“Life is like a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” – Danny Kaye
Working midnights at a “day” job can be exhausting, except that last night I was able surf while I worked. I tried hard but never ran out of things to peruse and questions to answer. There was still plenty of Internet left when I was done for the night. What I found this time was pretty entertaining. http://jacksonpollock.org/
I did not create this site. And, there seems to be some controversy over who did. Let the legal minds of the world fight it out. I just know it’s interesting, creative, and fun so I’m sharing it. You’ll figure out how to use it right away. Use Danny Kaye's advise in the quote and...Enjoy!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
My Torch Runnith Dry
Here I am with my "storming" brain and I run out of propane for torching. If we were a 24 hour city (and I do so love cities) I'd go and fill it. At least I'd like to fantasize that if I "lived urban" the world would be at my finger tips. It's a true case of the grass is always greener...Amen.
Unfortunately, or not, there aren't "eye candy" photos of my new work so I surfed around and found some. These are links to two great blogs I find inspirational when I can't create in an experiential form (should read - messy, all consuming, passion infested frenzy) I let my eyes consume and my heart digest as many images and eye candy as they can can take. Doing that, for myself, has kept me vitally involved in the college of life long learning. luannudell.wordpress.com / http://mistymawn.typepad.com/ And, it usually means the inspiration will evolve and new works derived from those quiet moments of study. Information in...art out. Sounds a little like a bathroom analogy too because sometimes what comes out "ain't all that great".
With that, I'll take my leave and you can go and look at the better inspiration on those sites rather than remain with the 'toilet image' I conjured up for you.
Happy surfing. Sharon
Unfortunately, or not, there aren't "eye candy" photos of my new work so I surfed around and found some. These are links to two great blogs I find inspirational when I can't create in an experiential form (should read - messy, all consuming, passion infested frenzy) I let my eyes consume and my heart digest as many images and eye candy as they can can take. Doing that, for myself, has kept me vitally involved in the college of life long learning. luannudell.wordpress.com / http://mistymawn.typepad.com/ And, it usually means the inspiration will evolve and new works derived from those quiet moments of study. Information in...art out. Sounds a little like a bathroom analogy too because sometimes what comes out "ain't all that great".
With that, I'll take my leave and you can go and look at the better inspiration on those sites rather than remain with the 'toilet image' I conjured up for you.
Happy surfing. Sharon
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Hurry Spring!
I've been on the torch most of today when I wasn't being lazy, daydreaming, and going through garden catalogs. It's Michigan and the temperature is fluctuating moment by moment. The joke here for all of us Michiganders is, "If you don't like the weather...wait ten minutes". How true it is. But, I can smell it and feel it and see the colors. Spring is coming and all that cold flaky stuff is going to melt. I know there's a good joke in that line about a wicked witch but I'm just to happy thinking spring colors. Annealing right now are flowers and, sorry...I just can't do beads without skulls and bones. Maybe I better do some spring skulls, BINGO, ding ding ding, idea!!! Stay tuned, check back, come again....it will take me a couple of days but while I was writing this down a light bulb went off. I love it when THAT happens. Short of winning the lottery it's as good as it gets. These "Garden Discs" are newly listed on my Etsy site today. I guess I'm thinking green all the way around...hahaha.Monday, March 17, 2008
Inspirational Poetry and Otherwise
Life should
not be a journey
to the grave
with intention of
arriving safely
in a pretty and
well preserved body
but
rather to skid
in broadside
thoroughly used up
totally worn out
and loudly
proclaiming
WOW
What a ride!!!
This inspirational piece is by Chris Roberts. I had the great pleasure of seeing her work at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. It just rocks. Make some time and check out her creations at chrisroberts-antieau.com. I'm especially fond of Tangible Evidence of Miracles and Recent Alligator Attacks. Check out the composition and patterns on this piece. And guess what?, she's a Michigander! Pure beading inspiration.
Go Make Art...
Sharon
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Am I There Yet? (Skill Acquisition 101)
Isn’t this humbling? Above is a photo of some of my first beads (they are made mostly of furnace glass). The teachers were fantastic (Toby Upton, and Al Young – be still my heart!). It’s not they aren't great artists or great teachers. I just had not yet accomplished the skill set I wanted so desperately to acquire.
Recently a questioned was posed on LE (http://lampworketc.com/). A member, Lori Greenburg, of this honorable forum posed a question asking, “When will you be there"? It raised a lot of discussion about the arbitrary deadlines we all set for ourselves. A kind of “timeline” is what Lori called it. We all want to feel accomplished at what we choose to do, but how is that standard set? I mean, what’s "accomplished?" - define that please. Art is in the eye of the beholder is not a statement that sings a single tune. I considered, and am still pondering, the posts made by others.
Tink Martin (who I personally think of as accomplished) hit the nail on the head for me in a very special way. She stated that the word itself could be defined in many ways, how true. For her ‘accomplished’ means that she would have excellent control of the medium, be able to obtain predictable and reproducible results, and have a full understanding of the processes and materials involved. Touché. And further down I'm going to explain why.
Another outstanding point was made by Terri (sculptorgirl) who pointed out that there is a difference between accomplished and accomplishments. Let me quote her directly here, "We can dance around the ideas of "making art for art's sake", or of immersing in the process and letting nature take it's course, and sometimes we will be greeted with some measure of public success. But those who plan (even silently) to expose themselves to attempting "accomplishments" will likely be very much further ahead as a career artist with recognition in their field (as examples of accomplishments: being in a guild, being accepted to a show, teaching, selling work, etc.),...But personally accomplishing something is no more than setting a goal for oneself…., and then working to attain that goal.”
"Otter’s Flame" (a screen name) agreed that the term “accomplished” can mean several different things. He felt (and I hope I do not misquote) that, as applied to his own work, the term had nothing to do with commercial success but the degree in which one can combine technical ability with what they believe has artistic or aesthetic merit. Otter went on to say that if he ever thought of himself as accomplished then he might feel as though he had become complacent and therefore apathetic. Apathetic in his pursuit of knowledge, experience, and creative endeavor. He could not think of himself as accomplished for fear of impeding on the creative challenge of learning and growing as an artist. Interesting, huh?
Recently a questioned was posed on LE (http://lampworketc.com/). A member, Lori Greenburg, of this honorable forum posed a question asking, “When will you be there"? It raised a lot of discussion about the arbitrary deadlines we all set for ourselves. A kind of “timeline” is what Lori called it. We all want to feel accomplished at what we choose to do, but how is that standard set? I mean, what’s "accomplished?" - define that please. Art is in the eye of the beholder is not a statement that sings a single tune. I considered, and am still pondering, the posts made by others.
Tink Martin (who I personally think of as accomplished) hit the nail on the head for me in a very special way. She stated that the word itself could be defined in many ways, how true. For her ‘accomplished’ means that she would have excellent control of the medium, be able to obtain predictable and reproducible results, and have a full understanding of the processes and materials involved. Touché. And further down I'm going to explain why.
Another outstanding point was made by Terri (sculptorgirl) who pointed out that there is a difference between accomplished and accomplishments. Let me quote her directly here, "We can dance around the ideas of "making art for art's sake", or of immersing in the process and letting nature take it's course, and sometimes we will be greeted with some measure of public success. But those who plan (even silently) to expose themselves to attempting "accomplishments" will likely be very much further ahead as a career artist with recognition in their field (as examples of accomplishments: being in a guild, being accepted to a show, teaching, selling work, etc.),...But personally accomplishing something is no more than setting a goal for oneself…., and then working to attain that goal.”
"Otter’s Flame" (a screen name) agreed that the term “accomplished” can mean several different things. He felt (and I hope I do not misquote) that, as applied to his own work, the term had nothing to do with commercial success but the degree in which one can combine technical ability with what they believe has artistic or aesthetic merit. Otter went on to say that if he ever thought of himself as accomplished then he might feel as though he had become complacent and therefore apathetic. Apathetic in his pursuit of knowledge, experience, and creative endeavor. He could not think of himself as accomplished for fear of impeding on the creative challenge of learning and growing as an artist. Interesting, huh?
All of this discussion brought up plenty of fodder for self analyzing. Have I set arbitrary deadlines, have I accomplished what I wanted? What are my goals or, ack, motives? Is it about being known, financial gain, having community respect, does it matter on any level but a personal one?
Personally, I think everyone goes through this (artist or not). It’s a life process that is self perpetuating. Think about it. Didn’t you want to learn how to ride that two wheeled bike? Walk, talk, run? The “personal” part is to what degree you wish to become accomplished at your craft (or anything) and how important it is personally to have those accomplishments recognized in the larger community of your peers and and within yourself. Not everyone goes on to be a BMX star, or wants to, yet they feel accomplished riding that bike around the block. A-okay with me!
There are recognizable steps to skill acquisition: Regardless of what you are learning, if it is new to you, you will go through a determined set of steps. It is inevitable. And this matters why? It’s human nature. When you were a baby you kept trying until you crawled (you wanted to be…over there…and you were going to practice until you got where you wanted to go!) and so the skill acquisition cycle began. Some accomplishments are consciously planned endeavors and some just seem to be an inevitable course of nature. Learning how to reproduce the cycle is what is important if you desire to arrive at wherever it is you want to go, no matter the desired skill.
Let’s go over the steps;
1. Awareness – You become aware of what it is that you don’t know. For example:
The shiny two wheeled bike in the store window you are about to talk a parent in to buying for you!
2. Awkward - This is the” klutz” phase. Do you know anyone who could ride that bike without training
wheels and practice?
3. Skillful - Woo Hoo! You have the ability to do the task with focus and mental
effort. No training wheels, and mom and dad have given up running beside you (they probably can’t
Personally, I think everyone goes through this (artist or not). It’s a life process that is self perpetuating. Think about it. Didn’t you want to learn how to ride that two wheeled bike? Walk, talk, run? The “personal” part is to what degree you wish to become accomplished at your craft (or anything) and how important it is personally to have those accomplishments recognized in the larger community of your peers and and within yourself. Not everyone goes on to be a BMX star, or wants to, yet they feel accomplished riding that bike around the block. A-okay with me!
There are recognizable steps to skill acquisition: Regardless of what you are learning, if it is new to you, you will go through a determined set of steps. It is inevitable. And this matters why? It’s human nature. When you were a baby you kept trying until you crawled (you wanted to be…over there…and you were going to practice until you got where you wanted to go!) and so the skill acquisition cycle began. Some accomplishments are consciously planned endeavors and some just seem to be an inevitable course of nature. Learning how to reproduce the cycle is what is important if you desire to arrive at wherever it is you want to go, no matter the desired skill.
Let’s go over the steps;
1. Awareness – You become aware of what it is that you don’t know. For example:
The shiny two wheeled bike in the store window you are about to talk a parent in to buying for you!
2. Awkward - This is the” klutz” phase. Do you know anyone who could ride that bike without training
wheels and practice?
3. Skillful - Woo Hoo! You have the ability to do the task with focus and mental
effort. No training wheels, and mom and dad have given up running beside you (they probably can’t
keep up!).
4. Mastery – You do the task effortlessly without even thinking about it. You are
probably riding friends on your handle bars.
“Psychologists have found that it takes about 10,000 hours to develop expertise which usually takes a person on the level of 5 to 10 years.” I have noticed (through experience) that it is fairly easy to move from step one to step two, and not terribly difficult to rise from step two to three. It is arduous to “accomplish” the final phase.
All of this requires a time commitment. Ah-ha, now this is where the arbitrary time line of Lori’s enters the picture. I love learning. To this end anyone who knows me can attest to the fact I take a lot of classes. I have been lampworking for a long time. Well over ten years. I felt pretty accomplished at the last class I took, Jennifer Geldards. I felt skillful and triumphant in all that I accomplished because I could reasonably learn the skills Jennifer was teaching. She was definitely the master and I the student. I will not consider myself a master of those techniques until I have incorporated them into an artistic conception of my own. But, I will get “there”; I know what steps to take!
Some exerts from Lampwork, Etc. and, Escape from Cubicle Nation.
4. Mastery – You do the task effortlessly without even thinking about it. You are
probably riding friends on your handle bars.
“Psychologists have found that it takes about 10,000 hours to develop expertise which usually takes a person on the level of 5 to 10 years.” I have noticed (through experience) that it is fairly easy to move from step one to step two, and not terribly difficult to rise from step two to three. It is arduous to “accomplish” the final phase.
All of this requires a time commitment. Ah-ha, now this is where the arbitrary time line of Lori’s enters the picture. I love learning. To this end anyone who knows me can attest to the fact I take a lot of classes. I have been lampworking for a long time. Well over ten years. I felt pretty accomplished at the last class I took, Jennifer Geldards. I felt skillful and triumphant in all that I accomplished because I could reasonably learn the skills Jennifer was teaching. She was definitely the master and I the student. I will not consider myself a master of those techniques until I have incorporated them into an artistic conception of my own. But, I will get “there”; I know what steps to take!
Some exerts from Lampwork, Etc. and, Escape from Cubicle Nation.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Off to Teach Resins
Last year, my artsy business partner, Susan Lambert and I taught at Lapidary Beadfest Philadelphia. It has been an annual event for us for several years running, less this year's break. We always design these great projects to be fun and current with what's new and trendy in the jewelry world. Along with this I try and demo these projects at our local guild meetings, when at all possible, as they have always been so supportive of our artistic efforts.Tomorrow I'll be teaching one of our favorite Beadfest classes to date...Resins!
Resins are a great medium to work in. I love to combine it with other things, silverwork and beads. If you like this type of mixed media you should check out the work of Susan Kazmer Lenart . She has just published a great book on working with mixed objects and she's working on another, a must have for me. It's going to all about resins and she certainly had a unique way of integrating them into her work.
Off to pack for class. I really have to be better organized.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Geldish Beads
No time to hang around here where I'd like to so I'm just going to post and run. Here is a small selection of the beads I made at Jennifer's class. She was inspiring.
Remember if you want to see where Ms. Geldard will be next just check out her website: http://glassgirl.com
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Many Happy Class Returns
It's late but I wanted to drop a blog note in to let everyone know what's been going on. I just returned from this great experience in Chicagoland at The Gathering Place Studio (thegatheringplacestudio.com). I took a Jennifer Geldard class in lampworking. She is a fabulous person to spend time with AND be taught by. I wish I could sing her praises a little more right now but I have a show to get to very early tomorrow morning. Signing off until after the Bead Bonanza! When I return I'll include a few pictures of the beads I brought home from the class and a few of Jennifer's too.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Something to Think About
I haven't got any pictures to post or whitty tidbits today just something to think over. I attend as many "Gatherings" (ISGB - beadmaker's conventions) as I can. Last year one of the presenters gave a short talk on a very special program called Beads of Courage. It is a program for children who are dealing with serious illness. Beads are given to the children as tangible reminders of the milestones in their treatment.
They accept lampwork, polymer clay, Bali, ceramic, and I am not sure what else. They do have a Director of Bead Donations, Carol Saker. She is listed on their site. I'm unclear as to what might be allowable to post so please check out this site for yourself. I have included their logo above this post and a direct link.
Happy Beading, Sharon
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Hurry Spring
Some of these flowers I might make into pendants (like the largest one), undecided yet!
March 1st – The date means that there is hope for spring. As in...hurry up, snow melt, trees blossom, GROW...green things. As soon as I can forecast winter’s demise I start making flowers, lots of glass flowers. A few can be seen on Etsy and I make them in every size shape and form. Today’s photos include the one that I wear most often. It’s an “Audrey” flower (named for the flower in the Little Shop of Horrors) and she has the most wonderful salivating Mick Jagger lips and tongue! I am casting those lips again and doing a production run of them sooner or later because what's not to love about lips like that! To me they’re the perfect compliment to my juicy Audrey.
March 1st – The date means that there is hope for spring. As in...hurry up, snow melt, trees blossom, GROW...green things. As soon as I can forecast winter’s demise I start making flowers, lots of glass flowers. A few can be seen on Etsy and I make them in every size shape and form. Today’s photos include the one that I wear most often. It’s an “Audrey” flower (named for the flower in the Little Shop of Horrors) and she has the most wonderful salivating Mick Jagger lips and tongue! I am casting those lips again and doing a production run of them sooner or later because what's not to love about lips like that! To me they’re the perfect compliment to my juicy Audrey.
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