Sheila Ralph’s quest began in a setting rivaling Lord of the Rings. Misty, sharp-edged mountains soared five thousand feet above the icy fjord. At their base, on a narrow strip of flatland rimmed by water, perched the tiny hamlet of Skagway, Alaska.
Finding people, "your tribe" can make all the difference in the world for a solitary painter. Years ago I was setting up a Pinterest account for the first time and noticed an artist posted my favorite pins -- Sheri Trepina. Then, much to my surprise, I noticed, she was no more than five miles from me!
Whether you are a painter, an illustrator, or any other form of artist or craftsman, you need a space to create… a place that you carve out of your existing surroundings and call your own.
For the best results you have to relax and swing. I took my one and only, my first, golf lesson early in 2018. I have been visiting this lovely golf course community in southern California, and I thought “If not now, when? & “If not here, where?”
Creative types sometimes stumble around in the dark looking for themselves. Their path less defined than most. Early man looked only for the basic needs of survival. Food, shelter, water, not being eaten by something, and of course, procreation. Modern man’s journey is a bit safer, while still following those same underpinnings. But I think modern creative types also see procreation as a broader sense of creativity. The birth of an idea. An artistic one, a calling inner voice of self expression. Trust me, you may think this is eccentric, but honestly, it’s no more so than the ownership of almost anything.
Feeling a bit like Belle from Beauty and the Beast? “...everyday, like the one before...” Or perhaps it’s more of a Bill Murray from Groundhog Day kind of routine. What once fueled your desire to pick up that paint brush or camera just isn’t doing it for you, and so you decide to skip studio time and opt instead to make a coffee and catch up on a show you like.
Art bridges the language barrier. Whatever the medium, whether painting or sculpture or music or dance. Art speaks to many people, regardless of age, race, social circles, or other demographics. I see Art as a universal language: It speaks for itself.
We all find our way to art in our own way. The exploratory depth can be vastly different. Some might be raised in a home filled with wonderful paintings, while others may have experienced museums filled with art with a parent or on a field trip, from a very young age. Still others may have been whisked away on family trips abroad, on adventures with the European masters. I have to say, past a little here and there in our home growing up, and at my Grandmother’s house, memories of my early visits to see and appreciate actual paintings in museums are fairly vague.
In my life there are certain things that feed my soul, inspire me and make me feel connected to Time itself…visiting art museums and galleries when I visit a new city, holding an ancient (although worthless) coin I have and tracing the raised bronze outlines, and using gold leaf in my art.
H is for HONORING your time and HUNKERING down to “just do it.” Create, paint, whatever your passion or priorities are, put them HIGH on your agenda. When one starts the day with social media, often the next thing one knows, the time has slipped away. (Ask me how I know this fact!) Instead, schedule your work so you can get the most challenging things done first.
Many moons ago, at least 25 to be more precise, a San Fransisco based art publisher caught me by surprise with a new term, high tech, high touch. As he simplistically explained it at the time, while trying to make a point, as we become more engrossed with technology overload, we will grasp for something more real. Art was his way of thinking.
Art education in the public schools has come a long way since I was a boy. In fact, it has gone through quite a few changes since I began my career as a professional art teacher nearly twenty years ago. Educational trends will come and go but, despite these trends, it’s always good to remember why you chose to teach in the first place.
Words like art, creativity, craft, and design cover the broad meanings of a most interesting world. As does the word artist or artisan, which covers a massive worldwide group of thinkers and doers. Someone can say to you, I’m an artist, and in its most rawest of meanings, it would simply mean one who creates. But creates what? Art? That’s a big topic.
There’s a distinct change that happens in an artist after they have taken money in exchange for their art. What was an exploration into self expression, becomes in a sense, business. While many artists tend to repel the business side of art, they find themselves inherently stuck to it anyway. There are lots of hobbies in the world and certainly not all are ever confronted with finding a need for a financial transaction. But some are and art just happens to be one of them. Why then do so many artists feel funny about it?
To paraphrase Elizabeth Gilbert in her book, Big Magic, inspiration is the tingly, stomach dropping, arm chilling, full body experience that calls to you. Inspiration is what happens when that physical response lights you up like a neon sign pointing you (often pulling you) in a direction that begs further exploration. Inspiration is the prelude to an idea.
Influenced by my Aunt Dottie being a professional photographer for the government, and my brother’s early interest in being a shutterbug as a hobby, for me, after owning a few Kodak Instamatics and Polaroids, I took the plunge in purchasing my first true camera in the late 1970‘s. It was the newly released Cannon AE-1.
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Live An Artful Life is the digital publication for your artful life. We strive to be a source of inspiration and connection for all who care about creativity of any genre.
