After meeting up with some girlfriends, and finding their creative souls were in need of some TLC too we started to look at various group projects, one was fibre art - creating a landscape painting from wool or animal fibre using a wet felting process. Way fun, and that is underway but no where near ready to share. Another project was doing some quick sketching exercises. Sometimes sitting down with a blank piece of paper can be a little intimidating - you get drawer's block or feel overfaced. But if you photograph cracks in the sidewalk and turn the cracks into creatures - well, that's like lying on your back and finding shapes in the clouds . . . very relaxing, and an easy way to find something within and take it down on paper. So, without further adieu, my sidewalk crack art:
Some of the girls didn't get it at first, but it is a side profile of an old man with a pointy chin. Working backwards, here is the sidewalk I used:
You should totally print it and make your own picture. Start with an animal, I did and it is much easier - plus, the point is that it is make believe, so if he has an ear on his stomach and a tail on his nose that is absolutely fine - chanel Picasso! Can you see my old man in these cracks yet? Here is something to help you along:
From the same cracks, here is my creature:
I had so much fun with this project, it really did help clear the cobwebs away a little and get the pencil moving. Next project was to look away, make a scribble and turn THAT into something. I had fun doing that too, like I said, I could have uploaded a hundred photos and the thing that is great about these exercises is that they are quick, and you can work on them in 2 minute increments if you have to so 'I don't have time' is no longer an excuse I can use ;-)
Linda picked the theme this week, she photographed a sketch that has been hanging in her home since I met her:
I was instantly transported back in time to cups of tea in her house when our husbands had gone flying, or fishing, or wherever. I knew it had a partner but couldn't for the life of me remember what it was, until I read her blog, then the penny dropped! Aaahh yes! Since it was her first choice for this exercise, I know she won't mind me saying that it is my favorite of the two. It did set me thinking about artwork in other peoples homes, and I sat trying to remember the artwork hanging in the homes of all the people I know - a memory game that lead me to believe I need more vitamins or something to boost that little clerk that keeps files in my head (Linda's visual which I stole).
Mariette next:
It is of a Banksia vase she bought for herself in Australia. It is beautiful. Mariette had a sick little one and sent her photo in early, I need to be more like Mariette - get the job done, don't make excuses! Kudo's to you my dear, and I hope little M is feeling better. Interesting to me is that Mariette doesn't consider herself very creative, but she seems to be finding her medium in photography because she is getting better and better at it.
Claire:
This is of her antique sewing machine and I agree with you, they don't make things like they used to, it is truly artful Claire, and a beautiful photograph. It seems that back in the day artisans took pride in their workmanship, functional objects were not only well-made and lasted years and years, but beautifully made too. Mass production has made things more accessible to more people, but the pride is gone and so too the longevity, and I don't think the trade off is worth it. Some things SHOULD be passed down from one generation to another.
Which leads me to share something else, a paragraph I found titled 'Reading of the Will' which speaks to what we ARE leaving for our kids . . .
Dear kids,
We, the generaion in power since World War 11, seem to have used up pretty much everything ourselves. We kind of drained all the resources out of our manufacturing industries, so there's not much left there. The beautiful old buildings that were built to last for centuries, we tore down and replaced with characterless but inexpensive structures, and you can have them. Except everything we built had a lifespan about the same as ours, so like the interstate highway system we built, they're all falling apart now and you'll have to deal with that. We used up as much of our natural resources as we could, without providing for renewable ones, so you're probably only good until about a week from Thursday. We did build a generous Social Security and pension system, but that was just for us. In fact, the only really durable thing we built was toxic dumps. You can have those. So think of your inheritance as a challenge. The challenge of starting from scratch. You can begin as soon as - oh, one last thing - as soon as you pay off the two trillion dollar debt we left you.
Your parents.
Kinda hard hitting, but it has a point don't you think? Art is often about a message, so words can be art too . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment