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“Without an unflinching sense of self, the work will ring hollow and will remain unconvincing.”
— Peter London, from “No More Secondhand Art: Awakening the Artist Within.”
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Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about things like the above excerpt… As I begin to teach more often I’m finding that the concept of self-acceptance is a common theme that I keep coming back to with students: We are all unique, precious and DIFFERENT… accepting ourselves and understanding ourselves is so key to producing authentic work…
Writers often give the advice to “write like you talk.” I think it ties in well with the above in that how we talk is something we AUTOMATICALLY do, we don’t usually over think how we talk, and so it can be one fairly authentic window into who we are as individuals. And I realized with a jolt recently that my artwork is “how I talk” … Betsy (who I was speaking with at the time) laughed and agreed…
In conversations I tend to laugh a lot, make fun of myself, tease a bit, flit from one thought to another without transition (think roller coaster), delight in silliness, be outraged at things that waste my time (like TV-news, which I got a big dose of last week…oh my), suddenly feel the deeper emotion and/or spiritual concerns, etc.
These conversational characteristics come out in the form of fabric elephants and ponies, weirdish painted animals and sea monsters, sad faces, sweet girls, icon art like the one above, and the occasional snarky piece that I don’t usually share with you-all (but plan to more often, I promise!).
So… do YOU make art like you talk? If so or if not, tell!
Ahhh… authenticity. A noble pursuit.
I love this idea. Hopefully I did not laugh inappropriately.
Bets
Of course she didn’t!
I’m not sure if I paint like I talk. Hmm…… oh yeah, I guess I do.
YOU definitely do, Carla!
yes, i see my thoughts/talk somewhere in the parallel plane of my painting’s process and content. interesting….
I had a series of posters I developed for my students. They read:
Be careful of what you think….thoughts become words-
Be careful of your words……….words become actions-
Be careful of your actions……..actions become habits-
Be careful of your habits………habits affect how you live-
Be careful of your life………….life is what you think about-
Be careful of your thoughts……..
Or something close to this.
I would like to “alter” this to include your ideas of art and (all of the above.) Something to ponder. Like, What ever you think about, it will show in your art
What ever you talk about, show it in your art
What ever you experience, will show in your art
I have been so amazed at how your class and others I have taken (experienced) have affected my art. You guys are terrific! I will work on the cause/effect idea LOL
Carol, from UTah
I think so. I am careful and try to think things through before I do anything/say anything. It is easier to have a plan than to just do something fast and not clear and then have to throw it away/go back and apologize.
Still I am ‘trying on’ working faster and not thinking. I find that I am thinking faster and still don’t act until I am ready. Hmmm, I hate to waste my resources in artwork and to make a mistake and hurt someone’s feelings by being thoughtless. So I think you are right I do.
Catherine
I came to your blog after seeing your class on Joggles. Oh, I love your work ~ so whimsical! And I especially like this posr – very true !! Food for thought!
I think that my sense of humor and love of beauty come through in my work. ( I hope!)
I guess that’s what I’m working on. Whether it’s an outfit or a piece of artwork or a blog post – if my nearest and dearest say “it’s very Kelly” then I know I’ve got it right. Oh, and I’m right there with you on the wildly rollercoastering conversations They’re the best kind.