Saturday, September 20, 2014

Sitting on a shelf...


I have had a small art quilt on my shelf for about five years—only partially completed. I started it when I began to learn appliqué, and then added beads, embroidery, and made the top just the way I wanted. Of course, I had a lot of mistakes, but it was exciting to have made something so different from the media I usually used. But then I needed to quilt and bind it. I read books, asked quilters, watched some videos, but I still felt like a roadblock stood in my way. I just couldn’t figure out how to get started on that phase of the project, and I was afraid of ruining everything I had just worked so many hours to finish. I had also made some mistakes in preparing the top and back, so I would end up folding the binding toward the front, rather than the back, which just seemed to confuse the whole process in my mind.
But I finally decided just to go for it, to take it off the shelf and finish it. It took about four days of work, and then it was done. Yes, my hands and arms were sore, and there are some mistakes. The hand quilting isn’t perfect, and the binding is a little awkward in places, but it actually looks pretty good overall, and now I have a quilt I can hang on my wall—a finished project. I learned so much from the process, not only in finding solutions and finishing it, but also in the mistakes that I made. I know the next time I make an art quilt, I won’t feel as lost or confused.

And I learned that it’s better to move forward than to be afraid to make mistakes. We learn by trying, not by having our project sitting on a shelf.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Keeping a sketchbook journal


Artists throughout history have kept sketchbooks—can you guess some of the reasons they might have found these to be valuable? Some famous artists whose sketchbooks are still considered to be great works of art include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Vincent van Gogh, and their sketches share valuable insights into their life and thoughts. But probably every artist used some kinds of sketchbooks to learn, practice, and work out their ideas, whether or not these sketches have survived.

When we think of a sketchbook today, we might think of a book filled with drawing paper that we buy at a store, but an artist’s sketchbook can be anything from a bunch of loose papers to a spiral notebook, to something that you make yourself, including a sketchbook you buy from an art store—and you can fill it with just as many different kinds of artwork as you can imagine!

I have provided a link to a video below showing some different kinds of sketchbooks, including some that you can make, along with some different kinds of uses for the artwork to include in them.

Here are a few more ideas for sketchbook uses:
·      Visual Diary
o   Record your thoughts, feelings, and dreams (daydreams and hopes as well as the dreams you have while sleeping...)
·      Planning
o   Sketches for larger or more involved projects
o   Character design
o   Experimentation with color patterns
·      Practice and Reference
o   Complete class assignments in journal for future reference—continue to learn from them and grow as an artist.
o   Draw reference images for other projects, doing historical, scientific, or cultural research through a visual record.
·      Book art
o   As you fill your sketchbook, you are creating a beautiful work of art in itself.
o   You can refer back to this record of your thoughts and ideas later, to see the world through your eyes at a different time in your life.
o   You can also share these works with others (if you wish), or someone a hundred years or more from now might read it and know what life was like in your world.

The important thing is to have fun and realize that all you are putting into your sketchbook is valuable. I have many different sketchbooks, and I love them all. Some are more about my feelings, while others are more about planning, and still others combine these in different ways, and others become almost a story of their own. They provide a way to create something without having to invest a lot of space, energy, or materials. For further info on keeping and even making your own sketchbook—check out my video about sketchbooks on YouTube.






Sunday, August 17, 2014

Welcome!


Welcome to our virtual artroom! Art is for everyone; it is about expressing our unique and individual experiences and perceptions of life in the world. No one else knows the world exactly the same way as another person, but through all of the arts (including visual art, poetry, music, dance, etc.), a person can discover some of what it is like to see the world through another’s eyes. Being able to understand and feel from another person's perspective is really the foundation of empathy, and this is what art is about as well.

In our artroom, I will share thoughts and lessons about visual art for both school-age students as well as adults, including links to online demonstrations of various projects that can be completed at home. You do not have to be a professional artist to share your story through art.

Imagine yourself as part of the Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, and you are embarking on an adventure into your own life—an adventure in which you will discover, document, and share with others new moments, ideas, and feelings that you encounter in your journey. It is exciting to be alive—and no one has experienced life as you have. The world needs to know what it means to live out your unique adventure! Art is a wonderful way to share this!

For inspiration from the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, enjoy the film by Ken Burns and explore the companion website provided by PBS.


"Lewis & Clark: Companion Site to the Film by Ken Burns." PBS. 1999. Accessed August 17, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/.