This is an unretouched photo taken through the windshield as we drove through Wisconsin.
Author Archives: jbart3916
About jbart3916
The Tyranny of Success
In an earlier post, a listing of Demons that plague all artists, I mentioned success as a frequent stumbling block. On the surface it seems strange to consider success to be a potential issue, but there are two particular aspects of success that can cause problems.
1. Falling in love with a part of your painting early on in the process. The danger is that the dynamic of the painting process can change from the successful completion of the piece as a whole to protecting that fabulous part of the piece. The first thing you need to do is be aware of this possibility so you can recognize when it is happening. Secondly, take a photo of that section so that you can store it for future consideration, thus freeing yourself from the fear of losing it. Then continue to work on the piece as a whole, retaining that section or not, as the painting requires. Take the time later to study the photograph to determine what it is that you liked so much about it and hopefully the answers to that question will become stored in the right side of your brain and come through again…….in an entire painting.
2. Winning an award/getting into a prestigious show/words of praise from someone you respect….. potential stumbling blocks if this leads you to limit your work to repeating the same “successful” pieces. I am not referring to working in series and exploring different aspects of a particular idea, I’m talking about becoming tied to what you perceive to be a successful “formula” and hesitating to step outside that proven formula for fear of not being successful.
“Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.” Pablo Picasso
“Don’t carpet your rut.” Gerald Brommer
Evolution of a painting
Yesterday was a day of uninterrupted studio time, and I was able to work on this piece…..a 30″X40″ acrylic/colored pencil painting. I have been documenting (loosely) the evolution of this piece on one of my “PAINTINGS” pages. This is a “follow the painting” painting. I begin with a general idea, and then keep adding, subtracting, adjusting. My initial idea is now only a memory, as the painting has led me in a different direction. This is the exciting part of the process…..I really don’t know what the final result will be, or when it will be completed. (Hopefully before the show I am preparing it for, which is in November)
This is where I stopped yesterday (it was time to relax by the river and enjoy a glass of wine.)
Postcards
I have always loved mail (real mail). I love the idea of mail, I love stamps, I love the fact that you can drop something in a box and the Postal Service will see that it is delivered to its intended destination. As a way of indulging my own enjoyment of the process and concept of mail, and on the assumption that other people feel at least a little of that excitement when receiving personal mail, I began a Postcard Project a number of years ago. I like the idea that these small pieces of art are seen by not only the intended recipient, but also by everyone who handles it on the way, so, except for entries into official shows, I stamp and mail them. I consider the stamp, the cancellation marks, and the wear and tear they experience are all a part of the piece. They are not precious commodities, just little pieces of art that I send out into the world.
Inner Rhythms III
Inner Rhythms III
4″X6″ mixed media collage
2012 National Collage Society Postcard Show award winner
Fear
There are many fears that plague the artist, but the most debilitating is the fear of failure. Much of this type of fear can be traced back to that kindergarten teacher telling you that you were wrong when you painted the sky green instead of blue. More goes back to the belief that there are “rules” for making art. Still more comes from the mistaken belief that a good artist, an artist with true talent, doesn’t ever make any bad art.
The only way around this problem is to recognize these 2 realities:
1. When it comes to making art, THERE ARE NO RULES and THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG involved.
How can this be? How about all the Principles of Design? What about balanced compositions and complementary color schemes and the rules of perspective? They are all observations/suggestions/considerations/ideas that are good to be aware of and will sometimes come into play as you create, but THEY ARE NOT HARD AND FAST RULES. Name any design principle, and I will show you a dozen pieces that successfully defy that principle.
So if there are no rules, if there is no right or wrong, how can you fail? Easily. By making art that does not please your own sense of what is good art. I will discuss this issue in upcoming posts, but simply put, you need to determine what it is that YOU find pleasing/compelling/meaningful in art.
2. Every artist…..EVERY ARTIST….makes some bad art. Every artist has failures, and in reality each failure adds to your body of experiences. You learn from every failure. As I mentioned in an earlier post, in order to become a good artist you need to do hundreds of paintings (or drawings or whatever), many of which will be failures. The secret (one of the few art secrets there are) is to avoid the inclination to get angry at yourself when you fail, or to berate yourself for your lack of talent, but rather to consider why you feel the piece is a failure and to file that information in your mental file of art experiences. I also get around the issue of feeling that I have wasted materials by saving and either repainting or repurposing every failed piece. (Fortunately, I have a lot of storage space in my studio.)
What I am saying is this: Get out there and just make art. Don’t be such a baby…..so what if you fail? Get a big trash can for your studio.
If you won’t believe me, consider the words of these three great philosophers:
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. George Bernard Shaw
A man’s errors are his portals of discovery. James Joyce
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Wayne Gretzky
Judith Bergerson / JackPine Studio 