Art & Fear

"To demand perfection is to deny your ordinary (and universal) humanity, as though you would be better off without it."
"To require perfection is to invite paralysis."
"For you, the seed for your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece."
"Perfection itself is (paradoxically) a flawed concept"
"Artists get better by sharpening their skills or by acquiring new ones; they get better by learning to work, and by learning from their work. they commit themselves to the work of their heart, and act upon that commitment."
"Art is human; error is human; ergo, art is error."
"Talent is a snare and a delusion."
"When you act out of fear, your fears come true."
"Fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work... fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work."


All of these quotes remind me of various times either when I've felt down on my work, or just not confident about it. They remind me of how I sat there starring at my work and just trying to think up a way to make it better, but being to scared of messing up to actually try anything that I thought of. I really liked reading this passage because it really relaxed me a lot and made me feel less scared of trying things, so what if i mess it up? Ill just learn from it in the end, and then the next piece will be that much better!
Now, when I'm in class and nervous or scared of doing something, I think back to some of the quotes, and try really hard to follow their advise.
I think that my things have been coming out a little better ever since :)

Scratching, by Twyla Tharp

scratching is idea getting. its the act of going about an thinking and getting inspired and seeing things that spur creativity and new ideas.
i think that the best thing i can do in the studio is to just draw and doodle and sketch; create ideas. that kind of thing really helps me get my stuff together and develop new and much better ideas. her descriptions of idea getting and creativity are really inspiring and interesting.
i think that scratching would look like mess and doodling and sketching, just randomly creating things.

Hamletts website

Looking through many of the artists spaces really inspired me, and there were many things that were very common among the many different spaces. Obviously the most common things were the artists' variety of supplies, this makes sense because in a studio it is important to have supplies handy and always available to the artist to use. There were also a lot of more personal things such as photographs, little knickknacks, music, and other people or pets. I think that its really great to have a lot of things that are personal in a workspace because it lets the artist get inspiration from their real lives and that's one of the most important things to have available as an artist. There were also a lot of things that weren't as personal, but still really important to the artist. Things such as quotes, photographs of famous people or places, magazine cutouts, and books. Everyone has certain things that are important and inspirational to them, this is why these types of things are so commonly found in artists studios. I've found that the most important thing to have in a studio space is things that give you inspiration and things that you can work from.

Getting Started day 1

:)

Artists at work: workspaces & processes

its important as an artist to have a studio space where you are your most comfortable, a space that inspires you, somewhere you find the most interesting and true. i feel like work spaces develop themselves over time, they morph into whatever the artist wants them to be because if they are designed perfectly from the beginning then, they aren't really as authentic, more staged. artist studios are works of art and beauty within themselves, they are the best showcase for what an artist is all about, a mirror of the artist. these spaces are developed over time; i think of an artists studio as an accumulation of all things that make up the artist and their work.