June 13, 2006
Art and Society
This is a thoroughly, in-progress showing of my next piece. I am working on incorporating all the techniques that speak to me. When I wash the cloth, it may look nothing like this. Who knows, that is the beauty of working in cloth, with dye!
I have been reading The View and loving it. It touched me so deeply, it made me cry this morning!
A few years ago a friend looked at me and said something to the effect of, "Melanie, your skills are extraordinary. Some people work all of thier lives and never accomplish a 1/3rd of what you do creatively. Artistically you are a genius."
I totally understood that my friend was working to bolster my sense of accomplishment and pride in my own work. But even then I fought this statement. I believe now, as I did then that there are small steps that each and every person can take, on a daily basis that will create and direct artistic skill and accomplishment. Genius isn't necessary to make art, just legwork and intention.
I have created a lifestyle that fully accommodates my need to make art. And it is a need! I do not function well in a world of all work and no play. Making art for me is playing and I do everything in my power to create time to play.
This is also one of the reasons why I named my blog, "a bit of creativity every-single-day"; because like Ted Orland writes on page 35, "Art is mostly a product of hard work."
I like to think of it as a means of total immersion. If every single day, I take the time to draw in my journal or bead, embroider, sew on my machine or if time doesn't permit, simply to mix the thickener needed for a full days work over the weekend, I have kept my mind in the realm of artistic play. I have at that point given myself permission to access my creative mind on a daily basis. I do not give my mind time to shut down, to turn to the television, internet or do the things that tamp my creative spirit.
Or perhaps I should say I allow for downtime, but only after I have done a little something to remind myself what my true intent in this life is; to make art.
I would like to write more, but I think this says what I need it to for right now. Besides! I need to get dressed and make art! Thank you Ted.
Posted by Melly at June 13, 2006 09:06 AMYes, I agree lovely piece of work! I also agree that slotting in some creativity every day really makes a difference. I have certainly noticed how it lifts my energy to go into the studio first thing and do something, even if its bonding some fabric just for 10 minutes before I go to work. I haven't read the book btw.
Posted by: Nicky at June 19, 2006 07:47 AMabsolutely love your new piece.
Posted by: mom at June 13, 2006 02:19 PMI sent Melly a behind-the-scenes email last night after seeing that no one had posted any return comments under her June 6 entry seeking reactions to “The View”. I said that as a writer I was all too familiar with offering ideas to the world and receiving back, well, dead silence. So I said I really appreciated her efforts, but that perhaps the time was not (yet) ripe for such a discussion -- that just for reference, it took YEARS for the ideas in "Art & Fear" to percolate to the surface of the art community.
Well, Melly wrote right back to suggest (with gracious diplomacy) that perhaps I hadn’t noticed the little sidebar on her blog listing her fellow travellers who had posted responses on their own sites. Oh! Like Wow! (as we say in California) – there indeed was a veritable gold mine of ideas & insights & stories that had been sitting right in front of me the whole time.
So first: Thank you, one & all! I also realize that I'm now REALLY behind the curve in responding to your comments individually -- but I can say without reservation that those comments have been uniformly helpful. I'll hope to have more to say again later on....