The Jury is In and/or Out

Creative JumpStart 2016 examines the work of Jean Michel Basquiat an artist whom I had never heard. However, I certainly identified with his quote that said, "I was a really lousy artist as a kid. Too abstract expressionist, or I’d draw a ram’s head, really messy. I’d never win painting contests. I remember losing to a guy who did a perfect spiderman.” I don't know whether I THOUGHT I was a really bad artist, but I was told I was. Art teachers told me never to try art, or to go into it. I just wasn't good.

For 2016, my word is Jury or "to be juried".  I know, however, that juries can make you feel like a failure. One can say that it is only one person's opinion, but still it is like going on a blind date or Match.com date. First you hope that you get someone to answer you, then a conversation, and maybe you like him or her enough to go out, once.

I had a painting in my journal that I added to yesterday, and added a page to "construct" a jury. The spread is here:

The side with the purple/pink was done last year. But I worked with white and different colors, to smudge it and to add different shapes. Then I played, totally on the left hand side and actually put in people. If you know me, you know I don't do people.

I know a lot of people who don't enter Juried Shows, neither the type that has awards, or worse, the shows where you are juried into the show. I admit that the later type is much harder. If you consider your painting to be like your child you want to know why it didn't get accepted. And you are lucky, if you just find out that the painting got there through online gadgets!

I still have to work on these jurors and on the other page.

While the pictures above were done for JumpStart 2016 and Colour Me Positive, I think that paintings I did last year work very well for them. Consider Boundaries and Masked Towns.

Online Classes

I love to take online art classes, even though there are always too many students taking the classes to make friends with them. But, with online art classes, have a zillion people, allows you to afford a class.

One class has a prompt and a word and maybe a quote. And there are demonstrations. It is free and it is about art journaling.

The other class, Jumpstart 2016, is just for the month of January. The theme this year is Art Interpretation or Translation. My brain is not in gear this afternoon. 

In this class, at least the beginning, we watch a video on Matisse, and then see different artists' interpretations of his art. For once, someone is asking me to do something from what I see, and not asking me to copy another artists' work. Phew.

I like Matisse's work. How can you not? After all there are so many many variations. But, I am unsure how I can describe what I see or even the paintings without being in violation of someone's copyright. So I will give you some direct links to paintings and some links to stores with groups of paintings.

Stretched over a period of time, one can group Matisse's work almost into categories of women, dancers, block nature or dancer prints, views from open windows, rooms with flowers or musical instruments and more. He has some very very bright colors and then again there are paintings that are muted or almost like pointillism. He has goldfish one way or inverted.

One thing that interests me about Matisse's work are the rooms where the paintings take place. Some rooms are moody, perhaps they are real rooms or someone did live there. But other rooms are extremely bright and vivid. Were there such rooms? Did he go there?

While our artist videos have chosen to do layers, not all of his work suggests that he did layers.

I am not sure that I want to copy or show an interpretation of one specific painting. This isn't my style and isn't likely to become my style. We have follow the leader paintings at the league, but I don't do this. And at workshops I do some of my worst work and then months and months later, I will find myself interpreting or reinventing something. This may happen here.

The weather is chilly here today under 36 and so my studio off the garage is cold. So rather than doing my first interpretation in a somewhat arty (??) way, I just used things that I had in my bedroom, pens and a few sprays. 

Below is my first interpretation. This is a two page spread that was done on gesso paper that then ripped and was put back together. 

The page on the left above

Page on the right.

Day One...Who Knows

For the most part I started this blog so that people could see my work in a one month "class" called Creative Jumpstart 2016. That being said, if I get into the habit of writing and posting, I may continue. Although I doubt the world needs one more blog. 

It has been years and years since I kept a blog, long before there were so many many blogs. While I read blogs, you have to wonder why, how I choose them, what I do with them or learn from them. Truthfully, I am not sure. And I think that if I wasn't on something that sent me blogs, I wouldn't read them at all.

My last blog won awards. I started it when I was first taking art classes and I discussed learning to paint versus learning to write academically in English. At that time I taught masters and doctoral candidates who were international students at NYU. 

At that time my brain worked, almost all of it. I wasn't on disability.

I am not even sure what to tell you about me. I know my name and where I live. I know where I have lived and where I live now. I know, somewhat, how I spend my days. But I am not sure what to say.

A blurb about me is easier. Chronologically might be best too, probably. Maybe not. At any rate, I live now in Pinehurst, NC. I moved here in 2008 from NYC. At that time I was married, but I am now a widow. I hate that word, yuck. I spend a great deal of time now painting. My business cards say I am an artist. Maybe I am. But I put that title because I hate cards without something in that space. We have been preprogrammed to think something goes there. Office Manager, Dog Catcher, Trainer, etc. But I don't know if I would put Blogger, Writer, or perhaps just No One. What do you think of or call yourself?

I live on Lake Pinehurst, with a beagle mix who looks like a lab, named Buddy. I also have a Sealpointe Siamese named Khaki, and a grey tabby called Smokey. I had other dogs here, Goldens, but they are another story. And I am getting a golden puppy in March, again, another story.

I don't remember blogging to be as much trouble as it appears to be now. At any rate, I guess it would be helpful to put a picture or two on this blog. Personally I hope no one reads this until I figure out what I am doing, if ever.

I am in a group that does an art journal every week. The group has thousands of people, literally. A thousand plus on FB which boggles my mind. The first post was gratitude and I have put it (I hope) below.

And the second picture is the painting I won second place with last August. I think this was just luck but I will write more about judges later. 

So this is my post for today.