Getting all D&M here for a while on art – good or bad – and what it means to me.
Art is an experience
To me, this quote from Robert Motherwell sums it up nicely. The making of the art is what moves me, what really gets me excited. The processes of layering, drawing, scratching, collage. The exploration and the experience. The finished piece is simply an artifact of the art.
The viewer of that artifact will have an entirely different experience than I did in the making. In fact, no two viewers will have the same experience, because we are all unique, and while we may share many things in common, we do not experience them in the same way. And again, it is the viewer’s experience of the artwork that is important to them (putting aside those strange people who buy art as an investment and store it in a vault somewhere – they don’t value the experience, and in that regard I would argue they don’t value the art at all).
Art is a verb
Once you get your head around the fact that this concept redefines art as a verb, you need to consider what makes art “good” or “bad”.
I contend, in this context, that there is no bad art. Since the art is the experience of making and/or viewing, my experience of making the art and the viewer’s experience are both valuable. And most importantly, considering the experience of multiple viewers, some may consider the final artifact of my experience good, and others may consider it bad. As the saying goes, “You can’t please everyone all the time”.
Many artists are afraid to show works in progress or unfinished pieces. I would like to say that is limited to beginning and naturally timid artists, but it is not. Even well established artists may suffer from this. Sadly, they may also be afraid to show finished artwork that they consider “bad”. It is really irrelevant.
Rather than hearing “here’s my new painting I’m so proud”, I would enjoy hearing from an artist that says “I worked really hard on this painting, and it hasn’t turned out the way I expected, but along the way I learned something really great.” And then they can follow up with that great finished piece that incorporates the learning and say “I’m so glad I made that bad painting – look at what it taught me. The experience was so valuable.”
"Toffeelicious" - and Taffy!
In the spirit of sharing, regardless of whether you might think this is good or bad, here is Toffeelicious.
This is a mixed media painting I completed 2 years ago. At the time I thought it was quite good – now, not so much. But I can tell you that I had so much fun making it, and I also learned some valuable lessons about collage and how to keep my papers from warping too much in the process. The art of making taught me, and for that reason I have no desire to hide this, or pretend it isn’t mine, or destroy it or anything like that.
What I have done is use that painting to create some really cool designs in my wearable art line – introducing my new collection “Taffy”. Now tell me that’s not a fun experience for someone!
So please, artists, I implore you – share your artwork, share your processes, don’t be afraid to “fail” – because if you are “arting” (it’s a verb now remember) you are going to have ups and downs – but if you embrace the process you are doing exactly what you are supposed to do, and that is a total success.
And dear viewers…. please know, that if you are looking at someone’s painting, or sculpture or anything that they have crafted, know that it was made with their heart and soul. That the experience they had was so wonderful, and resulted in this artifact that someone may enjoy. Whether you feel the artifact is “good” or “bad”, the art of making was good, and your experience and acknowledgment of that goodness will help that artist grow and thrive.
As an artist I enjoy creating – that comes with the territory.
As a human I am concerned with dwindling resources, waste and the seemingly irreparable negative impact we are making on our natural environment.
In my personal life I do my best to minimize waste, shop responsibly, use less fuel, recycle… sometimes it seems pointless but I’m doing what I can.
The same applies to my art practice – as a mixed media artist I have an opportunity to use many materials in my work, and also a responsibility to make the best choices for the environment. So here’s a little list of some of the things I do to care for our planet in making “environmentally conscious” art.
“Leftover” Paint
One of my favourites – “Thoughts I forgot to have in the day” started out life as a “throwaway” board
I paint mainly with acrylics, and I recognize that itself may be a concern for some people. While they are water based, there are plastics in the acrylics that could contaminate our water supply, not to mention some of the toxic pigments that are used to give those vibrant colours.
For me, there is no such thing as “unused” or “leftover paint”. I paint on a wet palette – acrylic paint can stay workable for days this way. But sometimes at the end of a painting session I will apply any remaining paint to a “throwaway” board. Just boards I have laying around to make random marks – they never actually are thrown away… After many random applications, the boards have a rich history and I then can finish these as paintings with more layers of paint or collage. The palette paper itself (tracing paper or baking paper) I may also use as collage material.
Brushes
Somewhere in that mess are various containers of water!
Cleaning brushes is one of the biggest concerns. Running paint brushes under a running tap releases an enormous amount of pigment, binders and other chemicals into the water. (A septic tank in my case). There are systems you can purchase to filter out solids from the paint water, however they are tedious and time consuming, and to implement on a scale large enough for me would be next to impossible. So, I’ve developed my own process to minimize paint waste into my septic tank.
My brushes do not get washed every day. I put used brushes in a container with a very small amount of water – just enough to cover the bristles. Sometimes brushes stay in there for a week or more. Not the best for the brushes perhaps, but I’ve had some that have taken this treatment for the last 3 years or so, and they are still going strong. I would not suggest doing this if you’re a fan of Kolinsky sable – I use cheap brushes to start with so I don’t feel guilty “abusing” them.
If I want to use a brush that is in the “sludge” that builds up in that container, I simply squeeze as much out of it as possible, and then get any remaining pigment/sludge out of the brush with paper towel or by wiping on my desktop (which is covered in water colour paper that later will become finished paintings, like the random boards).
I have 4 containers of water on the go at all times.
Clean water, clean at the start of each session, emptied into container #2 when it is dirtied.
Dirty water – used as a final step for cleaning off that sludge brush and sometimes wetting a clean brush. When too dirty, I pour some into the sludge container and top up with clean water.
The sludge – here my brushes sit, waiting to be used or cleaned.
The waste – a covered container that I empty the sludge or really dirty water into. I allow the water to evaporate, leaving the paint waste in a solid mass at the bottom that can be sent to landfill instead of the water supply. Not perfect but as close as I can get.
When I do wash my brushes, I make sure I get as much as I possibly can out of them before sending any water down the sink. This includes using a bit of cheap (cruelty free!) hair conditioner massaged into the brush, and rinsing in my dirty water container. The conditioner does a wonderful job of releasing paint from the bristles into the water. By the time that brush sees running water, it’s basically just rinsing hair conditioner out. Plus the conditioner leaves the bristles very soft!
Paper towels
Studio assistant inspecting the towels
Yes, using paper towels is somewhat wasteful – I try to minimize this as much as I can. All paper towel is used, dried and re-used. I have a stack of used paper towels, some of which have been going for months now – they don’t get thrown away until they are completely hard little scraps. I have considered using rags, and washing them, but then we’re faced with the problem of paint entering the water supply again.
Failed paintings
Collage paper waiting for me
There’s no such thing! I don’t throw away paintings that are unsuccessful – I file them away and finish them later, or tear/cut them up for collage elements. And bookmarks – lots of bookmarks!
I have stacks of unfinished works just waiting to be given a purpose!
I want to talk about a time when I was struggling with confidence – in myself and my art. I’ve blogged previously about how difficult it is to call yourself an artist.
Can you relate to this, too?
Being self taught, it can be difficult – almost impossible – to call yourself an “artist”. Even people with a formal art education struggle with it! I don’t know why people feel so precious about this word, if you make art, you’re an artist. That’s it.
I think it comes from a lack of confidence in your art making skills. Once you know how to do things, and why you do them, the confidence builds. But getting there… oh it’s hard.
It’s a surprisingly common problem …. So common, in fact, that my friend and colleague Nicholas Wilton has decided to address it in his upcoming free training called, the Art2Life Workshop
It is…
Totally free
Held online — so you can watch from anywhere in the world
Starting on February 14, 2022 (available on-demand to watch for an entire week)
Designed to help you make art that is much more like you (and more impactful, too)
I loved last year’s workshop so much that I will be taking it again this year.
Nick has been making and teaching art for over 25 years, and he is known for helping artists push their art to exciting new places (or simply find the confidence to claim “artist” as their title for the very first time).
In the workshop, he will be talking about how to overcome struggles like confidence in your art and yourself by mastering what he has called the “Art2Life Process”.
Specifically, he will be covering the first 3 (and most important) stages in the Art2Life Process, including:
DESIGN:
Why so many people with lots of education, degrees and experience still struggle to make art they love
How to master composition in a way that will quickly elevate your art
VALUE:
How to strengthen your discernment — that internal compass — that tells you when to go further, pivot, or pull back with your art
How to create a beautiful kind of depth and balance in your art
COLOR:
How to add a vibrant new level of dimension AND subtleness to your work with a perspective on color you haven’t heard before!
How to feel more confident in your creative choices — so you can begin making art MORE like YOU.
These ideas are simply not taught in art school (at least not in the way Nick teaches them) and most artists are left on their own to figure out why things aren’t working.
So how about a shortcut instead?
Once I understood these concepts, making art I loved became so much easier…much more fun… and it began happening way more often! I am painting daily now, and having so much fun doing it – there’s never any stress, because I know I can “fix” whatever is wrong with my painting, as long as I keep working through the principles Nick has taught me. I also have no trouble saying to people “I’m an artist”, and when they are interested, talking more about my work. For someone who is more than a little introverted, this is a huge step for me!
If you want to make 2022 the year that you stepped up bigger and more boldly for your art than ever before…
Then joining Nicholas in the free Art2Life Workshop is the perfect first step.
