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Motivation Part 1 - Alice Harpel
Posted on | Thursday, October 20, 2011 | No Comments
Being an artist is not like a regular 9-5 job. How many times have you gone to your studio or work space and sat there with a blank stare? This aspect of our work becomes a challenge when it comes to finding the motivation to trying to create new art on a regular basis.
For this blog, rather than talk about my process of painting or my techniques for painting, I am focusing on what gets me motivated to paint on those days when nothing seems to come to mind or at those times when I feel less than enthusiastic about what I am creating. The ideas presented in this article are some of my ideas but many, if not most, are thoughts that I have read on other artists’ blogs, on blogtalkradio.com, etc.
Needed for motivation: a challenge, a process, and a feeling of progress.
The Challenge:
- We, as artists, must always add new work to our collections. As artists, we must be ready to leave our comfort zones because we can become bored if we create only what makes us comfortable.
- Do not indulge in self-limiting painting. Do not make excuses for yourself as to why you cannot do a particular painting etc.
- Never quit when you are frustrated - “success” is just around the corner.
- Make yourself accountable by making a commitment to enter a new art competition. Deadlines for art festivals/competitions may cause us to paint something different and at a faster, more productive rate. Indiana has many opportunities, not to mention the many online competitions listed on the internet.
The Process:
- The process should be easy, simple and without thinking, such as how we might set up our studios or work spaces.
- We should pay attention to those around us. Avoid negative people or people who only see art one way. Don’t let others outside your world give your paralysis. That will surely stifle creativity. Give yourself permission to not listen to those people.
- Spending time in your studio will increase your productivity. Organizing your studio or workspace can be motivating.
- Set up your supplies for the next day. It will be easier to begin a project.
- Do set goals--short, intermediate, and long term goals. This way you will know when you arrive. But just set one goal, not too many at a time.
- Put yourself in a frame of mind to create by “dressing” the part. Put on your favorite painting clothes.
- Join a support group like a local art group. Search www.meetup.com for Indianapolis or Lafayette to join other groups. You might try something different like a marketing group.
- Invite your neighborhood to your studio. People love to see where you work.
- Take a workshop or class. And it can be on a topic that is related to art such as social media marketing, framing, etc. View free online videos such as those “snippets” on www.jerrysartarama.com.
- Host an “art exchange”. Bring work in a “brown bag or wrapper” and exchange with fellow artist.
- Dare to dream big dreams.
- Create an art idea journal/notebook or bulletin board of ideas. Keep an art diary of things that inspire you. This becomes your “treasure chest” of ideas.
- When is your “prime time” for creating? Pay attention to your energy level. When do you paint your best?
- Reframe your art, maybe leaning to a more contemporary look. Give your art a new angle which can lead to a whole new series for your collection.
- Check the progression of the artists that you admire. Check their blogs.
Check back for Part 2 of Motivation where process is continued as well as a feeling of progress.
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Alice Harpel is a studio artist at Athens of Indiana Arts Studios & Gallery
Stop in to see her work on the upper level of the gallery.
October Featured Artist: Mike Abney
Posted on | Monday, October 3, 2011 | No Comments
Wood turner Mike Abney showing in the special exhibit room for the entire month of October.
Artist reception is Friday,
October 14, 6-8pm.
October 14, 6-8pm.
SHEKINAH
Wood Turning
Wood Turning
Many who know Mike Abney are aware of his talent for turning wood. His knowledge of the medium with which he creates comes from a life long working experience of cutting timber. He literally knows wood inside and out. Mike sees the beauty of the grains and burls and exposes them to view in wonderful forms and shapes as he works his lathe.
What isn’t as well known about this artisan in wood, is that he has been challenged his entire life by dyslexia and was unable to read until the changing moment in his life when he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. As a result, new opportunities were opened to him. He still rejoices remembering the first Bible verse he was able to read:
Preserve me, O God; for in you I put my trust. Psalm 16:1
Mike’s opportunity to start turning wood came with the lathe which was given to him by a fellow church member and with his knowledge that the knots he formerly cut off timber logs, were hiding beautiful, gnarled grains. He has also relied on homemade tools to be able to create some of his unusual forms. One of which was made with a 12-gauge shotgun barrel filled with buckshot mounted on a 22 rifle barrel. This he uses to hold and guide the wood as it is being turned.
The Abneys’ home gallery is filled with pieces made from woods as varied as apricot, eucalyptus, curly maple, sycamore and beech. He has worked with exotic woods such as Tree of Paradise or unusual like Osage Orange. Mike likes to use wood that he has seasoned himself. He often uses knots, burls, spalted woods and crotch pieces to create his unique forms.
Mike has displayed his work at many of Indiana’s festivals and juried art shows. His “Termite Vase” was selected as part of the permanent art collection at Ivy Technical College in Lafayette. In 2004, Mike was awarded Crawfordsville Art League’s Merit Award and in 2009, the Athens Award during Crawfordsville Art League’s Downtown Art Exhibit. His lathe-turned pieces can be found in homes and business throughout the United States. World wide, his creations have traveled to England, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Tibet and Ukraine. Mike enjoys sharing information about his work and welcomes personalized commissions upon request.
For all of his accomplishments and more, Mike gives all the glory to the Lord.
BE PART OF IT.
Posted on | Monday, September 26, 2011 | No Comments
Imagine. A little over one year ago there wasn't an art gallery in Crawfordsville solely dedicated to bringing local artists together in unison, promoting and selling their artwork with the ability of watching them work within a studio atmosphere. C'ville didn't have a door to walk through that upon entering you were immersed in the visual artistry of local artists no matter where you turned. There wasn't a place you could visit as well as volunteer to learn more about our own local artists. Well there is a place in C'ville like that.
Right. Now.
Imagine. That art gallery no longer existing.
Really. Imagine.
I know if this gallery was gone, there would be a hole left in the community. As an artist, what an opportunity we have here. To be able to work in a studio and share and learn about the arts. To build relationships. To see outside regional artwork that this community would never have been exposed to before, showing in the special exhibit room.
As a person who appreciates the arts, what an opportunity to be able to ask questions to the very artist who created the piece of work that catches your eye. To collect an art piece and contribute to the community. To volunteer and learn about different mediums and creative processes.
Me? I would miss it. Tremendously.
So what's my point?
My point is to "BE PART OF IT." Be part of this awesome opportunity to grow, learn and support the arts. To help this gallery be a part of this community always - ever growing with new faces along-side the pioneers that originally made this gallery a reality.
How can you be a part of it? It only takes a visit. A visit to appreciate what is here. From there YOU can decide your next step in making this center a part of Crawfordsville for many years to come.
If you are an artist or simply appreciate the arts and you are not involved, don't miss this fantastic resource available to show your work or to simply volunteer, learn and grow.
visit: 113 North Washington St., Crawfordsville, IN email: athensartsgallery@att.net or call: 765.362.7455
- nc
The Way I Do Things
Posted on | Friday, September 16, 2011 | No Comments
“My thrift knows no bounds!!”
Thrift stores are where it’s at. (For everything) Plates, bowls, ceramic sculptures, statues, ashtrays, bolts, coasters, mirrors, basically anything that can be broken with a hammer, is fair game for me. I strongly believe that art has a different meaning and higher value (to myself anyway) if it is in some way made from something that has been discarded by another person. Eww!?! Trash you say? Well…yeah…kind of. You won’t find me diving in the dumpster, (most likely), but most of the boards I use are from left over, broken down furniture, or something my father (who is a carpenter) is throwing out. Left over scraps from the lumberyard, an old dresser I don’t want anymore and is beyond painting condition. Broken plates, busted knick-knacks, I’ve often called the supply stores in town for any cracked or broken floor tile. Creating something that is, in my mind’s eye, aesthetically pleasing from something that was previously ugly, beyond use, or no longer served its purpose is extremely satisfying…and cheap! Believe it or not, the term starving artist is here for a reason. (Could it be from spending too much of that hard earned cash on crap at Goodwill to just take home and break? Doubt it.) And telling the girl at the cash register that she doesn’t have to wrap that glass because, “I’m just going to take it home and break it,” is, I have to say, oh so fun.
When I shop I look for colors and patterns mostly, then a main focus for the piece. Next, LET THE SMASHING commence!! I use both randomly broken pieces as well as specifically cut pieces. Generally, I at least have a decent visual of what my mosaic will eventually look like. If I don’t have a certain plan, I use a color scheme instead, and see where it takes me. I incorporate circles in most of my mosaic pieces. I find the curves of the tile and glass all together in a pattern very pleasing to the eyes, but it gives the piece unity as well. Sometimes I sketch basic patterns, curves, or lines onto the board before I begin, sometimes I don’t. Beginning a piece with no guidelines or pre-conceived notion about what I want to do with it can be exciting and challenging. Unlike painting, where sketching your subject matter prior to getting the brushes out is almost a must, mosaics can just sort of take you where they want to go. Because random broken shapes are being placed closely together onto the board, the tile just sort of fits together like puzzle pieces. Playing with shapes or color Scrabble.
Patterns and symmetry are often my best friends.
Chaos and error are pals of mine too.
Grout. Sand. Seal.
The general feeling one gets while looking at one of my pieces is my ultimate destination. I want the viewer to have a strong emotional response, whether they are pleased, curious, amused, or disgusted, I want them to feel something.
Reach out and touch it, feel the rough, winding surfaces.
Look at your reflection in the mirror.
See how the light plays upon the gloss and color of the tile.
Smile.
S.
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Sasha Johnson is a studio artist at Athens of Indiana Arts Studios & Gallery
Stop in to see her work on the upper level of the gallery.
Jody Franklin - September Featured Artist
Posted on | Sunday, August 28, 2011 | 30 Comments
Art Speak - Meet the Artist September 11, 2 - 4 pm
Jody will speak about his work featured in the special exhibit room.
Artist Statement: “Organic Surrealism”
Arriving in Indiana in 1995, shortly after receiving my Bachelors Degree in Fine Art and my Masters Degree in Science in Art at Texas A&M University, Kingsville, I made the decision to make Crawfordsville my home. 1995 was also the year I ended my military career with the U.S. Navy/Navy Reserve. I served in Operation Desert Storm in 1990/1991, where I received the Navy Accommodation Medal for my duties in Kuwait & Iraq.
During college and to the present day, my influences go back to many artists and art styles in history. The works of Van Gogh, Dali, Picasso, Max Ernst, Otto Mueller, Antonio Gaudi, Vermeer, Surrealism, German Expressionism, Pre-Raphaelites and Cubism, I would have to say, spark many of my artistic inklings. Specifically, I do not copy their styles but use bits and pieces of each in order to achieve my vision of what I am trying to do. For me, true art is the application of self to any medium no matter what your specific style is!
It was after the war that I began to develop my own visual style. My oil paintings depict images of brightly colored, fragmented, yet organic flowing figures in a surreal landscape. To best describe my work I would have to say that each figure represents the feelings I had during the war, that all of us are fragmented; from each other, from nature, from the great creator - God!
This current showing is about a play on one word, Trinity, and through that word, exploring my war experience. I found it odd that in the early years of our development of the nuclear bomb that the code name for the first atomic bomb test, was called, “Trinity”. My thoughts then turned toward a higher definition of the Trinity which is of God, Son, and Holy Spirit. The extreme nature in the use of this one word (trinity) seemed perfect for my thoughts on fragmentation. Fragmentation grew from a single thought or series of thoughts, which were and still are manifested throughout my artistic style.
What many do not know is that I love to create in any form. One of my favorites is writing. Accompanying each painting I have included a poetic piece in this series. My intent is to explore my own thoughts and feelings in both the painting and poem. The enrichment and exploration of the work is yours to ponder.
Example of what you will see in the current show.
The Resurrection Garden
A shadow of evil
Approaching the forgotten soul.
The light
Burning brighter than a lump of coal.
Dark wanderings
Intent and purpose fail.
Enlightenment flowers
Beneath heaven, above hell.
Yesterdays crashing
Alone, cold, and bewildered.
She cries to her knees mashing
Resurrection with a word.
This light
Away from dark entities.
Away from dark enemies
In the warmth of Gods might.
Jody / 2011
art.for.art's.sake.
Posted on | Thursday, August 18, 2011 | No Comments
Do you remember drawing or painting as a child? Do you remember simply creating because you liked the color or the shape? I know that I haven't thought of my childhood for a while - especially the artistic aspects of it until this past Saturday.
Last Saturday a few artists gathered outside of Athens Arts Gallery to create. A few of us painted on the sidewalk, literally with chalk. I grew up in a rural area without sidewalks and you know what? I had never done this before. Sure I drew lines for hop scotch once or twice in my life but that was the extent of my sidewalk chalking experience. So, at age 45 I set out on a new adventure. Another youthful spirit decided to create along with me and we joyfully chalked in the sun. How simple this was yet I couldn't help but think that I wasn't that child of 5 who simply creates because she likes the color - there was more to it. I wanted my picture to make some sort of sense and I even solicited another artist to give me tips on shading. She asked me "where is your light source?" and honestly, I don't often think of where my light source is. In a way I may be more childlike than I thought, which I believe, may be a good thing.
Too often the attached responsibilities, rational thinking and creating art to "sell" makes artwork a little stale at times. Don't get me wrong, I desperately need to know where my light source is and the technical aspects of creating something correctly is needed. It's just every once in a while,
I would like to take art
not.so.seriously.
We can become intimidating to others and feel a need to explain in terms of articulated rhetoric that ends up just sounding silly and rather fluffy. I read in a post by Keith Garrow "…it's not an essay it's a painting. It encompasses and expresses things in a language that is unique to the medium of paint."
Maybe we should let our art speak for itself? I go back and forth on this concept. I do believe that the creator of the art has a purpose whether the purpose is to convey a deep, emotional hurt that hasn't healed or just to show a new color that they mixed that looks lovely against another. Complex or simple it still has a meaning but let's focus on the simple for a moment. Just a short moment. Simplicity - like a child not tainted by life - creating art for art's sake.
I love that a child can tell you the reason they created a painting was simply because they wanted to or that they liked the color. There is a joy to the simplicity of creating for beauty. Beauty for the one creating. For the artist.
As we grow "up" we start knowing when things are "not right" technically and we even question - "is that art?" We then create with a mind set of too much knowledge instead of trusting our own intuition and simply expressing our emotions and thoughts. We try to create something correct or what may "sell".
But every once-in-a-while we should just create art.for.art's.sake.
But every once-in-a-while we should just create art.for.art's.sake.
Picasso said it best I think…"it took me four years to paint like Raphael but a lifetime to paint like a child."
-nc
August Featured Artist: Mike Byers
Posted on | Monday, August 1, 2011 | 2 Comments
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