Collage College

Lucy's 4th Birthday Party

Art Life is really a special place for birthday parties.  One of the things I love about it is we get to make some really BIG messes....but it's not the kind of mess that comes with loud bangs, and high pitched screams, and kids making messes just to see the kind of face the grown up might have when they see it.  It's a real mess, the kind where you are so involved with what you are doing that you don't realize that an entire plate of glue has just dropped on the floor...or confetti is stuck to your cheek.  In fact, one of the things that children often do is sort of get upset if they make a mess, thinking I might get upset.  It's not often you hear an adult say....don't worry about the table....the more paint on it the better. 
I don't say that to challenge the average parent who says..."keep it clean"  I tell my kids that in our main house, it's just that an art studio doesn't follow those rules.  An art studio says....don't worry about the results....just create.  I titled this post "collage college" because of the collage work I did in the studio this weekend with a great group of kids.   I also had my first discussion about what college is all about with my 6 yr old.  He wanted to talk about when "he goes to college"  The things I have told him about college (on a 6 yr old level) are things that only college can teach you...1) you have to show up to make it 2) things won't get done unless you do them ( i.e. the laundry) 3) you are free to make the experience what you want it to be, a good one or a miserable one.
College is kind of like working with the confusing medium of collage.  So many choices, you better decide quick, look at your neighbor to see what they like, think fast!  I literally put about an acre of raw random materials on the table for the parents and kids....and they DUG IN!  As any 4 year old would do...if it's shiny...it's mine!  I appreciate the unbridled zest they have for experimentation with art materials.  It's easy for a 4 yr old to show up, do it so it will get done, and to create an experience of freedom in the art materials as only the little ones can. 
Granted it was supposed to sort of look like this when it was done....and resemble a dog.

or this

but most of them looked like one big "piece of glitter-beaded-pom-pom-mosaic-collage"

no more dog.

Just as they wanted it, because that's what being 4 is all about.

Happy Birthday Lucy.

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transformation is just a moment away

I worked with 20 painters last night, they were ending a conference weekend with a fun event and a celebration together (with me). The focus and goal was to help these folks let go of limitations by literally burning an old word and painting a new word. They were asked to turn the page. The new word was painted on the canvas, the new word was given a place of honor with color and paint. I saw people changing...as they painted and thought with a fresh perspective. The simple act of saying them out loud, changes. Most of the participants last night had never painted. I told them to pick a color that was out of their comfort zone. I told them to write a word that was out of their comfort zone. I told them to paint and not think. I told them there are no mistakes only things you would do differently next time...things can be fixed...everything can be painted over....things are not permanent unless you see them as that way. Things are not tragic and black and white and wrong. Things are just what they are, and if you don't like it, well change it. By providing the place, the challenge, and the simple act of taking something old and worn out, and painting over it with a new word...a new color, a new word, they were transformed. Some people left a lot messier than they thought they would. The ones that spoke the loudest about not being creative...were the most transformed. It was a letting go that helped those most transformed. It's really nothing you DO. The act of creating something transforms...a creative process is a spiritual process, the two can not be separated. Try it, it just takes a moment...but you have to set the stage. What can you do that feeds your creative self today?

there is a war - creative bandits

I am notorious for being optimistic and seeing the good in people. My high school class voted me "Most Gullible" -really? I was in the running for best legs, but it seems people saw me as deeper than that....thank God. My legs may have changed since high school, but my ability to believe people as they present themselves has not. There are events in my creative journey that have made me a little jaded. There are "traumas" that go along with pursuing a creative life. Today I am challenging myself to write about those who may (without knowing it) try to sabotage. People are going to try to steal your thunder...your creative velocity. They may not always be recognizable, they may come in sheep's clothing, they may be in your house. They may be at the grocery store, or worse, in your art class. The bandit may come as a teacher, a friend, a spouse. Staying true to your creative path may resemble war at times because it's a LOVE for what you want, the LOVE for a creative life, and the LOVE for yourself that may threaten these bandits. The thing to remember about the bandits is they are full of FEAR. Their fear is driving their comments. The comments are not grounded in LOVE for your creative path, but the FEAR of losing theirs. Th ey are not always intending the robbery, but nevertheless, the crimes are committed.

What do these crimes look like? What do they steal? These bandits try to steal that part of you who believes you can DO IT! They are not stealing your ideas or your work. These bandits are much more covert,. They may or may not know they are even stealing. When you leave the bandit's presence you feel a little naked. You feel like you had the gold, and now just straw. These bandits try to steal the pure part of your creative self. These bandits try to steal your enthusiasm, your velocity, your innocence, and your instinct for your next creative move.

"Wow...I am so excited to have finally finished that painting"
"That must feel good...but I think it's hard to tell if a painting is ever really finished, you may or may not know when it's done...when the time is right I listen and then I know.....blah blah blah...."

There are also the know it alls....those who throw facts about things that might be wrong, go wrong, or any terrible trivia that might try to scare you.

There are covert words that might injure your artist....take care of her. She needs to be protected from those words just as you would a child. Appropriate material and words for the appropriate time. If it feels like you are in the presence of yucky, zapping energy....you probably are. PLEASE trust your instinct and politely excuse yourself. Your artist has better things to do. Remember - everything in the world is either FEAR or LOVE, decide today what you are going to bring inside. Get rid of the rest.

slip and slide

The first sign of summer to me came in the form of a slip and slide. I felt the carefree freedom of letting kids be kids, the extra need for a cool drink of water, the throwing out of the clock. I felt free. The school year is full of demands on parents and kids, the summer is our playtime. The summer allows it all to slip away and get rid of the "shoulds", the "coulds", and "if you woulds." I look forward to the summers camps we are having at Art Life. I am finding new projects that will take the ordinary object to a new level of art. I want the kids to take their time on things, I will encourage the use of all their patience. Children are natural artists but they are also natural competitors. I often find myself telling them (especially my boys) that it's not a race...it's about what might happen if you experiment just a little more. When I look around at my paintings, i always find something that I see I could add or take away. I have even been known to work on a painting that has been hanging on the wall finished- for years. Sometimes I believe my paintings are never done...they are just at a really good resting spots.
So, the summer begins, i need to remember to slow down. I need to remember it's not a race, and that it's all a work in progress. If I just experiment a little more, i might just get some different results. It's a busy time for the studio, but then again, the studio is a place to slow down - i am really excited to get started this summer...oops...i mean, to take it easy this summer.

Look around today, you might just see your first sign of summer. What will it be?

Trust the Paint to Dry Without You

I have heard before to "trust the process" when making art. Art making is 98% process, and the remaining 2% lies in results and opinions. Some of those opinions are ours, some are from others. But we all know that opinions are the opposite of being in creative process...because opinions are left brain "thinking" processes. The creative process dies when we think. When you think about it....if we had the future opinions in our ears of others while we were in the middle of the creative process, it might not ever be. It might not make it off the drawing table. We are so quick to say...."well, it's not done...don't look" "I have so much more I'd like to do to it." "I was thinking about adding this or taking away that." You know....that IS the art, right there. Making it, thinking about it, and frankly sharing it. But art is best when it's shared. What can we do with something that is stuffed under the bed? We can't enjoy the things that have never been painted.
Talking about art was one of the most difficult learning processes for my freshman design college students to grasp- they went kicking and screaming into discussion critiques. No one wanted to discuss their own work, no one wanted to talk about areas that they thought needed improvement. And if I asked them to talk about some one else's work???? Forget about it. However, with time, and mandatory requirements, the students understood that critique was more about an understanding of our fears, of making the ego smaller, of comparing our work from the work we used to do....to see how we have improved, and talking about work that could have been changed, and how.
I am drying some clay pieces in the studio now. There is nothing to it, just let it be. Some really flat pieces should be slightly covered in the winter heat of the studio as to avoid warping. Some were just left where they were to dry. I am also waiting on an oil painting to dry...with the aid of modern mediums, will be ready in another day for more layers of oils.
In the meantime, I wait. I wait for the next step...the next move toward the completion.
I let go while that process takes place.
Soaking, drying, firing, mixing...a pause in creation, so the creation itself can go on with out the creator...to do it's thing.
I like to think about that painting or clay piece sometimes, upstairs in the studio, doing it's work without me so that we can move on towards completion.
It sounds silly, but i even love that part, the part about watching paint dry.
The reasons are because i have been that wet paint before, drying and deciding....hoping that no one disturbs me. Hoping that I can just sit here, and dry. As the creator/artist we are always deciding what our next move is. Although that path is not always clear, we walk away and let our creations be. When the time is right, we will know our next stroke of paint, our next mark on the clay, or our next word to write. In time, if you trust that you will know, you will know.

Wonder - Christmas 2010

It's a magical time of year. I am very fond of mystery. I am fond of things that just don't quite make sense, things you just have to believe in....like Santa Claus. My kids are 4 and 5 and the Santa thing is really really bringing up a lot of questions. I wonder if they see the conflict in what we tell them. Conflict in the chimney thing, or all the presents in one night thing? I just know there are a lot of questions. It is all very confusing. OR is it mysterious? I guess it's how you look at it.
I don't think young children question mystery, they just ask questions and then fit those answers into their version in their imagination. They create it, then they extend the creation. They add to the creation and take away; so it fits just right. It's a lot like making a sculpture or painting a painting...add, take away, flow with it: and whatever you do don't stop and think too much, just accept the mystery. Mystery is magical. Without it life is plaqued with logic and absolutes. Without it, there is nothing to look forward to. Without mystery the world would have no new books, no new works of art, no future music, no spontaneous adventures. Without mystery, we would know everything....what kind of world would that be? When you believe you don't have to figure it all out, you only have to do one thing, believe.
So I challenge you to think like a child, act like a child, feel the wonder tonight...feel the possibility that just might include newness and the beginning of something within you and within this world. Merry Christmas. May mystery and wonder be your guide as you celebrate together.