least ceramic art) is not an inexpensive venture. I want success – financial, personal and peer recognition. There I said it out loud. Without these things, I start thinking that I need to get a “real job”. I was thinking about this yesterday. Why do I want to work for someone else and why do I work harder for others than for myself? The answer? The paycheck is guaranteed! One might even be rewarded for being the employee of the month, aka recognition, and at the end of the day I feel good because I’m not fretting about the bills and can sit back and enjoy the evening.
I’m really trying not to whine here and hope it’s not coming off as such. I am simply trying to understand myself better. This is really an a-ha moment for me and hope it reads as such. One thing I’ve learned about myself. I talk a lot about what I’m going to do and don’t always act on my plans. In the next week, I am going to polish my artist statement and get my portfolio in order to send out to various galleries. I am also going to submit some images to Lark Books for their 500 Plates, Platters and Chargers book coming out in 2008. (Ceramic artists- postmark deadline is July 18th.) And finally, I am going to continue to make work for my Etsy Shop
I am currently working on a special request for someone who saw my work on Flickr a few weeks ago. David is an avid gardener and a former art/art history lecturer who lives in Michigan. He was attracted to my pieces where I created texture using the “shellac and subtract” method of decorating my work with ginkgo leaves and honeysuckle vines. Here’s the progress so far:
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Meanwhile, we enjoyed the fireworks at Washington Park yesterday and got caught in the rain – not quite as romantic as the song implies. On a side note, the park looks like it’s suffering from a massive hang over right now – abandoned grills, sporting equipment, clothing, assorted cardboard boxes that once contained beer and who knows what else. Apparently we weren’t the only ones to get caught.
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Linocut Experiment part II
I entered the studio yesterday with the intention of throwing some ceramic tumblers to use as backgrounds for my lino-cut prints. And, I did, however, I got sidetracked making these little canvases (photo above) and some more pendants. I rolled out a few slabs of white stoneware clay because I’m just not going to deal with the slumping of the porcelain for this type of work. Some of the best tools that I use are a transluscent 18″ x 24″ self healing cutting mat, a metal ruler and an X-Acto knife. I use these tools for multiple mediums from painting, ceramics and fiber art. Couldn’t live without them!
Choices, choices, choices…I decided that I wanted 3″ square clay canvases for my prints for a couple of reasons. The lino-cuts I made are small, and I wouldn’t be using a lot of material if things don’t work out. I don’t have a slab roller in my studio, so I roll these out by hand with a rolling pin, and some 1/4″ thick pieces of wood to use as guides so that I can get an even slab. Once I let the slabs set up for about an hour, I placed the slabs directly on the cutting mat, lined up the clay with the 1″ guides and cut the slabs using my ruler and an X-Acto knife. I’m trying a couple of different techniques and 2 of the canvases are like tiles with no walls, however, the for the other 6, I added walls to the back so that they’ll protrude 1″ from the wall when they’re hung.
In the past, I’ve constructed ceramic boxes, by mitering the slabs for a really seamless look. It’s a little tricky, but it looks good. Last week, I watched Mary Cay demo making a box from clay using the butt to end joint construction method and decided to give it a try. It was fairly easy, but I’m not sure I’m sold yet. I’m going to sand the edges of the boxes today to see if they clean up a little better. I was perusing claystamps.com the other day because I’m considering buying a signature stamp to use on my ceramic work, and saw the owner also has another cool tool for sale: the Bevel-O-Matic – a tool that bevels clay slabs. I might have to pony up the $14.00 for this tool. When I was in college, I beveled slabs using a 2 x 2 which I had mitred using a power saw to use as a beveling guide. I can’t find my bevel guides, and while I like power tools, I’m a little afraid that I’m going to cut off afinger or two I tried this again.
I threw 3 tumblers yesterday. Don’t ask me why I stopped at 3, because I had prepared 8 – 1 lb. balls of clay. I think the idea to use the lino-cuts on a flat surface popped into my head and I left my wheel to pursue that. I sometimes work in my studio like I talk – in tangents. And boy oh boy – they zing out from no where sometimes. Anyway, when I went back to my tumblers, they were too dry to work anymore. I cracked 2 of them trying to alter the shape. So, for the 3rd and final one, I just printed my ginkgo leaf lino-cut using blue underglaze.
The remaining 2 tumblers, I cut in half. They felt a little heavy and since I have decided not to trim the bottoms of these, I wanted to see how well I did getting the side walls thin. As you can see from the photograph, the bottom is a little too heavy in comparison to the walls. That tells me that I can can go a little further down when I open the clay up and begin to throw. Now, if I had decided to add a foot to these, I think these would have been perfect.
I’ve decided to pass on the Gocco for right now, because I found EZ-Screenprint. You can create 8.5″ x 11″ screen prints that develop using light and regular water – no special bulbs, chemicals or goop. I think I’m going to order one of these starter kits and give it a try. I also found a supplier of special ceramic ink to use to make custom color ceramic decals. First things first…I must push the relief printing a little more.
What are your favorite tools?
