In these three manipulated images I soften the summer shadows. Perhaps I hope to also soften the harsh reality of a pandemic and our dysfunctional government! Sometimes we all need to soften things a bit; we just need to take the edge off. Blunt truth is not always the best way to stay sane, or to communicate. I am all for facing reality, but perhaps just not at every moment of the day, or especially in every conversation. Of course, I do not always remember this truth!
And yes, art making is a conversation of a sort, although that may not be evident. I think artists are always in a slow long conversation with each other, in the present day or backwards in time. And sometimes the conversation is with the audience, with culture, and with politicians; that can happen if the art making goes well.
I am not sure what all my various shadow self-portraits have to say. Certainly one message is a simple one; the message is that I am here! I exist! I make art! Let’s hope some of these say more than that, however. My hope is that there many of my images and artworks will resonate with you somehow. I want my art to convey something particular and special to the viewer.
Back to the topic of shadows: the bright summer sun can be a bit harsh, even here at Pacific Northwest latitudes. So in these images I soften the summer shadows in order to soften a too harsh reality, and play with the colors to create new summery images. The original photos were taken on a trail by Port Townsend Bay, and although there is no water in the pictures, I wanted to evoke the bay and the light on the water. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Maybe it is due to the lovely summer weather, or the madness of the current politics, or the isolation and oddness of the pandemic, but there is a shadow on my art; I struggle to create new durable art. After all it just piles up in my studio and yard. So I fill my time with walking, taking photographs, and reaching out to neighbors for “safe” outdoor socializing. My art time recently is mostly manipulating, and I hope enhancing, my photographs. Often I photograph my shadow, as my preferred form of self-portraiture. I love the digital effects I can apply to my shadow in my art.
In my indoor and outdoor studio spaces, I struggle with mess, and sometimes I just pick up parts & pieces I will save for future projects, then put them back down. I have no good filing system for my mixed media “treasures”, but I have to make room to work. The mess is building up in my outside work spaces also: being a mixed media artist is a mixed blessing! So I turn to my computer, and to digital art. And to shadows!
The mess in my studio is a shadow on my art, but I love shadows in my digital art. Shadows are a premium material when I have my camera in hand. Self portraits are a time honored tradition, and very convenient: but I never want straight up realism. So my shadow is much more appealing than a direct photograph.
My shadow in my art can represent any and every woman. Of course my shadow is with me everywhere, as long as there is sufficient light. Digital enhancement of shadow portraits can be so beautiful; the trick is find a way to add meaning, a bit of soul, to create a more enduring artwork.
A friend and fellow artist, Kathy Panks, visited my yard & photographed my yard art. This is not a time for indoor studio visits, but summer lets us enjoy safely distanced outdoor visits! Kathy has shared her fabulous photos with me, and your can enjoy some of them here:
Trying to See Inside the Studio!
Yard Art!
Yard art, by my definition, is a special, very playful and loose category of Art. Here there is no judgement, just fun in the moment! This stuff need not meet size, quality, durability or really meet any standard other than my own amusement. It can be messy, scruffy, colorful (or not), sharp & rough edged, and something that will deteriorate quickly; all of this is OK! I do display some of my more durable, considered work in my yard, artwork created with much more care, thought, & effort. And I love it when I can make my more considered, “serious” artwork suitable for outside display. But most of the art in my yard is “yard art” by my personal definition. I do not create this art to be sold, donated, or given away; I create this art entirely for my own amusement.
Although I certainly find that my yard amuses others! Friends, and the odd stranger, visit to see what is new in my yard. My messy, lively yard scares off those who prefer tidy, well-groomed gardens and admire only perfectly crafted paintings & sculpture. But my yard is a haven for me, and it attracts all of us with a wilder and looser appreciation of the world! Yard art is playful, experimental, and energetic: it feeds me, and it leads me to new places in my more durable works.
It is wonderful to have appreciative visitors, and friends who enjoy my yard art. Thank you! Kathy, for the visit and the photos!
My studio gets messy! I experiment, and there failures! I work by trying more than by planning, and in the heat of creation I try, set aside, and try something else. Parts, scraps, and more just pile up. Something that does not work in one piece may look extremely promising for another concept! Or may just look so interesting where I set it down that I have to take a few photos!
And then there is my household business in one corner, file folders out of the cabinet to be sorted and “archived”, etc. along with remnants of family history, old drawings of my own or by children, and more.
And the time comes when this must be dealt with, in order to allow new work, and some peace and sanity! It seems to be that time again now.
The above pieces were deemed incomplete, and therefore were somewhat annoying to me. The “incomplete” flat file is huge, and not yet full, but … it should never be allowed to fill up! So now maybe these are as complete as they will ever be. Not great works, but OK!
I still don’t know what the final product will be for this piece. I don’t expect to try printing from it again, and certainly not without reworking it with engraving tools. So how to finish and present this?
After a few years of working without showing my work beyond a small circle of artist friends, family and neighbors, I prepared to open my studio and show my art in the annual Port Townsend Studio Tour. This was exciting and a little bit unnerving; most of us want to be liked and want our work to be admired!
I spent nearly two months preparing for this two day weekend free tour. I organized and cleaned my studio, after almost eight years of use, and some months of neglect, it really needed a spring cleaning! I retrieved favorite work hung in my home, I mounted & framed more work, and I made my studio walls my gallery. I cleared and organized my work stations, shelves, and racks and set up some show of my process: the steps for making molds, the tools for carving stone, and “before and after” examples for digital transformations. I wanted to honor the true spirit of a “studio” tour. I created written descriptions of my processes, and I made copies of my short artist biography/statement, printed art cards and had lovely business cards to give away. I went all out, and it really was great! I loved the way my studio looked, I loved my work on display; I was so ready for the crowds! I even warned all my neighbors in my cul-de-sac, and arranged extra parking.
Signs for Studio Tour
Well, the crowds did not arrive. Promotion was poorly handled this year, the brochures printed very late, and there was very little advertising. When I realized this a few weeks before the event, I started a Studio Tour FaceBook page, paid for a bit of online advertising myself, and distributed a few brochures at the last minute. With some sixty artists listed on the tour, studio visitors could hardly visit them all, and I am guessing most visited less than a dozen.
But many friends arrived, and few had spent time in my studio or seen much of my work. And a steady trickle of strangers arrived throughout both days, so I was never alone for long. I really had a fine time, and my husband and friends helped me take breaks and feel totally relaxed. My friends and most visitors were enthusiastic and engaged with me once I introduced myself. Several visitors really entered into the event, asking questions and looking at everything. And wonder of wonders, I had more sales than I ever expected. Part of the surprise was what sold: a few “big” pieces, and some small things I made that I considered experimental studio decorations, rather than finished artwork! Mind you, I started out with very low expectations, and I set very low Port Townsend prices, further discounted for friends!
I am so very glad that I don’t need to profit from my art in order to eat or keep a roof over my head. My years as a computer geek paid off, and I am pretty comfortable in retirement. I don’t need to have a new car or take expensive vacations. But real art sales could provide a special trip, or more likely more and better art materials for larger art projects!
The real lesson learned from Port Townsend Studio Tour 2019 has been the sheer pleasure of sharing my work with interested visitors, whether friends or strangers. I think I want more of this than I have had for the past few years. But I don’t really know what that looks like, or how to get it.
I don’t think I can get the same satisfaction from an annual open studio. Many friends have now seen what amounts to a retrospective, covering years of making art. They will hardly have the same level of interest every year, and also it took me two months to prepare the show I put on this year.
I do have more artwork, and with considerable effort and some expense, I might be able to display a new and different exhibit next year. But I can not do that every year; I won’t have enough new work. And it would be a huge disruption and distraction from actually making new art! I don’t produce finished work quickly, I don’t have help, and I can’t pay for professional framing or mounting; I do all the presentation work myself.
So maybe Studio Tour might work for me every other year, or even every three years, and probably on a bit smaller scale. I might work up a live demonstration for some additional interest.
That may give me a few sales every other year, to help with the stockpiling of work, and it will help me stay on top of actually finishing work and clearing out the chaff! But I would still like to have a few more sales, I think.
And I do crave more engagement: it was really lovely to have that. I wonder how to get this without trying to be an extrovert, which is not going to happen!
Currently, as an artist, I struggle with my ambition, my sometimes inadequate knowledge and proficiency, and with increasing problems with my aging body. But these things are to be expected, to be coped with, and will be managed!
Setting these issues aside, I am still have immediate questions to resolve, questions I seem to need help with! I don’t where to start resolving my twofold dilemma:
What do I do with all my finished artwork?
And how can I best find sufficient rewarding interaction and affirmation around my artwork?
And preferably without hours, days and weeks away from actually making art!
There are many artists who do not have a gallery contract or regular venue to show or market their work, yet they persist in making art. Artist creators who do not have agents, or galleries, or much of an audience. Most visual artists create alone, and do almost all their work alone, without paid assistants, interns, or other helpers. Some of us must share a need to find homes for our work, or to engage with a broader audience.
When I thought my work was ready, I started entering local juried art shows. At first I was delighted to have work accepted. This let me feel successful communicating something in my art: I was evoking a response in others, not just for myself. Also I had hopes of sales: I wanted to at least pay for some art materials & frames. For some years, I entered a 2 or 3 juried shows each year, and was pleased to exhibit a few pieces. But nothing sold. After a bit, I developed a body of work and more self-confidence, so I made the effort to arrange my own shows at local businesses. It is common in town for restaurants, banks and a few professional offices to display the work of local artists on a rotating basis. Generally artists simply self-nominate, and are put on the schedule. I have been lucky enough to have help selecting and displaying my work in this way.
So I have exhibited some work in the past, and sold a few pieces at my own shows, or to friends at other times. I don’t remember ever selling work from a juried show. And yet artists pay fees to enter juried shows, and must meet gallery guidelines for presentation. The fee is usually a small one; a base price plus a bit more for each submission, but framing can be pricey, and the gallery will keep a significant percentage of any sales. After submitting, the artist must wait in some suspense, with the likelihood of rejection. We may submit 3-5 pieces to a particular show, but given the number of entries, we will be lucky to have 1 or 2 accepted. At an exhibit opening, there will a dozen or more artists present, each showing just a few works. Few attendees take time away from their personal friends and from refreshments to engage with unknown artists about their work.
As you may guess, I no longer find it appealing to enter juried shows. Even when work is accepted, the experience is not rewarding. Quite the opposite, in fact. So I have not entered a juried show in several years. Nor have I made the effort to create an exhibit of my work at any of the local business venues.
Port Townsend Studio Tour brochure
Instead, this year, I signed up for the local Studio Tour, an annual Port Townsend event promoted with a brochure and some advertising. Participating in Studio Tour has been an ambition since getting my current studio space in 2011. I am lucky enough to have an excellent, heated, comfortable studio, with enough wall space to actually showcase quite a lot of work, and August is a good time for me to show some outdoor work also. So I finally made the commitment to have my studio and my work on display.
When I show art in an exhibit, I may never hear from viewers, and if something sells, I may never meet or talk to the buyer. And it is difficult for me, as an introvert, to engage with strangers looking at my work. My artwork is always personal, and I, the maker, am vulnerable to criticism even when I am most proud of my achievements. And of course there will be people who do not like my work. I don’t really want to overhear critics who may not try to be tactful.
The occasional sale does communicate something; it tells me that I have reached someone. There has been some sharing, and there is a response, and presumably appreciation! This does help me enjoy making art. I may never know what my work evoked: a sense of mystery, a bit of beauty from a balance of colors and shape, a definable message, or perhaps a personal memory. But some shared response was evoked in the buyer.
Is that enough? It seems that I crave a bit more interaction.
What is art? What does it mean to be an artist? Novice artists all have to struggle with self-doubt and many such questions. Some artists continue to consider or even agonize over these and related issues throughout their “careers”. But for many artists a few years of daily work and habit will provide some answers. And for me it comes down to something very simple: it is making art that makes the artist.
Professional artists, collectors, art critics, and others who make money in the art world may deny “amateur” artists the full status, reserving the title, or at least their respect, for those artists who sell their work. But must the “real” artist manage to live off the proceeds of their art? That makes little sense; many “professional” artists, successful or otherwise, are subsidized by family members for years before achieving financial success, or they may start out with independent means. Other artists teach or make much of their income from lectures, workshops, or unrelated occupations. Many loved and respected artists, now dead, never did achieve much financial or critical success in their own lifetimes.
Artworks in a museum or two certainly give artists a level of credibility, even respect. But of course not every artist will have their work noticed, let alone acquired, by a museum, especially during their lifetime! That is neither a measure of quality or a necessity for the definition of an artist. Rather it is a matter of visibility & marketing.
My Shadow on My Studio
Art is subjective, personal, and in the eye of the beholder. This is so evident from the wide variety of things and actions that we may classify as art. I am primarily interested in the artist as maker; that is the maker of things, of objects that endure, rather than the maker of performance art and happenings.
And a side note; although I am willing now to say “I am an artist.”, I do still prefer to say that I make things! Too many people have firm prior convictions around what an artist is & does! And of course, these convictions are oh so varied!
As my daily work to create becomes a long term practice, I have new questions and new issues! What to do with all that much loved finished work? Yes, I do still love much of it! And how do I get just a little bit, just enough, interaction and engagement about my artwork?
First, this is not directly about art, though I am sure everything I do registers somehow in my art eventually.
This post is about my walking habit, and the pleasure it is giving me. Walking has always been important to me, even when I did not recognize this fact. As a troubled, unhappy, and angry teenager, I would escape my house and walk, sometimes very late at night. I was lucky enough to be in a quiet safe neighborhood, and not in large city…
I have been in the habit of walking regularly for the past couple of years; by this I mean 20-40 minute walks several times a week. But early this year we had a surprising snowfall that remained on the ground for much longer than usual, and I dressed for the weather and went walking!
It was lovely! I was enchanted by the transformation of my neighborhood and the town. Walking familiar streets each day had become an exploration; everything seemed new and different. It made me happy, and I walked for hours instead of for half an hour. This became the start of a new walking plan. My walking goal now is two miles per day, but I often walk a bit further. This has been easy and enjoyable through the summer, but I plan to continue as the weather becomes wetter and colder. I will find the rainproof pants, and the long johns! Walking is making me happy!
Cleaning up my studio in preparation for Studio Tour 2019 (August 17-18) means finishing up unfinished projects, finessing less satisfactory projects, shuffling & categorizing work, etc. Some pieces go outdoors, becoming slowly disintegrating Yard Art, others are completed, improved & better presented, and a few just filed away out of sight.
Many of my assemblage & collage works come together slowly, and I accumulate found objects that claim me; really, I don’t claim them! Many of these items do find a place in a finished work, but that may take years. Meanwhile I arrange & re-arrange the most interesting finds along with my most experimental creations. These get photographed and enjoyed, but also take up a lot of space and collect a lot of dust. Some of these just need to be abandoned, they will never “fit”.
The piece shown here evolved from working with wax a few years ago. The center part is made from mat board, dried grasses, thread and cheesecloth saturated with wax. It has been mounted into an old wooden desk in-box, painted black. For a long time it featured a folded paper sad dog, but that bit of paper finally lost its charm, and the mountainous rock and a cast resin figure took its place.
I cleaned it up today, making a few alterations, and mounting the polymer clay bones (on the top) and the sleeping resin figure permanently. This should probably get a glass or clear acrylic facing to keep out dust and protect it, but … it is, of course, an odd size. I am not going to order glass, or carefully cut and bevel acrylic unless someone wants to buy this piece. And that is not too likely to happen!
