What the Arts Teach

This week a friend posted a link to an interesting article listing the top ten skills children learn from the arts.  I read the list and agreed totally.  

The skills listed are:

Creativity

Confidence

Problem Solving

Perseverance

Focus

Non-Verbal Communication

Receiving Constructive Feedback

Collaboration

Dedication

Accountability

What a great list!  All of these life skills packed into cutting and glueing paper, splashing paint and squishing clay. Don't forget how much fun this is for kids either.

The best part is that it don't have to stop with children and it doesn't stop with children.  I've witnessed the light in people's eyes during a class when "they get it".....meaning that they have solved some art problem or had a meaningful critique.  I've seen people hone in on their work and how the successful completion of a work gives the maker confidence to make another piece or put their work out for others to enjoy by entering a show or having an exhibition. 

I could give examples of how artists demonstrate all the listed skills in order to pursue their passion and live their lives.  Whether they learned these skills in art class or not these are skills that can be applied to every aspect of life.  Remember this the next time your school board suggest the cutting of art and music classes  as a way to lower costs.  Speak up for quality education and quality of life.  There are benefits far beyond standardized tests.

To read the article follow this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/22/top-10-skills-children-learn-from-the-arts

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You're Always Getting Better

Louise Bourgeois

To see a nice photo series on Bourgeois visit:

Secret Forts

You may be familiar with an old advertisement slogan which said something to the effect that:  You're not getting older baby you're getting better.  I'm not sure that was a true statement in regards to the product they were promoting but I believe it is true when it is applied to creativity.

Just think of all the fabulous sage artists over the centuries.  They just kept working and work just kept materializing.  This ability to keep working is a very attractive feature of being an artist.  

I've been aware of this "gift" for many years but this weekend I read something that added an interesting element to the mix.  I have been slowly reading Forrest Kinney's book:  Creativity Beyond Compare.  I say slowly not because it is hard to read, it isn't, but because there is so much wisdom and richness it requires me to stop and savor what he is offering.  

Chapter 7 is titled Resisting and it explores the way we feel when we work, becoming aware of those feelings, how different teaching styles impact students and the longterm effects of our practice styles.  Toward the end of the chapter he talks about "finishing" work (he has an interesting view on this) and then he says, "Why rush the end?  It will come all too soon anyway." " The childhood of an artistic practice or of a project is the time to wander, gather many seeds, and get our feet muddy.  Middle age is the time to organize, harvest, and do the laundry.  Old age is the time to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, but we can't do this if we didn't gather up a lots of strange-shaped pieces in our youth."

I love that statement.  It honors the lives of people, all people who have a lifetime of experiences and if you have a creative practice you can now use all of that information to make the best work of your life.

I also love it as the description can be applied to the process of making of any single work.  

A creator begins a new project.  They try a few new things. They wander, gather and get their feet muddy.  They begin to have good feelings about part of the work but everything isn't going to make it to the end.  Now the hard decisions must be made.  You may have to remove something you love because it doesn't work with the piece as a whole or the piece is working but you are just treading the same path.  This is the time to organize, harvest and do the laundry.  The old age is when you really hit your stride and begin to see the work as a whole and it all comes together....and that strange-shaped piece is the center of the composition.

During the past few years as I have taught around the country with groups composed mainly of mature women, the thing I have been most impressed by is how smart they are but often how hampered they  can be when not willing to try something different or step beyond the accepted norm for their group or the norm they have established for themselves.   To me this means not drawing on their life experience.   It's also about fear and not trusting their personal vision.  This goes back to the title of Chapter 7 - Resisting.

So to anyone who has made it this far with me I say - Step into your power.  Be fearless.  Do your best work.  Try something crazy and don't stop working.  Remember - You're not getting older, you're getting better.

***

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Simply Music and Creativity Beyond Compare

Roland Digital Piano

On the Monday after I completed my Artist Residency at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC, I had my first piano lesson.....after a very long break from my childhood lessons.  

During the years between these two events, I developed this feeling that I could play the piano much like someone who plays by ear but that was not the case.  I kept feeling that there was some veil between me and being able to play and if I could just find my way through that barrier I would be able to play and express myself musically.  I had no idea that on a very real level that was actually possible.

Back in the fall I was looking over a listing of courses to be taught through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute here in Clemson.  You may be familiar with OLLI as it is called which is a national organization with branches around the US.  The focus of this group is to promote life long learning for mature adults in both academic and recreational pursuits and share that with others.  A course titled Simply Music caught my eye.  This course was an introduction to the piano and it is taught in an unusual way - First you learn to play.  Then you learn to read and write music.  

This technique was founded by Australian Neil Moore and is now taught worldwide.  I met the teacher, Elaine Fredendall and decided to begin lessons in February.  Elaine is an excellent teacher.  Enthusiastic, experienced, and fun.  We share a love of the creative process and at the end of my first lesson she loaned me a book, Creativity Beyond Compare by Forrest Kinney.  Kinney is a pianist, composer, educator who himself has developed a program which teaches piano in a unique manner called Pattern Play. 

I had the book just overnight so I quickly read through the parts Elaine had underlined and the chapter introductions.  This convinced me I needed a copy.  The book is out of print so you will need to find a used copy.  ( I have learned that the book IS NOT out of print.  You can purchase a copy at : http://patternplay.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=89) This book talks about creativity in ways I haven't read before although I have formulated many of the same thoughts myself while both working as an artist and as a teacher.

The basic premiss of the book is that we are born to create but much of our education has convinced us that only special people have talent.  Only special people can paint, or play music or be wonderful dancers, writers, etc.  His point of view is one where these gifts are there for those who work to find them.  No, he isn't suggesting that we will all do everything equally but.....well you just need to get a copy if there is something you have been wanting to do and are fearful or before you sign your child up for lessons (of any type) to be told he/she doesn't have any talent.  

Today I will have lesson three.  I have learned two pieces and I have written a second ending to one of those pieces.  I've played an amazing duet with Elaine in which I improvised my part....and it sounded great!  The goal is to be able to play, from memory, 50 pieces at the end of a year.  Only 48 more to go.

The piano pictured above is the style of piano I choose.  It is a Roland and fits nicely in the corner of my dining room.  These pianos are lightweight, affordable and fun.  Because the piano is digital, I can put on a headset and play without driving anyone nuts.  Maybe when I can play 100 songs I'll get the Bosendorfer Emperor with the golden cherub riding a fish.

Bosendorfer Emperor

***

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How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

Likely you have hear the joke where a visitor to New York City ask a man on the street, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The sharp New Yorker responds, "Practice, practice, practice!"

I believe that is true for anything you do when you want to get better. This, of course, includes the making of art.

This morning I was reading a review on Amazon of Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer. The book is a study about improving memory and the review included a Q&A and I found the following question very interesting.

Question (Interviewer not identified): Can you explain the "OK Plateau?"

Answer (Foer): The OK Plateau is that place we all get to where we just stop getting better at something. Take typing, for example. You might type and type and type all day long, but once you reach a certain level, you just never get appreciably faster at it. That's because it's become automatic. You've moved it to the back of your mind's filing cabinet. If you want to become a faster typer, it's possible, of course. But you've got to push yourself past where you're comfortable. You have to watch yourself fail and learn from your mistakes. That's the way to get better at anything. And it's how I improved my memory.

I agree. If your studio experience has become rote, automatic, sure, perhaps you need to shake things up. As Joshua Foer said, "You've got to push yourself past where you're comfortable. You have to watch yourself fail and learn from your mistakes. That's the way to get better at anything." And that includes making.

Here is a link to a video of Foer talking about the OK Plateau.

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Simple and Unique

Tied Stars - Maker Unknown

United States 1900-1940

Cotton and Cotton and Wool Embroidery

Gift of Mary and Al Shads to American Folk Art Museum

My friend Liz Anderson sent me the image of this wonderful quilt from Super Stars: Quilts from the American Folk Art Museum which will be on view until the end of December. I recently posted my completed Dots piece and Liz thought I might enjoy seeing this work. She was correct.

Last Christmas I was given a copy of Jonathan Holstein's book: Abstract Design in American Quilts: A Biography of an Exhibition. I had never seen this book and I was not aware of the show at the Whitney where these pieces were presented. (I find that hard to fathom but think it is wonderful. You can go here to read more.) In the book there is a piece titled Crazy which is one of my favorites. The piece is constructed like a crazy quilt but the quilt is essentially all white. The shapes which are pieced into the blocks which makeup the quilt are outlined with a sort of cross-stitch in brown or perhaps a dark red. The technique is a strangely sophisticated way to handle a very simple and potentially dull collection of materials. How wonderful. A nice demonstration of someone thinking outside the box.

Tied Stars - detail

I see Tied Stars in somewhat the same way. The maker employed unique thinking to create an interesting work from simple materials. I have no way of knowing of what spurred the idea of using the two shades of yellow to create a star pattern with the nubs of the knots which hold the quilt together. The stars are hard to see in the photographs but you can go the AFAM site and see a different picture. Many times the knots for tied quilts are arranged in grids or rows. I am confident this application of knots took much longer to do than the more usual rows as it had to be designed and marked and there are many more knots than is required to simply hold the layers of fabric together. This quilt-maker choose to make a statement.

The plaque next to the quilt at the museum said: The stars in this unusual bedcover are tied rather than pieced or appliqued. The pointillist effect of this technique creates a diffuse Milky Way when seen up close. At a distance the stars resolve into their defined forms.

It touches me to see the time that was invested in this work. It impresses me that the maker found a way to use this very intense red fabric. I love the hide and seek of the star pattern. I love the texture. If it was ever actually used as a bed quilt I bet it was fun to sleep under. I bet it vibrated. I know anyone sleeping under this had to sneak a hand out and stroke the little star nubs.

This work is a nice reminder that we don't need everything in the world to make art and ideas will always carry the day. Thank you Liz.

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Rescue Your Art Materials In 2011

I love art supplies. I love any material that I can investigate and use in the creation of "something" new. One of my Loves is beautiful yarn. I have had an appreciation of yarn since I was a freshman in college and learned to knit. I enjoy thumbing through catalogs of yarns and supplies and browsing online to see "what's out there". There are so many beautiful things available. I recieved some fabulous handwoven yarn from my son this Christmas and I can't wait to use it!

Of course I love to look at the materials and supplies I use to make my art work but I also enjoy reading about anything that is new on the market or just new to me.

I am confident that most of you have a similiar passion for your materials whatever they might be...paint, dye, fabric, wood, metal, gemstones etc. The world is filled to the brim with choices and these materials are filled to the brim with potential and possibilities. These possibilities and potential can only be released in the hands of the artist and craftsman. These materials allow us to satisfy our deep desire to create. In the hands of the artist, beautiful objects and powerful statements are brought forth into the world to teach us something, remind us of a long forgotten experience or to exist for their own sake.

How blessed we are to have the ability to create, the vision to see what is possible and the skill to follow that vision.

How many of you have stashes of untouched fabric that you're afraid to cut? A closet full of canvases you don't want to "waste" in an effort to learn to paint. How about the beautifully organized folder of embroidary threads untouched for years? I could go on and on but I hope you understand my message. Art materials are just potential until you the artist, the creative being, picks them up and adds your special magic. At that point the materials are transformed into something truly valuable. Until that point in time, all of these supplies are unused and unrealized, just as your gift of creativity is unused and unrealized if you aren't exploring and making.

My wish for you and for myself in 2011 is that we make the time to be in our studios fearlessly using those materials and our talents to fullfill our potential and experience the joy of Creativity.

For those of you who love yarn, the wool yarn pictured is from Spincycle in Bellingham, Wa. These women are living their dream and offer handspun yarn of the highest quality. Check'em out!

Thank you for your support and all of your wonderful comments in 2010.

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