Lesson of the Century: Am I Being True to My Self? Part 2

Continued from Part 1: Am I Being True to My Self?

All of these qualifiers or adjectives that we use to describe ourselves or allow ourselves to be described by are just ideas. They are extremely relative and can change from moment to moment and person to person. One person may consider my art to be brilliant and another may consider it to be horrid and not to even be considered 'art.' If I can accept that my art is all the adjectives imaginable, both all at once and never, I can be open to any reaction. In this way I could find benefit in considering a point of view different than my own. If, on the other hand, I am attached to the idea that all my art is great, I will not be able to learn and grow from the work that is not-so-great. A valid criticism that could help me would undoubtedly go unheeded.

Through my practice of detaching from ‘being’ a painter and all of the judgments about the work, I actually become freer. If I am less caught up in what others might think, it is more likely I will take more risks in the work and discover more than I ever imagined possible. Both in my art and in myself. In this example, being true to myself is painting authentically. For me that means I might not ever paint a vase of flowers. I love flowers. They are exquisitely beautiful, but I just don’t see myself painting them. 

If the person who created this, um, outdoor installation (see photos) was self- conscious about this piece, they may not have created it and I would not have smiled as I passed by today.  Some may call it art, others may call it hideous,
I just kinda like it...

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Lesson of the Century

As I learn and grow, I realize there is yet more to grow and learn.  Certain life lessons re-emerge and come around again and again until they are finally transcended. I have many, but one that is under all of them is, "Am I being true to my Self?"   For me it truly is the lesson of the century.  One thing I am learning is that being true to ones Self is not selfish it is Self-full.  It is moving beyond the limitations that the mind, the ego, or the small self puts on us and discovering our true nature or true Self.

After a lesson with my spiritual teacher  I wrote this question on my hand with indelible ink as a friendly reminder.   In this way I can remember and remember and remember.  The art in the photo is detail from a large work in progress which has the general theme of letting go of things that no longer serve us.   These 'things" are in many forms:  such as physical stuff,  ideas,  emotions,  personality,  roles,  habits....   It seems that the problem is not really with these things,  it is with our relationship to them.  For example, when we actually believe we are our personality traits,  we can be devastated when something comes up in our lives that questions that view!  Therefore letting go is recognizing that all these things are tools that are appropriate some of the time but not all of the time.  This letting go is what some call being detached or non-attached.

In my personal story, if I believe the sentence "I am a good painter," then I am attached and this does not serve me well.  There is no room for anything else.  The minute someone criticizes my work, I will be crushed.  I may question my choice to paint and may even fall prey to artist's block or some other destructive activity.  If I practice detaching and recognizing that painting is something I do this is a start.  Then I can look at the judgments or qualifiers like 'great,' good,' 'mediocre,'  'lousy,'  and  'horrid.'

 To be continued in part 2 on Thursday...

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Twelve Days Of Christmas Campaign

My Two Cents, Twelve Stamps, and No Excuses...

Mid-December, as I browsed the net for artists' work, I was led to an artist group, MIRCA and MIRCA Tour For Human Rights. I wanted to share this information with you and let you know how you can easily get involved.

Write-A-Thon Cases:




Throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, thousands of letters were sent on behalf of the prisoners of conscience like the people pictured above.  Amnesty International‘s (AI) Global Write-A-Thon empowers individuals like you and me to take a small step that can help save a person's life.  You can find out more about each person's situation by clicking their photograph.  Also, here is another link with additional information: AI Blog 2009 Global Write-A-Thon.   Success stories can be read here: SUCCESS!

If so moved, you can still write letters.  For all of the people pictured above, I wrote the letters, sent them to officials in their country, sent copies to appropriate embassies here in the US.  I also sent a card or a letter of encouragement to each person above.   Next,  I rejoined  AI's Urgent Action Network to continue the effort throughout the year.  Through AI I can make a small effort that can result in a large positive impact to promote peace and non-violence and further human rights around the world.

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Let Creativity Flourish- Organize Your "Stuff"

Yesterday I saw a license plate that simply said, "UNLEASH."  If I want to unleash my creativity and have it  flourish as an artist, I have got to give it the room.  Lives can be very, very cluttered with all sorts of things that do not serve us.  If you simply keep what enhances your life right now, you could free up a lot of physical and emotional clutter.  Some quick tips can be found here: Zen Mind: How To Declutter.

As creative people, we often keep things around that we "might use" in a project.  This is great if these things are stored in a way that does not hinder our work in the meantime.  Otherwise this is just another barrier to being successful.  There are plenty of obstacles beyond our immediate control- we don't need to add to them by creating more barriers!  In a blog post I recently read, the guest author was talking about how to have less stuff by wanting less stuff.  He wasn't just saying "get rid of your stuff."  He was supplying an additional tool to facilitate the change.  Here is the link: How To Want Very Little. 

Perhaps you have determined that you really do need to keep most of your stuff, but it could be stored in a more manageable way.  For a more in depth and systematic way to organize, Organizing From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern is one of the very best books on organizing.  I'll write some more specifics about the book in a later post.

Please contribute your thoughts and suggestions by clicking 'comments.'

Ten Steps to Photographing Artwork

Below is the method I use to photograph 2 dimensional work.  I start with an unframed piece.  Drawings or works on paper can be taped to a support.

1. Set up outside on a bright overcast day with no or few cast shadows
2. Arrange piece on a black background
3. Level the piece
4. Set up camera on tripod at center of piece at closest distance to fill the frame.
5. Turn off flash
6. Adjust camera settings according to built-in or separate light meter
7. Use highest mega pixel setting available  & adjust any special settings- know your camera's capabilities*
8. Level the camera
9. Take photo with timer or remote button release 
10. Crop/Adjust image size with computer program
    

For small pieces I use a French easel to secure the piece.   For the black background I use a black cotton sheet.  Some people use black velvet.  I use a small level on two sides of the stretched canvas to level it (top or side and front or back).   The camera is leveled the same way.  I have eyeballed or estimated the left and right side of the canvas to be same distance from the camera (or parallel to the camera).  For larger pieces this would be measured for accuracy.  If needed, I then use a program on a pc to adjust the image size and to center it.

* I wrote about some special settings here: Photographing Artwork 2.

Have I forgotten anything?  What would you add?
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"Be Mine," A Work in Progress 8

An Oil Painting In Stages

The piece I have been reworking is nearly complete.  
As most of the edges are fuzzy, they will be sharpened in a few key areas. 
There is some touch up, detail work, and shadows and few areas to bring forward.

Work in Progress 12/12/09:

"Be Mine"

Oil on Canvas

30x40"

Facial Detail of a Painting

This is the work in progress- taken after 12/1 painting session.

11/22/09:


11/13/09:



  Painting corrections 11/7/09:

Defining Additional Narrative Elements of Painting

10/16/09:

Defining Form and Palette

Underpainting Blocked In

Initial elements and layout, 10/15/12:

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Photographing Artwork 2

Continuing from Tuesday:  by adjusting 3 settings of an HP R707 digital camera a piece of artwork went from being poorly photographed to professionally represented.  See the example here: Photographing Art.  The settings on this camera are saturation, sharpness and contrast  and are found by clicking menu, and scrolling down the screen.  There you find all three defaults set to medium.  By changing each one to high, indicated by a "+" sign, photography magic happened.  I suppose this could have been photoshopped, or something.  With this discovery on the camera, though,  I am just delighted to save time skipping this extra step.  did I just type, 'delighted?'  I don't use that word often, so this is a big deal discovery.  I also used an old tripod that I had for my heavy 35mm's.  It is so cool, I have to show it to you:

              Click Any Photo To Enlarge

It would be particularly useful for plein air painting because it is so compact.  It can't weigh much more than a pound and measures about 4x1x3" when folded up.  What is great about this mini tripod is two of the legs, which are the small metal rods, store inside the handle.  The third leg is adjustable in that it can be lengthened.  This third leg is also a clamp that can be attached to a tree limb, portable easel, bicycle, or a pole up to about 1-1/2 " thick.  The device that holds the camera has a ball socket joint that can be adjusted from straight up vertically to 45 degrees on the side horizontally.  Furthermore, this ball socket rotates 360 degrees on a horizontal plane.  I hope the photos show this tripod well.  Unfortunately, I have no idea who made it.  It has "Made in Germany" stamped on the side.  I know I obtained it at least 20 years ago and, amazingly, it fits the digital camera.  Once the camera is in place on the tripod, it can be set to go off automatically with the 10 second timer.

To Read Labels, Click Photo To Enlarge

Doing a search online, I found this exact tripod had sold on eBay for less than $5 on October 30th.  I also found a similar model in a store in Oregon, but it is no longer available.  So they can be found with some diligence.  There are many other models of mini or table top tripods.  What those are lacking, however, is the clamp feature which is really nice for those of you that like to paint out in the woods; oh, sorry, en plein air.    

More on photographing artwork will be posted next week. Saturday, I have a work in progress update for you.



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