an artist's life in balance: December 2008 Archives
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December 30, 2008
hawaii dec 30 - kona
ncl behind us
Posted by blairanderson at 05:15 PM
December 29, 2008
hawaii dec 29 - maui-nature's palette
These trees were amazing. A perfect natural palette in its bark.
Posted by blairanderson at 05:43 PM
December 27, 2008
hawaii - dec 27- boarding the ship
Luggage mayhem as the anderson clan line up to board the ship. Did I say that this was the only way to travel with a large family? Notice little Heidi (lower left) even has a pink suitcase.
Posted by blairanderson at 06:56 PM
December 15, 2008
considering okeeffe: a day for the senses
Ever have one of those days that has something for all five senses? Ironically after working on a chapter about this very thing in a new project about living as an artist(in balance!) specifically, how to tempt the muse... I had a whole day that perfectly touched on all five.
Originally it was what Bryan had planned for my birthday several weeks ago, but got bumped due to crazy schedules and commitments. I didn't care, but what a treat to finally experience the day he had planned for me (whata guy). So off we went, Bryan, Daniel and I on to the metro towards downtown DC...
First it was brunch at Co Co Sala Chocolate Lounge and Boutique.
Yea.
It is hard to believe you can have a brunch where the primary focus is on chocolate, but they pull this off nicely without making you cry uncle.
TASTE AND SMELL beautiful food...
SOUND Between CoCo and the museum was a craft festival complete with live jazz...
SIGHT
Inside the museum was a show that I had been wanting to see. A combined exhibit of Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams at the newly re-opened American Art Museum. Nothing can replace seeing these works of art live and up close, and as compliments to one another. The two of them had been friends and had similar approaches to their art even though one a painter, the other a photographer.
After being inspired by the colors and brush strokes and feeling like the day was at its close, we wandered through the portrait gallery.
TOUCH, OR BEING
Another surprise.
Walking down the main hall an image caught me out of the corner of my eye in a side room that I was walking past. Having passed it I stopped, and backed up, and entered this tiny room that held an amazing portrait.
I didn't know this was here...
A portrait that I had never seen in person but had an indelible memory of stood in front of me. It is the portrait that Degas painted of the American, woman, Impressionist, Mary Cassatt. I had recreated this painting in detail from a picture in a book as a project in junior high. Funny how a memory like that can rush in like a flood with only a visual prompt.
The assignment was to find a person in history that you admired and create a scene in which you would place yourself literally as that person in a living history museum type presentation. The final presentation was rows and rows of stalls of students siting or standing motionless depicting their chosen person for a number of hours while parents walked through the embodiment of the newly acquired knowledge. What a great way to engage a bunch of seventh graders. Clearly the lesson worked because I will never forget it. Of all the people we could pick I had inquired of my teacher about women artists.
There weren't many, especially in Cassatt's time. I seem to remember being focused on impressionists which also narrowed the options, and I am pretty sure the assignment was for american history... So american-woman-impressionist meant, Mary Cassatt. I fell in love with her work was inspired by her determination at odds with the culture, and for a time even tried to paint like her. Funny, now I paint more like O'keeffe.
What a perfect way to finish a day, standing in the presence of this amazing work of art by an amazing artist of another amazing artist. The air had an electricity around it.
I wonder if anyone else noticed.
Degas' Cassatt
Smithsonian American Art Museum
catching the back of Daniel's head on a beautiful night in DC.
Posted by blairanderson at 12:37 PM
December 11, 2008
Posted by blairanderson at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
December 10, 2008
blue?
This interesting shot selected me last year while walking the streets of mazatlan. So many surprises in places you wouldn't expect. One of my rules when wielding my camera: pay attention to unsung spaces and unexpected moments. They are where the soul shots are.
Here a lonely blue bottle called out to me in a the rubble of a broken down building. Today it reminds me that it is alright to be an individual, to stand out from the norm even if it is sometimes painfully uncomfortable or even…
lonely.
Posted by blairanderson at 09:56 PM | Comments (1)
December 08, 2008
drum roll please...
Bryan's new Christmas CD!
Posted by blairanderson at 09:30 AM
art in a coffee shop
Saturday was that craft thingy at Mayorga.
It was as expected, a kind of eclectic hit and miss gathering of some local artists setting up some of their work amidst unsuspecting coffee drinkers. I'd like to say that it was oh-so-fun, but I would be lying. This is where the "I" in Introvert does me the most damage. And it is good to be reminded of the boundries of that limitation at times so I can refocus and continue to strive to live a balanced creative life.
This exercise threw me way off balance.
It is the delima of many artists, especially emerging ones. Being able to get your work out there (representing it) and still have the energy to DO the work.
Not all artists are introverts, but speaking with many of the crafts people on saturday, a lot of them were there because they were invited by the organizer, not necessarily because it was the right venue for them...
same here.
Which threw up a big red flag reminder for me that I would love to share for any seasoned creative soul still trying to seek validation for their art.
1. Know your value and therefore your venue.
I am not talking about pricing your work here, I am speaking of understanding the depth of your own work and the appropriate place for it. After years as an artist and lots and lots of galleries and shows I still forget this one.
My mistake saturday (which is not the first time I made it): To let my entrepreneurial brain supersede my artist brain. I fell back into a pseudo mass production mode in order to try to make a quick buck.
very, very bad idea.
This left me with two feelings (not positive ones)...
a. shame... I compromised my work.
b. discouragement...If your work is in the wrong place, people won't buy it and then the temptation is to assign some sort of meaning to the work, not the place. Let me say that a different way... because the experience was bad does not mean the work is bad. This can also facilitate the mistake of taking on another lesser venue. It can become a vicious cycle if left unchecked.
this brings me to number 2...
2. Know your work.
This is a tough one for us multi-disciplined types. You might be able to do a number of different things well, it doesn't mean you should. The challenge here is to really listen to your muse... she knows what work gives you the most joy and that place is where your best work emerges. This transcends the "making of stuff" to a higher level of "having something that speaks". Forgo the temptation to compromise this. If it comes down to a money issue, do another line of work for your income, and create your art for your art.
3. Know yourself.
This one comes down to personality. For me, I can't do anything casually. To do a "show" in a coffee shop may have been fine if I could have taken a bunch of my old "seconds" and thrown up a table and casually sold stuff flea market style. Something in the way I am wired up just won't let that happen and so I cranked myself up to eleven as if I was doing a national juried craft show which wraps me back to "know your value and venue". So between being highly introverted and somewhat of a perfectionist, there are obvious choices for me if I am paying attention. Personality is not something to be overcome but has to be recognized and honored accordingly. There is a big temptation for many artists to try to recreate themselves to fit the demands of the culture. I have done this over the years more than I can count. The good news is you always come back to a greater understanding of who you are, so even the worst experience can yield a little insight.
So, I am completely off balance today. And this isn't the "winter of your creativity" type of off balance, which with that you could actually say you created something. No, this is an off balance caused by doing something that doesn't fit into the puzzle of your wiring.
If I had sold everything on my table would I have come to this conclusion. That particular hypothetical crossed my mind and yet I can say two things... I had a sinking feeling of dread in my gut when we were driving to the shop before set-up (so I knew at an intuitive level that this was a bad idea). And, because it was the wrong venue I would have never sold everything on my table. Not to mention, the residual feeling of having compromised my work.
Every experience does yield something, and my less than laid back approach to this one will hopefully not have me missing the greater lessons that may emerge. I met some other great artists and talked up our Exnihilo dream, and that alone may have been my reason for being there. Who knows... but today I am tired and will be in recover mode.
Posted by blairanderson at 08:35 AM | Comments (1)