textile paintings
Inspiration
Tweek!
011 years ago
My youngest daughter went on a school trip to DC this last week with her dad as a chaperone — so it was just me and DD1. At her age, she doesn’t always acknowledge my existence so I spent a lot of extra time in the studio — almost twice as much as in a normal week. On my current piece, I’ve cut out everything but the roof — and after that, I’ll start sewing everything down in sections. I’ll write about it here on the blog so look for an update soon.
This is my weekly Twitter update about articles I found interesting during this past week. If you want to follow me in real time, you can find me @vsgreaves or hit the Twitter icon in the upper right hand corner above the menu. The FaceBook icon next to it takes you to my professional Page — I update pics on there a few times a week.
As part of the ongoing discussion about how a small elite set of investors churn the work of a small elite group of artists to increase the size of their investment portfolios, this article focuses on the fortunes of Oscar Murillo, a young 28 year old in the elite artist group. The concern is whether his early fame will lead to an early burn-out of interest in his work. Will his work endure or is it merely “trendy and derivative”?
Too much too fast — just let the artist be the artist. But is fame bad? http://tinyurl.com/km5a88j @nytimesarts
Self identifying as an artist makes a difference. Interestingly, I sometimes do — sometimes don’t. It depends on the form and my current mood. The study covered in this article finds that a lot of artists don’t self identify as an artist.
“What Makes an Artist an Artist?” Sometimes I self-identify as an artist — sometimes I don’t. http://feedly.com/e/pZHrYdUZ
Since the majority of artists don’t make anywhere near where the upper elite artist group does, it makes sense that they typically come from wealthy parents — not because they’re being funded by them but that they have different opinions about fulfillment and how it relates to money. (I did still find it depressing that Creatives typically make so little compared to everyone else. It’s a sad statement on our culture that it’s so undervalued.)
“How Wealthy Are Artists’ Parents?” Identifying as a prof artist enters you in an elite status group. Who knew? http://feedly.com/e/bxCdlmUp
All Creatives need help working through artistic blocks from time to time.
“Artists Offer Their Escapes from Creative Block” Hoffman: “work every day like the manual laborer that I am” http://feedly.com/e/khBsDbjz
So many businesses look at traditional metrics in hiring decisions. It’s nice to see at least one company that is assessing the success of candidates based on soft skills — learning ability, emergent leadership, humility, and ownership — and at the bottom of the list, expertise.
“How to Get a Job at Google” The importance of soft skills – Why can’t Google be headquartered in ATL? http://feedly.com/k/1p9fChk
If we can figure out what the market wants to buy, should we change what we create — or at least reach a compromise?
“Thinking About Art Practice and the Role of Compromise” I’m not the only one asking what Is sellable. http://feedly.com/e/XgswtSHP
The LA Times looks at the recently published TEFAF Art Market Report issued by the European Fine Arts Foundation. The news is sobering.
RT @abstanfield Report: Super-rich, favoring just a few artists, drive art market http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-art-market-prices-auctions-billionalires-20140316,0,6445724.story … <worth a read
Tweek!
011 years ago
It’s been a very long week here. I spent double duty in the studio in the days I was home because Tuesday and Wednesday were lost. Tuesday I spent 12 hours waiting in jury duty — and Wednesday I spent volunteering at school. The rest of the week I worked like a mad woman trying to finish another appliqué section of the piece I’m currently working on (pics coming soon).
I did find time to share articles on Twitter — this is my weekly summary. If you’d rather follow me in real time — I’m @vsgreaves — or hit the Twitter icon in the upper right hand side above the menu. The FaceBook icon next to it takes you to my Page — I post daily studio pics there.
This is a book review, full of helpful information for Creatives and anyone else that wants to live a more fulfilling life. “So I suppose the best piece of advice I could give anyone is pretty simple: get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. . . . Turn off your cell phone . . . Keep still. Be present. Get a life in which you are not alone.”
“A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist” — Get a life! http://feedly.com/e/zfkJf5CW
Julie Zhou reminds Creatives that when we fall into “the Pit of Discomfiture,” working through it to come out the other side is the only way to truly grow.
“The Pit: Where Creatives Fall Into Despair” — “Everything is hard before it is easy.” – Goethe http://feedly.com/e/yiHFDZnk
This is another book review (very long) but an important “exploration of how ‘discoveries, innovations, and creative endeavors often, perhaps even only, come from uncommon ground’ and why this ‘improbable ground of creative endeavor’ is an enormous source of advantages on the path to self-actualization and fulfillment…”
“Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Crucial Difference Between Success and Mastery” – taking the long view http://feedly.com/e/gtQuGyKd
One last book review — there were several really good ones this week on Brain Pickings — this one from the author of Steal Like an Artist — his new book:
“Show Your Work: Austin Kleon on the Art of Getting Noticed” another great book review for creatives http://feedly.com/e/DbyfJTtz
Elizabeth Barton writes this week on her blog about the famous NYC art critics Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith — and their feelings about how words change your interaction with art.
“Hearing Yourself Thinking, Hearing Yourself Seeing.” How words affect how we see art — good read. http://feedly.com/e/5oko1wBp
I often find frustration with taking pictures of people. Many people presume that they own their image — but that isn’t entirely the case. It’s a gray area that a lot of photographers work in. Hungary has taken a stand and outlawed the practice completely — a controversial move that will generate a lot of lawsuits and create a lot of discussion about who owns the image — the person in the photograph or the person taking the photograph?
Taking Photos Without Permission is Now Illegal in Hungary, Photographers Outraged http://zite.to/1gAjaBD
At one time, in my youth, I was certain I would be a writer. (There — I said it.) I still consider plot scenarios in my head from time to time and may one day start writing them — and although I’m not personally a Stephen King fan, it can’t be denied that he’s one of the most successful modern writers of this century. He regularly produces a large volume of work, and in this article, gives some guidance to the frustrated writers among us.
Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers — for my writing friends — “kill your darlings” http://zite.to/1iNVkFe
Tweek!
011 years ago
I have been in a state of flow this week — creativity blinding me to the outside world. It’s one of my favorite places to be. My new photography stand came and I took new pics of some older work (which ironically ended up not coming out well at all) — and I started fusing and cutting my latest piece — my favorite part of the process — my zen.
This is my weekly update on my Twitter feed. Admittedly, most all of the Tweets were done today — as I didn’t do much reading until today.
If you would like to follow my Twitter in real time, my handle is @vsgreaves — or hit the Twitter icon in the upper right hand corner above the menu. The FaceBook icon next to it takes you to my FaceBook Page where I post about what I’m doing in the studio during the week.
I posted this week on a subject I’ve been thinking about a lot lately — how an artist should consider marketing and how it relates to choices in subject matter.
New blog post on Marketable Subject Matter — art marketing is invited into the studio: http://tinyurl.com/ltwr933 #art #marketing
I started many years ago making portraits — and I started the series with “faces in cloth I.” All of my monochromatic portraits had this title and at some point, although I dropped the serial naming, I continued working in portraits and have found that serial work has helped me grow a lot. Elizabeth Barton has a great post on her blog this week about why an artist should consider serial work.
“Serial Work” another good discussion from Elizabeth Barton http://feedly.com/e/UeCy7jpO
Many people do not understand me — but this article does. It’s a great description of the kind of personality and temperament a lot of artists have.
Definitely describes me — risk & creative flow: 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently http://tinyurl.com/kovtud9
A lot of people think that creatives sit around and don’t do much — but really, the best way to overcome a block is to move forward with something — really, anything. Movement creates inspiration.
“Content, Creativity, and the Role of Habit” — show up & do the work http://feedly.com/e/SkrJkunl
My studio is at home. We have the perfect space for it and it works well in our situation. However, for those artists living in New York — studio space is shrinking.
“Rising Rents Leave New York Artists Out in the Cold” Not everyone has the luxury of studio space at home. http://feedly.com/k/1iqpEtV
It’s always frustrating to find an iconic image and realize that it’s all tied up in Getty Images. They have gone from issuing nasty legal threats for the use of their images to realizing the fluidity of pics and replacing threats with social media sharing buttons and a simple request for attribution to the photographer.
“Easing up on Litigation, Getty Images Goes Free for Non-Commercial Use” – Getty recognizes fluidity of pics http://feedly.com/e/gCWTzC57
I had not previously heard of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, an American that married Napoleon’s brother — but her journey looks like a fascinating view into a Renaissance woman who catapulted out of the restrictions on women in 1800’s American society into her own independent life.
“Wondrous Beauty: How Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte Pioneered the Ideal of the Independent Woman” http://feedly.com/e/oeHaEazn
Marketable Subject Matter
011 years ago
Inviting Art Marketing into the Studio
Last year, I made a conscientious decision to make more marketable work. Every time someone would see Beach Guardians — I would often hear — “one day I want to commission you to do a piece of my grandchildren/children.”
I made Beach Guardians because it was from a picture I had made of my children at the beach. I owned the copyright — and it inspired me. At one point I had a price tag on it — but my husband soon told me that I couldn’t sell a piece of our children. It was going to stay in the family.
Which is fine — but making portraits of friends and family wasn’t taking me where I really wanted to go.
I knew I could make portraits of people — but I also knew that the few pieces I had sold in the past were animals. Anyone that has ever owned a bull dog will look at a bull dog piece of art and say “that looks just like my dog” — and want it. Now.
So after Lincoln, I stopped making portraits of people. I made an angel (arguably a person but a piece that was abstract enough that anyone could relate to it AND it was religious), a dog, a bird, a rabbit, an abstract piece, and then another dog. And then Lincoln won a prize at Houston — and why hadn’t I made any more people?
But the answer was easy — the first dog (Firecracker), the angel (The Bowl Judgments), and the bird (The White Raven) all sold.
Although — I did come home from Houston wondering what in the world I was going to do next. I felt like I should make another person — and I became inspired by a photograph by Dorothea Lange of a woman and her three children. It felt natural to make people again and it flowed through my fingers easily. This is where Worry came from.
But I felt anxiety creeping into my mind — was I making a marketable piece? I suppose only time will tell.
And since I’ve finished Worry, I made a small piece — The Cardinal — for a local square foot challenge. And then I was stuck again — in my head — wondering what to do.
I think I spent a week second guessing myself. In the end, I started a piece — again inspired by a photograph by Dorothea Lange (a great deal of her work is in the public domain). But in my head, I still have this desire to find what is marketable and what is not — because honestly, you spend the same amount of time on the piece — it might as well remain on the wall than be pushed to the back of my closet.
One of my FaceBook Pages that I follow is Humans of New York. A photographer goes out into the city every day and takes pictures of the people that he meets. One day a couple of weeks ago, someone told him that he knew what the art world wanted (although I’m not certain he does but we’ll take his word for it) — and it wasn’t random people on the streets of New York — better to photograph only nudes.
I don’t know many people that will let me take pictures of them with their clothes on — much less off — so I don’t see that as an option for me. I could hire a model, but there wouldn’t be much construction challenge for me in that.
I do see some appeal to taking pics of people on the street in Atlanta — like the photographer in New York. I do, however, understand that there is a lot of hostility given to random photographers — and I think that this guy has worked hundreds of hours building a reputation so that people are delighted to be included in his project. In most situations, people do not want to be put under the microscope of a random person they don’t even know.
At one time, I made several portraits of friends, and one day, I asked an elderly gentleman at church if he would mind if I used the photograph I had taken of him to make a textile painting. He said yes — but only if he could have it when I was done. It doesn’t work that way. A picture takes seconds — my textile paintings take 100+ hours usually. I can’t work myself to the bone for so little appreciation — let alone for free.
Luke Haynes, a textile artist from NC currently living in LA, does full figures on very traditional backgrounds. He’s done a few friends but also several of himself — and Fossil Watches just contracted with him to make a piece of himself. He has effectively branded himself — which is great if you’re 26. Youthfulness is always marketable. I can’t say that I still resemble that demographic however.
I came across this painting recently on someone’s blog — yes, it’s a painting, not a modern graphic — by John Baldessari, 1966-1968. More food for thought.
Tweek!
011 years ago
This week has been spent at the computer in design mode. After I finally stepped up to the plate and fixed the bleeding red on the Cardinal — which I’ve just realized I still need to make a Page for — I stepped up and started working on a new pattern. My value study took several days — but it’s ready and with any luck, I’ll finish the drafting tomorrow.
As usual, I’ve kept an eye out for good articles on art and motivation and shared them on my Twitter feed. This is my weekly summary — but if you’d rather follow me in real time, you can find me @vsgreaves — or click the Twitter icon in the upper right hand corner above the menu. The Facebook icon next to it will take you to my Facebook Page where I share pics of work in progress from the studio.
If you didn’t see this article last week about a mother making paper dresses with her 4 year old daughter (nickname Mayhem) — it’s well worth seeing. After the Oscars tonight, I’m sure they’ll have new dresses coming out this week — check out #fashionbymayhem on Twitter. I was blown away by the inspiration of this young girl.
Future fashion designers — watch out! http://tinyurl.com/knwfjdz @HuffPostParents @2sisters_angie #fashionbymayhem
It’s official — the US Congress is discussing Droit de Suite which would give artists a percentage of profit on the resale of their work (although it has to fall over $5k to be subject to these rules).
“Congressmen Propose National Resale Royalty Act for Artists” http://feedly.com/e/58Xsz6-I
This discussion of success by astronaut Chris Hadfield doesn’t disappoint: “you need to honor the highs and the peaks in the moments . . . but recognize the fact that the preparation for those moments is your life and, in fact, that’s the richness of your life . . . ”
“Don’t Aim For the Finish Line: Astronaut Chris Hadfield on Success” http://feedly.com/e/Bovgdw3M
As a textile artist, one of the blogs that I follow is by Terry Grant — and she wrote this amazing article about abstract versus representational art — a subject that my mother (an oil painter) and myself have discussed many times over the years — so I was interested to hear another point of view from an artist that successfully does both:
“Abstraction and Representation” #terrygrant http://feedly.com/e/BGzAEfw8
This is another hot button issue. I believe a few weeks ago I highlighted an article (by Edward Winkleman I think) discussing how good art may never see the light of day if the artist doesn’t have an MFA — but an artist with an MFA may have a successful career with not very good art because he (or she) has the right contacts in the “art world.” This article doesn’t discuss whether or not the artist has an MFA but does discuss how popularity affects exposure. In this NPR article, Alix Spiegel follows an experiment in which teenagers are exposed to music songs in different virtual worlds to see how much social influence affects their reactions to the music.
Does art rise to the top because it’s good or because it’s popular? A case for the latter http://www.npr.org/2014/02/27/282939233/good-art-is-popular-because-its-good-right … via @MorningEdition RT @abstanfield
This is another self esteem builder — but good reminders for every one of us nonetheless:
15 Things That Emotionally Strong People Don’t Do http://elitedaily.com/life/15-things-that-emotionally-strong-people-dont-do/ … via @EliteDaily
I grew up watching Mr. Rogers on television but I don’t know that I’ve ever considered his positive influence. Reading this article of quotes published on the anniversary of his passing, I realize how truly inspiring he was:
“Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.” http://tinyurl.com/l4rogn9 via @RELEVANT
And that’s a wrap!
Tweek!
011 years ago
This has been a frustrating week. I washed my latest small piece — the Cardinal — and the red has crocked onto the background and isn’t coming off. (I’ll have to get brave and paint it.) Possibly because of that frustration, I’ve spent hours trying to find inspiration for my next piece — and I haven’t accomplished anything more than wasting time on the internet. And today we were met with news of the sudden death of an old family friend. Sometimes I’m just happy to still be here — and I let that be enough.
So while I want to be working, I don’t have direction and I’m having a hard time finding my way. It’s not uncommon — I’ve been here before. It’s just frustrating.
I did post some on Twitter this week. If you want to follow me in real time, you can find me @vsgreaves — or hit the Twitter icon in the upper right above the menu. You can also find my Facebook Page link next to it — I post about work in my studio there.
Artists are constantly being asked to donate their time — which only devalues our work:
Time and Skill Cost Money: Don’t Be Cheap Jerks: http://buff.ly/1gK2avF RT @ArtsyShark
This is not about art but it is about perseverance. A South Korean that was in his 30’s aged out of the Korean Olympic Team — so he moved to Russia to compete for them — and came out of last week with a gold medal. If they’re smart, the Koreans are reconsidering their ageism:
The Koreans learned the hard way that you can still win a gold medal even if you’re older. http://tinyurl.com/mzdqvyt @nytimes
Luke Haynes is a fellow textile portraitist who has aligned with the watch company Fossil — which is a boon to the perception of art quilts in the eyes of the general public:
http://blog.fossil.com/luke-haynes-fossil-a-creative-collaboration/ … #lukehaynes #fossil
With the Ukraine in complete chaos, Orthodox priests have been donning their chasubles and providing prayer between the military and Ukrainian citizens. Stunning photographs.
Orthodox Priests Pray On Kiev Frontline http://huff.to/1eN7Hkg via @HuffPostRelig
Visualization is important to moving your mind forward (definitely what I need to be doing):
“Stuck? Try Drawing Your Ideas” http://feedly.com/e/hdUzrht1
In my search for inspiration, I found this artist who makes the most stunningly realistic paintings — in PASTELS no less:
Realistic Pastel Paintings By Spanish Artist Ruben Belloso http://fineartblogger.com/realistic-pastel-paintings-by-spanish-artist-ruben-belloso/ … via @eexploria
This is a little kick in the pants that I need to think about as I try to work myself back into the studio:
Check out my latest post on Lifehack ‘7 Basic Rules of Creativity You Should Know’ http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/7-basic-rules-creativity-you-should-know.html RT @FortheCreators