Tag: Muse

Write On! Life Lessons at the Tip of a Pen

Calligraphy is a kind of music not for the ears, but for the eyes.
V. Lazursky

IMG_3270Once upon a time, most of my artistic output was as a calligrapher, using the medium to create both fine art and in practical applications. Now, once upon a year, I return to the Land of Calligraphy, on the Isle of Italic, surrounded by the Sea of Ink. There I complete Certificates of Completion for the special needs adults at a school where my husband teaches. This year, as I bent to my task, it occurred to me that lessons learned from the end of the nib have parallels in other parts of life. Here are five life lessons that came to mind:

Things Take More Time Than You Think

There were only 11 certificates to complete, first and last names. I was certain that the task would be accomplished quickly. Still it took me a good three-four hours to finish. Howsacome? as Dad likes to say. Because the task was not only about the actual writing but also included the gathering of supplies, setting up the work station (the importance explained in a previous post, Everybody, Let’s Mise-en-Place!), doing the rough drafts, double checking the final product, and so on.

It seems to me that every project, in and out of the studio, always takes more time than first envisioned. When I am honest about that, I can give myself enough time (read: DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE), so as not to feel frantic and rushed. So let’s do ourselves a favor and be realistic about the time needed, and then double it. After all, I don’t remember ever saying, “Whoa, I have way too much time for this project!”

Be in the Present Moment

When you are in the Zen of scribing, your attention is on the letter you are writing, the word you are composing, the stroke, the spring to the serif, the pressure of the pen on paper, the ink that rests on the nib. I have found that the only additional input that I can negotiate is listening to classical music. In fact, once when I was listening to an audio book I started transcribing the story I was listening to rather than the text I was copying. Oy vey!

To be in the present moment, at the easel, in the studio, home with kith and kin, elevates the ordinary to the sacramental. Sure it’s not an easy task, especially for those of us operating under the illusion that we can multitask. Still, as we scribe, so we thrive. At least that’s the official word.

Ink Happens

Plan, plan and plan some more–mix the ink to the right consistency, clean the pen, rule the paper, practice the font. Still, in spite of all, sometimes ink happens and the inkwell spills, usually when you are almost done, and then, gasp, the moment of horror when your realize all is naught, zip, zero, nada.

Oh jeez, is that not a metaphor for those times in our life, artistic or otherwise, when the Muse, in a fit of mischief, places us in such a state. We are then presented with the challenge: give up or go on. You know how we are my friend; we sigh, cry, clean up and solider on. So, hand me a clean piece of paper. Let’s make this happen!

There Ain’t No Eraser, Baby

You might find that your letter forms are not spot on and the lines of text are not entirely straight. The materials used in calligraphy are often indelible, and cannot be removed, or in some cases, even covered up. In other words, not every undertaking will be perfect and you are going need to deal with unerasable mistakes. Sometimes you can rethink a splotch (“Does this look like a bird? A little bird picture would be good here, right?”), adapt a misplaced mark (“That letter “p” just needs an extra curly-q to make it look okay.”), or worst case, you may need to start over (“Oops, I just wrote “Bib” instead of “Bob”! Do you think Bob will really mind if I change his name?”).

It is glorious when everything clickety-clacks along, but when things happen that can’t be undone, on the page or in life, identify what can be fixed, or figure how you can adapt the mistake, or recognize the need to discard and begin anew.

Above all, don’t be concerned about getting it all perfect; that’s never going to happen. Trust me, you can relax and let that worry go.

Find the Rhythm in the Black and White

There is beautiful rhythm that occurs when the white space between and within the letters are in balance with the black shapes of the letter form. A tilt in either direction throws things off-balance. Think in terms of black/white, yin/yang, light/shadow, you need the balance of both for wholeness. Balance is my biggest challenge in life, balancing my studio practice with the business portion of art; walking the middle way of commitments to family and friends and the need to create; maintaining the poise between work and recreation. In other words, finding equilibrium and harmony and a sense of centeredness in the daily dealings of life.

So that’s it, my lessons learned this week, found at the end of the pen nib. Maybe later I’ll share the lessons learned while running a race, just as soon as I clean up this ink spill.

This Week in the Studio

A great week in the studio, feeling productive.

I have begun a new painting, 20 x 30 inchesFullSizeRender 24, oil on board, title TBD. This is a new direction and it will be interesting to watch where this takes me. Here is the background with the words Minnin, Munin and Hugin (Thought, Memory, Desire):

I also was able to oil-out one of the self portraits, one of my favorite steps in painting, and I am pleased with the results. Once dry, I’ll deliver it to the photographer for it’s “official” photograph and share it with you then.

Speaking of self portraits, I’m back to the Mondrian pair, repainted the red rectangles (already repainted the other colors). Next will be to touch up the black grid, let them dry and then oil out the canvas.

Finally, I got another rondo, the ammonite (spiral shell), fairly completed.

Whew.

 

 

 

 

To Be or Not to Be (an Artist), That is the Question

“An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.”

Charles Horton Cooley

My name is Martine and I am an artist.

cropped-Martine.jpg

“Hello, Martine”

Yep, that’s me alright; I admit it freely. And I ain’t sorry. However, there are times when I do wonder, as any reasonable person might, why.

Why be an artist when the financial rewards are so slim?

Why be an artist when you must decline invitations and limit social gatherings because you need the time to create?

Why be an artist when you must forego the friendship of certain people because their demands, craziness and drama, however exciting, detract and drain you from art making?

Why be an artist when there are hundreds, no thousands, of other artists out there, making art more accomplished and innovative than yours?

Why be an artist when you can find programs and websites and technologies that will  produce “original” artwork for pennies on the dollar?

Well, as we say in Italian class: Perchè? Perchè! Why? Because!

True, most of us aren’t making enough money selling our work to support a flea. If we are lucky we find jobs in art related fields, or otherwise we work at something to pay bills. We may occasionally sell a piece or two. So if we set aside financial reward as the mark of success and look to the success of a task well done, to the best of our abilities, then why not be an artist?

Instead of thinking of all the times we say “no” to social invitations, perhaps we should see that those “no-s” are the times we say “yes” to our creative spirit. When we are so fortunate as to be able to say yes to spending time with our Muse, that gracious being, then why not be an artist?

There will be relationships that impede our artistic undertaking. We then wish those individual peace and Godspeed, leaving space to open our artist arms to those who feed our souls, encourage our undertakings and provide us with needed emotional support. With such folks in our corner, why not be an artist?

Out in the great big world there are artists more accomplished in technique, salesmanship, and luck than you. If you know that you are doing your best work, find joy in the process, and create something that resonates with another human being, then why not be an artist?

Technology and some markets provide cheap labor, producing an inexpensive product that looks like original art. Accept that it is not your job to try to undersell either them or yourself, and somewhere there is someone who can’t live without your work. With such knowledge, then why not make art?

How fortunate as artists to be given both the creative hunger and the means to satisfy that desire! You will always find plenty of reasons why you can’t or shouldn’t be an artist. Like a newly found shiny penny, flip the excuse over and see the answer to the question: why be an artist? The answer: why not?  Why not indeed!

This Week in the Studio

Slow week in the studio as we  wrapped up the Spring semester and began plans for the Summer sessions. Still–made progress on the Mondrian inspired self-portrait, and worked on the honey comb  and pineapple rondel.

IMG_3186 bees, in progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

I, the Juror

Remember that all is opinion.

Marcus Aurelius

Next week I take off my artist beret and replace it with my juror’s cap, as I once again adjudicate the spring exhibit for the Downriver Arts and Craft Guild. I will speak to the assembled membership, offer a quick critique for each of the pieces submitted, (a modest number easily covered in the time span allowed), and select a winner. Over the years, the event has trans-morphed in the Marty Arty Award, no prize money but bragging rights for the year. It’s a fun evening of repartee and storytelling and I enjoy the event immensely.

That’s not normally how things work when serving as a juror, especially when prize money is on the line! As the artist entering the competition has guidelines, oftentimes so does the juror. Sometimes the host organization will request that everyone has at least one piece selected, or cap the number of pieces chosen because of the size of the venue, or limited the number of awards one artist can receive.

Once the parameters are known, selecting the work can begin. I’ve heard it said that picking the strongest and eliminating the weakest is the easy part, and I have found that to be true, more or less. It’s the work that falls into “good” art category that offers the challenge. Among the many things I look for, here are 3 to consider:

  1. Original and creative interpretations of the subject matter, without falling back on gimmicks. When I was member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, one juror summed it up this way: When everyone else is doing cats, you paint the rhino! And please, only use glitter if it is integral to the work.
  2. In one word: Presentation, presentation, presentation. It hard to look at the work if the frame is askew or the picture has fallen down behind the mat. As an artist I’ve done the wham, bam, thank you ma’am approach and more often than not I end up more sorry than pleased.  In a related note, I  am always appreciative of mastery of media.
  3. I experience a visceral reaction to the work. When work engages me on an emotional level, one that I keep going back to over and over again, I know that’s a keeper. Then I set aside my subjective reaction and concentrate on analyzing which of the principles and elements of design went into the work to make is successful.

Keep this in mind as well. Don’t think too much of whether or not a juror accepts your work; last time I checked we are only imperfect people passing judgment on other imperfect people. Seriously, don’t take any of this too seriously!

Now back on with the artist beret and an update for this week in the studio:

Me and Mondrian, continuesWill this painting never end?? Only 12″ x 12″, this self-portrait, and its companion piece, feels like it is taking FOREVER to complete. Yet, I think I see a light at the end of the paint tunnel and if the Muse is agreeable, I hope to begin the final act: cleaning up the Mondrian inspired background and redefining the hat and shadows therein. Finally, an oiling-out and then off to the photographer for documentation. See, almost done!

Sealing the wood.
Sealing the wood.

Going forward: I am in the process of prepping cradled wood panels for the next painting project, a multi-step procedure that begins with sealing the wood before adding the ground. Since it takes a couple of drying/curing days between every step, this will take a week and a half easily to complete. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get Back to Play

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Okay, okay I throw in the paint brush! Car problems, being under the weather, family obligations and other mundane issues, meant limited time spent at “The Office”, and it feels as though nothing noteworthy was accomplished. Still, life offered a lesson worth sharing. This week, the Muse sent me a teacher in the form of a three-year sprite named Jack. Did I happen to mention he is related to me? That Muse has a sense of humor, for sure.

Playing at The Happy PlaceI have a studio at home, “The Happy Place”, where I do much of my 3-dimensional work, have my library, and store my supplies for teaching. It is one of the places that Jack loves best, where the colors pink and blue reign supreme, and there are boxes of bones, stones and feathers to open and explore, and whatever creative world you wish to visit you may.

And so that’s my biggest accomplishment this week; I played.

It’s too early to say that any great insights occurred, or that a creative door was opened. Sometimes it’s play just for the sake of playing and sometimes something made while playing does end up in a finished piece. Take for instance the mixed media piece, Edgar, Of Course, now at the exhibit, Do You Know Poe?, at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn.

Edgar, of Course
collage, paint sample card, leaf, text, etching ink, 8″ x 8″

Edgar began as a demonstration of using stencils and masks in mono printing. I laid the tag board silhouette on a sheet of Plexiglass, used a brayer and rolled ink over it. I lifted the bird, placed a sheet of paper on the image, and put it through the etching press. Voila, a print! I showed variations of using the silhouette as a mask, and the cut out area of tag board as a stencil. Basically, I was just playing around, not really trying to accomplish anything other than showing a technique or two.

But when I was done, I was struck not by the prints produced but the silhouette itself, now gloriously inked yellow, green and orange. A  lithograph someone abandoned years ago became another surface to print on. Alice, always eager to join the play,  gave me the oak leaves, now skeletal and lacy. Later, I found and assembled other elements needed to complete the image you see here.

But the bottom line is this: I didn’t set out make a crow that was yellow, green and orange; I was just playing, without fixed intentions towards outcome. Those who know me, know that I am serious about my art making. Sometimes I become too goal driven and I don’t step back from it, to just enjoy taking a day or two to explore, to learn again the lesson from a pre-schooler, that play is worthy work.

Now time to get back to work, I mean play.