I am busy cooking up a few projects, so I hope to have photos of my actual work in the next few posts. I'm trying to inject a bit more humor than usual in these recent projects. Something strange happens when I work on a canvas or a card, I tend to make it a lot more serious than the persona I project to people most of the time.
Not quite sure what that means. As soon as I start to write or make art, things get serious. I work the humor right out of things, as if 'real art' has to be profound or sober. But rationally, I know this isn't true. I connect not only with the serious, but more often with the comic. And one of my greatest loves is graphic novels, which tend to be much more accessible than, say, Rainer Maria Rilke (particularly his Blue period). So, I'm working to find a balance between taking my work seriously, and also expressing my particular take on things, which is usually snide. In a happy way, of course.
This has come to consciousness for me most recently because in Maui (did I mention I went to Maui?), we talked several times with a very smart and entertaining woman who, after an hour or so, commented that I remind her of Ellen Degeneres. I've heard this repeatedly for years, since back when Ellen began to do stand-up, and appeared on the Johnny Carson show. My best friend at the time called me and told me to watch, because the woman on the show reminded her of me. From that time, people at random have mentioned the same thing. It's a huge compliment, because I really love Ellen's humor and personality. However, it's troubling, too. Because I had thought I was doing a pretty convincing Scarlet Johansson.
Making art, or expressing the self in whatever medium we choose, is a very strange thing, yet as natural as breathing. The seriousness and heavy feeling of some of what I've been doing has come naturally for the most part. That's not a bad thing, and artists, to achieve their potential, would probably do well not to overthink their process. However, I'm now working a lot more consciously to determine what my muses are, what impels me to a particular process, and how the product reflects the intent. And if it doesn't work the way I want it to--
--well, I guess Ellen will have a lot to answer to.
This has come to consciousness for me most recently because in Maui (did I mention I went to Maui?), we talked several times with a very smart and entertaining woman who, after an hour or so, commented that I remind her of Ellen Degeneres. I've heard this repeatedly for years, since back when Ellen began to do stand-up, and appeared on the Johnny Carson show. My best friend at the time called me and told me to watch, because the woman on the show reminded her of me. From that time, people at random have mentioned the same thing. It's a huge compliment, because I really love Ellen's humor and personality. However, it's troubling, too. Because I had thought I was doing a pretty convincing Scarlet Johansson.
Making art, or expressing the self in whatever medium we choose, is a very strange thing, yet as natural as breathing. The seriousness and heavy feeling of some of what I've been doing has come naturally for the most part. That's not a bad thing, and artists, to achieve their potential, would probably do well not to overthink their process. However, I'm now working a lot more consciously to determine what my muses are, what impels me to a particular process, and how the product reflects the intent. And if it doesn't work the way I want it to--
--well, I guess Ellen will have a lot to answer to.
In the meantime, I just got this at Barnes and Noble. I can't wait to play with it!
2 comments:
Scared me there! Now, of course, I realize it's butter, but at first, right under the caption "What's that smell?" was a big photo of what I took to be SOAP. And I thought, oh no, not handmade soap now, please! I worked with a gal who made that stuff, sold it at craft fairs, and insisted on giving out samples to one and all. Even double-wrapped in plastic and tucked away in the bottom of a filing cabinet, one bar of it was enough to render three adjacent offices pretty well uninhabitable. Some 'creative' scents are just not meant to be.
Why can't I find this book on Amazon.com???? Is it about making stuff with felt? I want it. Give it to me. Now.
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