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Lesson Plans


time and art making

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
wendy sauls (wsauls)
Sun, 28 Nov 1999 20:19:22 -0500

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i think the discussion about time, blood, sweat, tears, etc. involved in =
artmaking is fascinating and one of the top reasons i love this list =
sooooooo much!

i think of great art (from others and from me) as being art that really =
moves viewers, that has layers and multiplicities of imagery and meaning =
and is awe-inspiring and worthy of long periods of consideration, it =
stays with you, etched into your memory...of course, that which falls =
into what i have described is highly subjective. can someone convince =
me that paintings a la the bob ross genre can do that? i'm not sure. =
but i definitely believe they do serve important purposes. to make a =
bob ross painting requires at least a tiny interest in artmaking, maybe =
an interest that is very timid and shy and afraid, but willing to give =
it a go in an extremely controlled, directed, safe environment. the act =
of painting is so sensual and therapeutic for me, i get excited about =
doing my nails! of course, i'd rather be working on a huge mixed media =
composition, but i'll take what i can get, when i can...should we scoff =
at people who are at least in some way engaged in interacting with art =
materials? maybe a lot of them move on to do their own thing after =
they've done a few happy little trees to gain some footing. or maybe =
they don't but still enjoy the process of painting. and when they're =
done, just like the decorated cake, the bob ross paintings serve a =
purpose - isn't eye candy (eye junk food?) better than starving to =
death? or nothing, in other words? to me, ugly is much more =
interesting and preferable to nothing; ugly is something to think about. =
=20

it's cozy and romantic to belive that all the art that reaches into our =
hearts and souls is wrung from the innermost depths of the artist, =
slowly ripped from their consciousness over months of barely survived =
obsession, that they spent their last cent to buy a tube of cerulean =
blue, such was their dedication the the cause of the artwork. i have =
created a few things like that (well, almost) that i think are pretty =
good. but an equal number of paintings that i have done and are proud =
of came from ideas that just popped into my head and i immediately sat =
down and painted them. many artists who i admire really crank out their =
stuff; they have found a formula that they have devoted themselves to =
and it seems to really work for them. i find their work no less =
beautiful or less appealing.

i guess the heart of the matter here is how important is contextual =
information relating to how artwork is created in so far as appreciating =
the image itself? it seems to me a little outdated and limiting to =
require stereotypical expectations of the starving, tortured artist to =
be met in order to consider artwork worthy of merit. i have seen a =
seemingly otherwise artistically unextraordinary little kid fool around =
with paints for a while and create something that left me enraptured; i =
bet ya'll have too!

wendy=20

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i think the discussion about time, blood, sweat, = tears, etc.=20 involved in artmaking is fascinating and one of the top reasons i = love this=20 list sooooooo much!
 
i think of great art (from others and from me) as = being art=20 that really moves viewers, that has layers and multiplicities of imagery = and=20 meaning and is awe-inspiring and worthy of long periods of = consideration,=20 it stays with you, etched into your memory...of course, that which falls = into=20 what i have described is highly subjective.  can someone convince = me that=20 paintings a la the bob ross genre can do that?  i'm not=20 sure.  but i definitely believe they do = serve=20 important purposes.  to make a bob ross painting requires at least = a tiny=20 interest in artmaking, maybe an interest that is very timid and shy = and=20 afraid, but willing to give it a go in an extremely  controlled, = directed,=20 safe environment. the act of painting is so sensual and therapeutic = for me,=20 i get excited about doing my nails!  of course, i'd rather be = working=20 on a huge mixed media composition, but i'll take what i can get, when i=20 can...should we scoff at people who are at least in some way = engaged in=20 interacting with art materials?  maybe a lot of them move on to do = their=20 own thing after they've done a few happy little trees to gain some=20 footing.  or maybe they don't but still enjoy the process of=20 painting.  and when they're done, just like the decorated cake, the = bob=20 ross paintings serve a purpose -  isn't eye candy (eye junk food?) = better=20 than starving to death?  or nothing, in other words?  to = me, ugly=20 is much more interesting and preferable to nothing; ugly is something to = think=20 about.    
 
it's cozy and romantic to belive that all the art = that reaches=20 into our hearts and souls is wrung from the innermost depths of the = artist,=20 slowly ripped from their consciousness over months of barely survived = obsession,=20 that they spent their last cent to buy a tube of cerulean blue, = such was=20 their dedication the the cause of  the artwork.  i have = created a=20 few things like that (well, almost) that i think are  pretty = good. =20 but an equal number of paintings that i have done and are proud of=20 came from ideas that just  popped into my head and i = immediately sat=20 down and painted them.  many artists who i admire really crank out = their=20 stuff; they have found a formula that they have devoted themselves to = and it=20 seems to really work for them.  i find their work no less beautiful = or less=20 appealing.
 
i guess the heart of the matter here is how = important is=20 contextual information relating to how artwork is created in so far as=20 appreciating the image itself?  it seems to me a little outdated = and=20 limiting to require stereotypical expectations of the starving, tortured = artist=20 to be met in order to consider artwork worthy of merit.  i = have seen a=20 seemingly otherwise artistically unextraordinary little kid fool = around=20 with paints for a while and create something that left me enraptured; = i bet=20 ya'll have too!
 
wendy 
 
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