Artists

I've been looking at the Marie Antoinette project, a collaboration by Lisa Kaus, Pam Garrison, Anahata Katkin, Lynne Perrella, Teesha Moore and many others, and wondering, how does one "get in"? I've been following Lynne Perrella and Teesha Moore's work for years, how would I get to collaborate with them? Hmmm...I get the feeling that I would have to get my stuff published, or attend ArtFest for a couple of years to be able to do that. I'm trying to put myself and my art out into the world and see how its received, but it's tough when no one in my immediate proximity (that I know of, anyway) is experienced in this sort of work.

I think I'm drawn to artists like these because their art isn't "elitist"--it's not meant to be confusing or only to be understood by a select few people who have studied art history extensively. I have an instructor who tells our class that she uses "relational" media, yet never offered to explain that to us. She's been our instructor since January and I still have no idea what kind of art she does, even though she refers to "her work" all the time. It seems very "holier than thou" to me, but maybe that is just my own perception. I understand wanting to use the creative process as emotional one, but I also want to include the general public in art that I share with others--I want people to "get it", and I try to make sure I can speak to my observers.

And, on that note, here are some flickr favorites of mine!

Creative risks

At this particular moment, I should really be working on one of my various essays or papers for school, reading some school-assigned book, or trying to find three photographs which I feel represent my "self." But I thought I'd write a bit here first, since it's been a little while since I've posted an update.

I downloaded a bunch of podcasts on art and other crafts, and listened to a couple today. WOW!! I loved Alan Lastufka's words of wisdom on creating your own media, and of course Kathy Cano Murillo's CraftyChica podcast. The episode I listened to today was interview with Jennifer Perkins of NaughtySecretary.com, DIY Network's Craft Lab and Stylelicious. I'm really starting to realize how important it is to just get my stuff out there, in whatever way I can. I know that not too many people read this blog, but I know that if I stop writing it, no one is going to read it! Plus, it's kind of fun to track my progress and experiments in art. And if nothing else, I hope that I can help support other artists by providing links and referrals to other sites.

But the other thing I was thinking about was really trying to put together a zine. I've toyed with the idea for a couple of years now; even collected some submissions for a "how-to" zine, just never, er, put it together. I don't really want it to just be mine, I would want it to be a collaboration between artists. I have an "art-ish" project due for school at the end of summer, I was thinking of asking people in my class to each contribute, and then I'd make copies of the whole booklet for everyone. But we have so much work already, I would feel bad asking them all to produce yet another piece just for me. Eh. Maybe I'll throw it out there and see what happens.