Welcome Magic Carpet Riders! Looking for my One World One Heart Giveaway? Click here to go to my open house post and the giveaway!
So far I have made it to 500 of the, at last count, over 900 blogs participating in this year's One World One Heart giveaway. I can feel a transformation already. When I first started hopping around and looking at all the various things people had to offer I noticed I was being very judgmental. You know, "oh I really like that" or "that's not art" or even in the case of some things "that is creepy, who would want that in their house?!" Now certainly everyone is entitled to an opinion but I would like to explain, particularly to my new readers, that since starting my Everyday Bliss project I have been at work on my two creative afflictions snobbery and the inability to begin. My snobbery is mostly self directed, I have always had difficulty considering anything I can do art, however even if you do something I think I am capable of doing then I will think less of your work too. Compound this problem with my general inability to start anything and you can see how visiting all these wildly prolific artists could have an affect on me.
Beautiful Collage work by Rosie of Altered Art and Stuff
The artists that I have had the most difficulty with are those who use collage and/or stamping in their work. I don't know if I would ever have patience for some of this obviously painstaking type of work but when ever I look at it I think that I quite possibly could do it too. Stampers who make their own stamps occur more like "real artists" but those using store bought ones are likely just hacks like me! So judgmental I know! And I would like apologize to anyone I may have mentally slighted! I am a polite gal so I never would say anything out loud but believe me the interior of my mind can be pretty harsh!
This is the delightful Abner by May Beads
The thing that is surprising me however is that I am finding that my strong emotions about whether something is art or not art is dissipating. Hanging out with so many different styles and craft techniques has opened me up to an enjoyment I did not expect. I also notice that I am now taken with process as much as outcome. I am intrigued about touching and molding some of the interesting polymer clays many of the artists use. I want to buy a sewing machine so I can try my hand at quilting or at least sewing something. I want to dig out the knitting project I started 25 + years ago and feel the click of the needles. I want to cut and shape paper into something new.
Darling Little Mouse by Snuggle Bug Blessings
I don't know if it will ever amount to anything as beautiful as much of the work I've found on my blog hop this week but thanks to the experience I feel I may actually be able to start. A few of the offered giveaways are supplies for a specific kind of art... if I win one of those I may even be offering my own handmade item in the next giveaway!
Next Post: Some BIG questions
My 13 bliss virtues: joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, surprise
Thanks so much for posting Abner! The mouse is so cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting my collage Kathy! Abner and the darling mouse are gorgeous, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteI do sympathise with you. There's a lot of "art" out there and a lot of 'craft'... It's really so very subjective though - I am constantly surprised what people see in my artworks, good and bad! Collage is a mere matter of practice. If you don't like it, you can always paint over it and start again, alter or change it, etc., etc.! Go on, have a go!! And don't even get me started on handcarving stamps - another addictive pursuit!! =)
I've been there. My mind is far more open than it once was regarding various art forms and I LOVE that about myself! I am one of those people who seeks out the 'creepy' stuff just cause I love it! I am trying so many new things and loving them all! Don't wait to win supplies - look around...you may have more than you know right around you! Or, treat yourself to a day at the art or craft store! Try something new. It is exhilarating and will certainly add to your everyday bliss!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the encouragement... I won't wait for a giveaway to try some things... been finding projects with my almost 3 year old to be very liberating. That combined with my OWOH blog hop has my creative juices flowing! Look for an update in a future post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit! Your blog is so cute!
ReplyDeletehere are some things that I think about:
ReplyDelete1. Making, JUST making, is important. It is important for our souls and for stress.
2. Warm-ups help with getting started.
3. Leave something partially finished that you can go back to at the beginning of your next session.
4. I am going to let history judge whether my work is art. My head feels like it is going to explode when I think about that issue. I just want to focus on making stuff.
5. I don't think that just because people say it is art means that it is. Art is very subjective. Have you seen the book about artists inspiration by Astrid Fitzgerald? The intro talks about this in a roundabout way.
xx
Thank you for visiting my blog with OWOH I am so glad you have found inspiration on your journey I think I will have to watch to see if you do Start something :-D
ReplyDeleteHi there I know exactly what you mean, when I first started blogging I think I was quite narrow minded about what passed for art and creativity, I love to paint and draw so I didn't appreciate the scrap booking and stamping, or digital art. Nowadays I still love to paint but I can appreciate the other ways to be creative too! That's the great thing about blogging and meeting so many different people who are into so many kinds of creative things. I have been inspired to try things I would never have thought of before. Thank you for entering my OWOH giveaway it was lovely to meet you and find out a bit about your corner of blog land take care :0)
ReplyDeleteWow! You said some pretty profound things in there! I can tell you are a deep thinker! Thanks for your thoughts- I'm on my way over to your giveaway!
ReplyDeleteLoving the dialog on this topic! Thank you everyone!!!
ReplyDeleteKathy I have struggled with that for years. When does my work become art? So I will leave that up to the beholder. I'm not aiming for a spot at the Smithsonian either, just having the joy of creating something fantastic or small is my greatest reward and if someone else finds pleasure in it, then that is the cherry on the icing of the creative cake. God bless, Cathy
ReplyDeletePS. thanks so much for posting my little mouse on your blog, I am truly honored.
Oh boy, I did not relize my daughter has her blog signed in so that is me Snugglebug Blessins that has signed in as Stonewall Stables. So sorry. Cathy
ReplyDeleteI've had some internal issues with artists along the lines of Pollock.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting show was on one night I think something like 20/20 and they set up some artsy fartsy types by having 4 year olds come in and paint. Then they hung the paintings in a gallery and brought in the "fartsys". They hemmmd and hawwwd and were saying all the "right" things about the work. Standing there saying things like'
"Oh, I can see what the artist was trying to project by their use of upswept blue strokes here" and like "I can see this artist is in turmoil, what dark angry lines".
It was pretty funny when they revealed it was 4 year olds doing the paintings.
I just let it go. If I feel like painting something I try not to think about it too much. When I start analyzing, the creative part of my brain seems to start yawning.
To each his own.
I love junk shops, I love to recycle and upcycle. I have a girlfriend who thinks I am nuts for this. She says she would never want something in her house she would have to clean up and paint first.
She wants new and modern.
I think she is nuts. So we're both nuts.
Diane, I totally agree, we're all nuts! LOL I used to think that everything I can do is less important then those things I can't do. I would rarely consider that I may be able to do things others are not able to do. I am now learning to appreciate everything. For me it is all about the process and I'm not that worried about the outcome. My Almost 3 year old is definitely helping me with this!
ReplyDelete