What terific responses...I just about fell out (a Texas thing). A common thread was to do the work whether the inspiration was there or not...yep, you just gotta work...which brings me to today's quote: An artist has to train his responses more than other people do...He has to be as disciplined as a mathematician. Discipline is not a restriction but an aid to freedom. It prepares an artist to choose his own limitations. Wayne Thiebaud
All the wanting to in the world isn't going to get that art made...you gotta get your butt into the studio. Mel spoke to this quite eloquently. You get up, stuff gets in the way and then suddenly you find yourself in the studio working. For an artist this is like a magnet...the studio is calling but it is the discipline of working that places the call.
You can have all the talent in the universe but if you don't do anything with it what good is it. Most of the successful artist I know work hard...really, really hard. It is not only their passion but their daily dharma. We developed our talent through study, doing it wrong and discovery of what does work for us.
When Wayne Thiebaud suggests that discipline prepares an artist to choose his own limitations, I intrepret this to mean that discipline leads us to the way we work best...not that we are limited in subject matter. To me it implies, focus, leaving out the unnecessary, saying more by doing less. How do you read his statement?
As to what is inspiration? My take on the Nevelson quote is that the inspiration is always there but often we just don't listen;check out the post from Liz. You can't wait for the inspiration but if you get to the studio it will always be there with you. Inspiration is all around us...our day are filled with it if we just learn to observe.
Now to today's quote...part of my hope with these post is to help us turn the visual into the verbal....an almost impossible task..but we are up to the challenge. How do you work...what is the thing that gets you into the studio?
Things are getting more and more eccentric at Casa de la Swain. Changing styles in my textile work, falling in love again with painting and photography...and then there is the ever illusive quest for continuing creativity through working with Eric Maisel. Still on the road teaching, posting now at the Ragged Cloth Cafe and taking the pledge to keep handmaiden up to date.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
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- Close-up of bottom section
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7 comments:
"Choosing limitations"...I think that means finding a structure, but also seeing how far you can go. If we are lucky, and "in the zone" there is a "flow" to making art that seems unstructured, but really isn't. Everyone has said it, but it's true there's no subsititute for hands on work. Even the "bad" work is useful because you are engaged as an artist, and it adds to your working experience.
Art is the attempt to make something tangible of your mind, spirit, and emotion, and on top of that, present it in such a way that others can feel and understand it too. This is the thrilling part, bringing the spirit out, but by its very nature it will have "limitations". Jen
Gabrielle,
I will have to agree with you. A mathematician can work 8-12 hours a day for several years trying to prove an obscure proof. No guarantee of success, and little or no feedback until the THING is done.
Art is the same way.
So we discipline ourselves to work without necessarily a known outcome. It's different than an office job, or teaching.
What gets me to my work is a clean pleasant work space (clutter can drive me out). I go in and work happily and can see the progress at the end of the day. That pulls me back in the next day.
However, when I get lazy and don't maintain an uncluttered workspace, I avoid it. It's too much like work to try to find things.
The disclipline that leads to choosing limitations says to me that an artist is required to focus on their goal of developing and eliminating what doesn't add to artistic development.
and to answer the question about waiting for a muse...i believe in the muse...but I believe through doing the work the artist learns to summon the muse...the muse serves more than it leads.
btw, we fall out in Kentucky too :)
I am so happy you started this thread. I've been working so hard finishing some pieces that I am behind checking other blogs. I really need to hear this discussion. I have so much trouble getting the work started. I have to learn to just do it!!
I love you darling.
We say "just about fell out" here in D.C. too! LOL!
As for discipline, as a creative type we have to impose some type of order because the very process of creating something can be so chaotic unto itself. All those thoughts and emotions rushing around makes it just that much more important for us as artists to reign them in. Otherwise, we'd NEVER get anything done, lol.
As a wannabe quilt artist, I struggle a lot with discipline and limitations. I'm very much in the throes of finding my own style. I see hints of it now and then, but I also still want to try some of everything. I find I get easily overwhelmed with everything I'd like to try and then I start to feel inadequate and then I don't want to work on anything. This quote about limitations is very helpful - gives me some perspective on this issue.
Thank you for starting this thread and I hope you will continue the conversation. I feel like a Paduan learner sitting at the feet of the Jedi Masters soaking up words of wisdom!
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