YIKES! The pressure is on, but whenever I feel stressed (as most of the students do at this point) I think about how diamonds form. Try impersonating a diamond. Let the pressure make things clear as opposed to blurry. Let your points be made and make them sharp and true. Remember, a deadline is a gift. Pretty much all artists need deadlines in order to complete work. This is a crucial part of any artistic practice, sharing what you've completed with the public. The public helps determine the cultural value of your work - if any. To have the gift of people from the public paying attention to what you are doing is something to be appreciated - but you must prepare for it. It is time to start preparing your work for some serious scrutiny - every decision you make that affects your piece is crucial. However, you must practice making decisions in order to get good at making them. It is a little scary, but this course is an exercise designed to help you on a number of levels. One of which is to determine if a career in fine art is for you. I am also here to help you start developing the skills you will need so you can be taken seriously as an artist - if you so chose. The water is fine, really, but there are all sorts of creatures in it, with varying degrees of intelligence and sensitivity... So there is that.
Fortunately, some transformation is making itself visible! I am delighted to see evidence of the ideology I am sharing with the students manifesting itself in the objects that these young people are creating. Beautiful reflections of their inspiration, refined and carefully (care being the operative word) executed - this is when and how poetry starts resonating from an object made of debris.
It is clear to me that some students spent time working over the weekend in the studio,
though not the majority. (Which surprises me as they have so
little time!) Organizing your time and scheduling yourself is crucial. If you think you might want to be a professional artist, you need to be professional about it. You will need to be your own boss and not let yourself be a lazy negligent worker. Honor your vision, your time, your practice -- then others will follow suit.
Here is what today looked like in the studio:
 |
Lotus flowers from aluminum cans... with such a dreamy quality!
|
 |
| Celtic Tree of Life in colorful packaging, on a tree shelter |
 |
| PVC pipe phonograph? Is it possible? |
 |
Suspended works finding hang points...
|
 |
| Play ground part + 2 liter PET bottles = fish |
 |
| High density polyethylene bird coming to life |
 |
| Aluminum + Polyethylene Terephthalate Bird Forming |
 |
| Pink foam from Lewis Creek = Earth |
 |
| Mixing colors to apply w/airbrush. Ratio = 2 parts Polycrylic:1 part H20 |
|
 |
| And a bag of lovingly created urchins + anemones from a mix of HDPE + PET plastics... |
TOMORROW:
Bag it screening at 7pm at Francis Auditorium. Open to the public! This film is incredibly informative, uplifting and empowering - especially compared to a lot of the other films we've watched that have been more sobering. Invite people you care about, the more you know the more you can protect yourself and the planet! Spread the knowledge you've gained and see what can be accomplished.
