Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Creativity Starts With An Idea...and The One-Minute-Artist © - Weiner

Creativity starts With An Idea...


Weiner - "Common Threads I" [Flipping The Box]
     As artists, we should strive to be continual creators. 
To do that, we need to invest daily in our personal talent and creativity banks. 

      It is a fact: the more we pursue our art, the better we get at what we do. I believe that we need to paint and create as often as we can, going for as much time as we can invest in our creative pursuits at any given point in time. Quality time is extremely important to our art...and long blocks of time during which we are immersed in art are the best, but we can and should invest small amounts of time and energy to our art on a daily basis.

      Even if we work at other jobs besides being an artist (and let's face it, we all juggle many other jobs and roles simultaneously), and regardless of how busy our lives, there is one constant: we all only have 24 hours in a day in which to try and do everything -- to try and keep all the plates we are juggling from crashing down on and around us. So, to continually affirm my creative side, I invest a few minutes each day to sketch or jot down an idea. It may or may not ever turn into a painting, but I guarantee it is a worthwhile investment in line and thought for future paintings.

      If you are not already doing it, try and see how you can fit the "One-Minute-Artist©" idea into your creative lives while taking your morning or afternoon breaks, when you wake up, as you are commuting (but not driving!) or before bed. Try for a daily investment in you and your art! That is my goal and I would love some creative company.
       Question: Would you like to join with me and shoulder this "daily creative activity" as your goal, as well?
          I hope so...and I look forward to hearing about your own creative explorations.

      My "Exploring the Solitary" series began in mid-2012. I thought it would be a series in and of itself, but already it has been the genesis for several sub-series. These works are from the "Threads" series and they are symbols or interpretations from a solitary perspective within relationships: how do social circles and relationships connect us, tie or bind us, constrain or free us? As individuals, we face life alone within our own universe of thought and feelings. Regardless of how social a being we are, we are primarily solitary beings...living in a society. So, not only am I 'Exploring the Solitary,' but I am also celebrating the solitary through this and other series. Life is wonderful and every day should be lived well and fully, creatively, lovingly, and in laughter!


Weiner - "Common Threads II" [Once Upon A Colosseum]

Start with an idea see where it takes you... The sky is the limit!

 
                                          Yours in Art,
                                              Elaine


Elaine Weiner's "The One-Minute-Artist © Creativity Walk"   -  Will you join me?

The One-Minute-Artist - ©2013Elaine Weiner
Add up the art minutes into a lifetime of minutes...and that is what counts!



Saturday, March 2, 2013

Art is Hard Work

Smoke & Mirrors - Weiner

Artists have known it for centuries: Art is hard work.


     When artworks are completed and hung on a wall or placed on a podium -- displayed in all their glory -- few people would guess the work's 'back-story' and what went into making the art.

     Clean and dressed up for a public exhibition, the Artists look like 'normal people.' To look at us, few would guess how hard making art is or how much effort and expense (not just materials, but time, thought, energy,...) goes into each piece of art. Some of us get really messy when painting. We often agonize over each step in the creative process. We go to bed and wake up thinking about it. But would we change anything about our path as artists?  Never! Art is our choice, our vocation, our way of life.

     These quotes by some of my favorite painters and sculptors help explain the idea of Art as work and a life-long and often tumultuous journey:

Henry Moore: "There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living and there's no end to it." [UK]
Constantin Brancusi: "Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave." [French]
Richard Diebenkorn: "Of course, I don't go into the studio with the idea of 'saying' something - that's ludicrous. What I do is face the blank canvas, which is terrifying."
Pablo Picasso: "Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working."

                                                                         Have a wonderful and creative week!
                                                                            Yours in Art,
                                                                                Elaine


Moore

Diebenkorn
Picasso

Brancusi