Arcadia Falls

Over the holidays I had a chance to read the novel "Arcadia Falls". I read it in a day and I really enjoyed it. My only complaint was that it got wrapped up rather quick in the end and it was hard to follow the confusing details. One this that I liked about it was that it was based on a small art school and former artist colony. The question was asked throughout the book as to whether, in the case of a woman, getting married and having children means the end of a woman's art career. Sadly this is often the case. Let's face it. If you have the responsibilities of a family and a home it leaves little time for yourself. I experience this on a daily basis. For instance, I would love to spend the next week being creative, but instead I find myself cleaning and doing laundry. I know that someone has to do these things, and I would be doing them whether I had a family or not. It's just theres so many things now that have to compete for my attention. Would I give up my children to be a full time, dedicated artist? No. However, I still long for the days when my only responsibility was myself. I still dream about living in New York with a loft studio. I still harbour many of the same dreams I used to have. However, with age and responsibility comes another thing called realism. Bills have to be paid, suppers have to be made, weekends are spent in hockey rinks. Maybe I have sold out, but I do the best I can. I teach art full time, I knit or draw at the hockey rink, I read whatever I can on the subject. And really, does being a successful artist mean you have to be featured in magazines and the recipient of large amounts of money and prestige, or does it mean you find ways to express yourself in many aspects of your daily life? Something to think about.

Getting Noticed

As any artist knows, getting noticed in the art world is not an easy task. There are a few things that you can do however to help the process along. First, join associations that are related to your area of expertise. I myself belong to Visual Arts Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council. Being in these organizations gives you access to newsletters, competitions, special events, and exhibition possibilities. The cost of joining these organizations is usually quite small as well. You don't need to limit yourself to local organizations. There are also excellent national organizations, such as the Canadian Painters Association or the Surface Design Association. They usually offer associate memberships if you don't feel you are at the stage where you want to face a jury.

Having subscriptions to the various art related magazines are also beneficial. Not only do they keep you up to date on the latest happenings in the art world, they also provide workshops, great photos, artist bios, etc... My favourites are Fibre Arts Magazine, Quilting Arts, Canadian Art, Threads, and Drawing (American Artist). Think about checking out the section on making submissions to the magazine. Got an idea for an article or a how-to? Check out some of the smaller publications. I recently had an excellent felting spread or several pages in "A Needle Pulling Thread". I didn't get paid, but it's great exposure, and something I can add to my resume.

Finally, there are various websites out there who's purpose is to inform artists about competions on a local, national, and international level. Two years ago I was chosen as a Canadian Artist to exhibit in Iceland through one of these sites. A word of caution. Beware some of the sites that have online exhibitions. They charge a fee for entry ( a common practice in most competitions), and you are exhibited on the site, however the only people viewing the site may be the entrants. Do your homework. I have gotten burned a couple of times this way. My favourite site for finding competitions is artshow.com. One final word of caution. When sending a work out for exhibition, make sure it is clear ahead of time how you will get your work returned to you and who will be footing the bill. I can one incident where I sent my paintings via regular post, but the gallery sent them back fed-ex with a HUGE pricetag that I was stuck with. Contracts are a MUST.

Good luck exhibiting!

Re-vamping my webpage

So I looked at my webpage today and all I could think was BORING! I built the whole thing from scratch using html code four years ago. What I couldn't figure out my students helped me do. While it's not bad it certainly lacks pizazz. I did manage to put a really cool animated icon on the opening page today, and I re-wrote my artist statement, although it is pretty sparse at the moment due to the fact the creative juices have hit a bit of a standstill. It's not that I'm not doing anything creative, it's just that the creativity is someone else's. For instance, I'm knitting a cute sweater for summer right now, but someone else designed the pattern. I'm grading a pattern to sew myself a dress, but I did not design the dress. But wait! I did sculpt that porcelain angel, and I do have a vase and a couple of bowls firing in the kiln as I write this. Maybe it's not so bad after all.

I seem to have gone off on a tangent. Back to the webpage. I am going to try to update a little bit every day so it is a bit less boring, although I still plan for it to be minimal.

Last item of the day is that there is a brand new spot for those of us who love fiber to visit and sign up for. It's called Feltbook and can be found at feltbook.ning.com. Not to be confused with facebook, although it promises to become just as addictive. I checked it out today and you can find lots of things to sign up for, and of course you can register your blog.

Happy Felting!

Painting #4

I have almost finished my fourth oil portrait, and it's of my friend Debbie. I wanted to show how Debbie had been "wounded" by events in her life over the past year. My idea was so have some areas of blood on her shirt which symbolized a wound. I found I was not able to do it however. Maybe it was because I was afraid of her reaction, or maybe because the symbolism was too strong even for me. Instead I used plan B, which was to paint an angel standing on her shoulder, symbolizing the loss she experienced and the fact she is not alone. I think I almost felt that by painting her with blood it could create further trauma. My gut told me not to do it. Sometimes as an artist you have to make decisions, take chances. I'm thinking I didn't take that chance, maybe I just wasnt ready to.

I still have a few more touch ups to do but I need to wait for the paint to dry a bit, which will take a couple of days due to the fact that I used oil. I feel the need to do something else right now, so I may hop in the van and take a half hour trip to Moncton to get another Burda pattern and some fabric. I feel the need to sew again. I really like being creative.

Speaking of fabric, I made my first silk screen the other day. It was a quote from Paradise Lost and a picture of myself with bat wings. It turned out great except on one edge where the dye leaked out a bit and created a line on the fabric. My 6 year old liked it so much that he wanted one. I made a new screen for him with him riding the motorcycle from the movie Ghost Rider.

Sticking to it

Yesterday I said that I was going to stick to my New Year' Resolution of doing something creative everyday. I managed to stick to it yesterday in spite of running after a day of teaching between a union meeting, power skating, working out, and doing homework with my 6 year old. I drew two portraits yesterday, one of my son and the other of my niece. Unfortunately I drew on scrapbooking paper, which means it likely won't hold up over time. Acid Free, heavier weight paper is usually the best bet. I just finished Gessoing a sheet of masonite, so later today I will put a graphite sketch down over the Gesso, then begin my painting, hopefully tonight, of my friend Debbie and her "inner Demon". That reminds me, I am all out of turpentine, and you need that to clean your brushed when working with oil paint.

I do have one roadblock to being creative tonight however. I have become addicted to the HBO series True Blood, having just bought Season 1 on DVD. I watched 3 episodes last night, and can't wait to watch more.

The New Year

I have many new years resolutions, including the usual lose weight and get in shape. I am happy to say, however, that I have actually been making a bit of progress in this area. Another big one is to try to do something creative every day. I find that like anything else, creativity can be addictive. If I am knitting a sweater, it is difficult to put it down. Once I start a painting, I have to force myself to walk away from it. The problem is actually getting started. Now that the holidays are done, my oldest is back at university, and my youngest's birthday party is out of the way I hope to start this. I am actually under the gun a bit, as I need to perk up my portfolio in the next month. The reason for this is that I am applying to the Masters in Painting program at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I am not happy with the current state of my portfolio, the main problem being that it is all over the place. I used to think that demonstrating I could do a bit of everything was a good idea. Not so. I need to focus. My focus this fall has been portraiture. Unfortunately I have found a way to spread portraiture out, working with it is fibres, painting, and drawing. The degree is in painting, so I am supposed to show a concentrated body of work in painting. I guess I know what I will be doing every night for the next month. Painting portraits of women. My focus now is painting them with their inner demon. For example, I painting myself knitting with a crow, which symbolizes my ever present struggle with depression.

Lucky for me I have done my creative thing for today. During my off class I did a sketch of my youngest son. He loves it when I make pictures of him. Speaking of which, he enjoyed the book and pictures I wrote about him for Christmas.

On a Roll

Lately I am just buzzing with creativity when it comes to my painting. As always I am interested in adding something dark and twisty to my paintings. I am painting portraits of women now and of course had to include myself in my third one on the weekend. In this image I have severe bed head, an old shirt, and I am knitting in a corner of my bed. On my shoulder is perched a black crow. I find the crow a perfect symbol for dark thoughts, as crows have been associated with evil things that lurk in dark corners of the mind. After that painting I had another revelation. As I like to paint lonliness and depression (go figure), I thought one way to add a small twist of humour was to have the symbol of darkness doing something fun or interesting. Anyone familiar with the painter Hans Holbein (painter to King Henry VIII) may be familiar with his series of woodcuts entitled "Dances of Death". In each image we see a skeleton representing death leading some hapless victim towards their maker. I am going to include small elements of some of these images in my paintings. I'll have to wait and see if it works.

Another Lightbulb Moment

If any of you are familiar with the book "The Artist's Way" or the sequel " The Vein of Gold", you'll know that it is a great resource for artists. I did the Artist's way almost 9 years ago after several failed attempts. I say failed attempts because the book requires that you do a lot of exercises and soul searching. I tried a few times but found it all too much . Finally I got through it. After that I left a terrible relationship, had my first solo exhibit, and started painting regularly and taking jewellery design courses. It was like the damn had been opened once I cleared away all the clutter. Well, I have started for the 4th time "The Vein of Gold". Some of the exercises are emotionally painful to do, but go a long way towards understanding yourself and clearing away that clutter. Recently I found myself bogged down in regrets, people from the past, toxic work relationships, and other equally instrusive negative thoughts and emotions. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at this very computer and my mind was racing with thoughts. Suddenly I sat there and said to myself, all of these thoughts are taking up space and energy in my brain. I don't have the time or the energy for this, it is all so draining. I need to just get rid of this stuff . I literally visualized myself sweeping people, emotions and thoughts away into a corner. I suddenly felt as if I was lighter. I am serious when I say that within several minutes I had several creative ideas pop into my head. I was giddy. This really worked! I think I was ready however, ready to move on and get back to what mattered, my family and my art. I wasn't ready before. And there's the thing. You have to be ready.

When stress is a good thing

No one likes to be depressed, upset, or generally stressed out. However, as an artist there is sometimes an upside to this. I get some of my best ideas for artwork when I am in my "dark place". Perhaps it's because the emotional part of my brain is active, which also happens to be where the artist in me lives. However, my art that is created in this mindset is usually not bright and sunny. It generally reflects my mood. Feelings of depression have plagued me over the past few months as my oldest son graduated high school and has started the next chapter of his life. I really miss him. I think these feelings have influenced my latest round of work, which is painting portraits of women who have experienced their own issues as a result of depression. One of my portraits is actually of myself. I am also painting the daughter of a friend who has been struggling with depression. So, while I certainly don't like being stressed out or sad, I can see that there is a silver lining in every cloud for me.

Having a Thick Skin

One thing you must have when painting portraits is a thick skin. I think mine is only half way there. Everyone will have an opinion about a portrait, especially the people you painted and their family members. The bottom line is that everyone wants a painting to be a photograph. My answer is, if you want a photograph, then take a picture! Still, it's hard to ignore the hushed whispers of "there's something not right about the eyes", or "well, the hair looks good." . It's not that people are purposely trying to burst your bubble. They just can't help themselves. I forgot about how upsetting it can be when you paint portraits, because you are subjected to criticism like no other kind of painting (except maybe abstract, but that's for another blog). It is hard to ignore. You have to be tough and be able to take it. I experienced it today, and felt like throwing the painting in the fire or scraping the oil right off the canvas and starting again. I need to get over this if I am going to continue my series of painting women and children. I'll let you know how that goes. ;)

One down, many to go

Last night I just about finished an oil painting of a child. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although I'll have to wait a few days for it to dry before I can do a couple of touch ups. I had forgotten how dirty painting with oil can be. On a more exciting note, my copy of A Needle Pulling Thread magazine arrived yesterday. It was quite thick this time, and I was thrilled with how the cardinal project I designed turned out. The magazine did a great job with the layout. It's always really exciting to see yourself in print. Now I will have to go out and buy copies for family members! It's the third time I have been published, and I hope it won't be the last.

New Mac and Changes to Web Page

Big day today! After much deliberation I decided two weeks ago to purchase a Mac Laptop. Part of the deliberation involved the cost! I finally gave in to peer pressure and ordered one and voila, it arrived last night. I must say I was more than worried about the steep learning curve, but so far so good. I especially like the built in web cam so I can skype with my son at university. For those of you who don't know what skype is, I get to have face to face chats for free with my son. I think I may be a bit more excited about it than he is. (LOL)! I am enjoying the great graphics, but not enjoying the small screen. To save a few bucks I decided to order the 13inch. I'm finding it a bit small and wish I had gone for the 15 inch. Too late now. I have it sitting on my desk, right beside the PC.

I have also decided to make some changes to my web page that reflect changes I am being forced to make in my life. I have now removed the sections of my gallery that involve pottery and jewellery. Instead I am going to focus on my painting and fibre work. It was all becomming too much , and you know what they say; jack of all trades, master of none. While I still love clay and will continue to teach it in high school, that's about as far as it's going to go. I am also getting up the nerve to put all of my jewellery making tools, silver, etc... on kijiji to sell. I am going to have trouble parting with everything, but it's certainly not doing me any good boxed up in the basement. You can check out my web page at lisadaniellemartin.com.