Well, the tripod and the camera and I spent a long time together this morning, post dog-walk, and I think I managed to take a decent portrait of me. I'm still waffling between two of them though. Hey, options are good!
But now I'm agonizing over the questions I have to answer for the miniature show catalog. Egads, this feels like high school essays again, like there ought to be some "correct answer" that everyone expects me to come up with.
Who is my primary artistic influence and why?
(I can't come up with ONE person, that's impossible! There is no ONE person who was most fundamental in my artistic development, and there is no ONE person who most influences my current work! Eeek!)
Why do I work in my chosen media?
(Whew, that's easy, there's a very straight forward answer to this, I can explain it no problem!)
What is the most important piece I have created and why?
(Yikes! I've narrowed this down to a small list of a few pieces, though NONE of them are scrimshaw, which is what I'll be exhibiting there. I have a feeling my most important piece is supposed to be in my chosen media. Hmmm. There are some that have been important for various reasons... opening doors, discovering something new, etc.)
Agonizing!
Oh yeah, and I need to finish this tomorrow!!!
Aaaaaack!
7 comments:
Yeah, essays never seem to go away for me either. Good luck! -BMc.
Just make it sound suitably high-falutin' and arty-farty and no one will know any better. That is the wonder about writing such silly essays - no one can ever tell you that you're wrong (and have you read many "descriptions of the artist"?) Harken back to your days of writing college essays - how much of that was complete BS, wrapped up in suitably academic-sounding language?
And I don't say this to be flippant - what I imagine that people are looking for is a quick and interesting description of who you are and why you do what you do. It doesn't need to be an agonizing struggle. Also, one way to get around it is to couch it in "some of the most important", rather than "the most important"...
Good luck!
If you can't come up with The One who most influenced you, state it just like you did in your blog, and name several. Same goes for your work. Hey, if they don't like it, they may ask for a re-write. Not fair for them to have you nail it down to just one.
Check out my blog, I have some of my artwork in the most recent addition. Which one is my favorite? I like most of them equally, I like my junk because I did it in oils freehand, I like the gourd because it's different, I like the cabinet door because it has the look of stained glass. See, I can't nail it down to any favorite!
Hang in there, it will come to you!
I would agree with Sharon... If someone would ask you to describe some of the influences on your art, you'd certainly be able to think of a few - you just need to think, of those, which (and who) have been the most influential. This might not be a particular artist, style, medium, whatever, but maybe something as simple as a teacher who noticed, at an early age, that you had talent... Don't think of it as an exam - it's not - it's a chance for you to explain a bit about what, exactly, makes you tick.
I guess part of the thing is I don't want to name-drop, partly because I'm sure to accidentally leave someone out, and also because most of my influences are pretty obscure!
OK, trying not to name-drop is a good thing, but it's not so much name-dropping if you say that this, that or the other person was a huge influence - it's a compliment. And obscure is much more interesting anyway... :-)
Hi Katherine, not sure if you are done with this yet, but maybe an answer like life gives you your direction for art. You love animals, you always cared for chickens and horses, cats and dogs. Perhaps you could focus on that?
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