« Good-Byes Are Hard | Main | Thank You, Polyphemos »
August 05, 2005
WoooHooo! Yay Art!
So I'm trying to find a niche for myself here in town. Trying to create one, really. And I asked my neighbor this morning as she was admiring Dave's new workbench whether she knew any artists who might need a part-time assistant. She actually does, and she said, sort of as an afterthought, "Do you know about Artist Trading Cards?"
I didn't, though I do now. And may I simply say that they are a FANTASTIC idea. The first Friday of every month, a group of local artists get together at the One World Cafe (12:30-1:30 for those of you who might be interested) to trade 2.5"x3.5" works of orginal art (or copies if they can't bear to part with the originals). You have to actually swap them, you can't just walk in with one and leave with 30. Anyway, Ruby (my neighbor) said she'd be happy to take me.
That gave me roughly 45 minutes to create three miniature collages. Ruby snaffled one on the way to the meeting. She liked it so much she wanted dibs (I got a woven paper work called Fruit Fairy in return.) Only one other artist showed up today, but she really liked one of my pieces, so she took it and I took a great little bit of hers done with dye sublimation and collage work.
There are all sorts of approaches to this: photography, collage, small paintings, pen and ink, vegetable prints, whatever you can fit on a 3.5 x 2.5 piece of card. And the three pieces I have now (one of them is my own) are all very different, very distinct. It's like having a small art gallery in a book.
It's a great idea. For me, it's an incredible creative jumpstarter. I actually have a deadline to work under, and it's an opportunity to play. (Since my child archetype was reminding me just yesterday that I need to do more of that, it's a happy coincidence.) One of the other artists uses it as an opportunity to experiment with new techniques. And I now have three little pieces of art I didn't have before. Ruby keeps hers in plastic baseball card cataloguing sheets in a special binder, and I think that's what I'll do too.
It also gives artists a chance to get together, meet each other, and get local support and encouragement. We spent much of our time discussing the various techniques used and fears and worries about creating art. I'm beginning to feel like I'm part of a community. And I have already figured out the kinds of things I want to do for the next few months. The great thing is, as I said to one of the women there, I can really experiment and play. If it doesn't work, it's small enough and unimportant enough that I can just toss it. So I can really stretch myself and try new things and new approaches to techniques I already have.
In other news, my transcripts have been forwarded to the appropriate dean and I am now just waiting to hear whether my qualifications qualify me enough to teach speech. (I know they already do, I've been teaching for two years, but it would be nice to have them figure it out.)
Posted by sally at August 5, 2005 03:11 PM
©2006 - All content copyright Sally Eames-Harlan unless otherwise noted