What is Art? (A love story)

I figure most of you are here because you know me, or love art, or love my art. So, here is a story about love, and art!

Aaron and I met in the first period of our first class our freshman year of art school. It was called Methods and Concepts, a foundations of art class, Monday morning at 8am. A short time into that Monday morning class we were divided up into groups to discuss the question – what is art? Our little group of 5 or so went back and forth for a few minutes tossing out things that might be, or might not be art. It can be hard to define art. Is a painting on a wall in a museum art? What about a photograph? Are the marks the cavemen scrawled in the caves art? Is my couch art? What about music or dance? Do they count as art? 

The groups dispersed and the teacher opened up the conversation to the class. What is art? One person thought that art was indeed a painting on the wall of a museum. Others thought it was more inclusive and roped in dance and music, sculpture and words. And some of us thought it was concept or intention that made art. Really, anything could be art if it was imagined to be so. A desk could be art. An idea could be art. A life could be lived as art.

Two kids nearing art school graduation, and same kids last month at the Carnegie International exhibition

Aaron and I were very much aligned in the anything can be art camp and that started our friendship. And that friendship grew into a love and that love still grows. And so does our drive to keep exploring art – it is the way we try to make sense of the world around us.

I've found the phrase “blur the lines between life and art” written in several notebooks and sketchbooks over the years. I recently went to a virtual artist talk with two artists who I deeply admire Deborah Roberts and Vanessa German – and that phrase came up in their conversation as well. Let's live life as the ultimate artistic practice and fill our lives with the love and magic of art! 

What is art to you? I would love to hear.

A Year of Play – half way mile marker

Things have been busy around here – I have been carving out time to play in the studio and in the garden. Both are an investment of energy with unknown destinations – a leap of faith that something beautiful will grow in time. I am finally on the other side of a long creative drought (yay!) and am feeling like my creative well is sloshing around with ideas that have me excited to be spending time in the studio.

When I started this year of play, I thought that sounds so fun! But I'll tell you… play can be work. It is hard to play. We don't live in a culture that really values play. We are so primed to be constantly productive and playing feels like a frivolous luxury that someone in their forties shouldn't prioritize. It seems so ironic that I'm putting in effort – working – to make time for play and allowing my mind to wander. The reward is huge. I feel more relaxed. I feel energized. I feel more at ease with the uncertainty which is the most certain element of this life we are living. My creative well is expanding, growing deeper and more fulfilling, and that feels exciting and worthwhile.

I wrote in a journal a few years ago that I was allergic to words. I felt that way for a long time – those imprinted memories from childhood can really be impactful! Most of my life I have found it easy to communicate with images and impossible to find the words to round out the visuals. Over the course of the past few years, through the help of journaling, writing regular newsletters and attending a weekly writing group called Show Up and Write – I'm getting over my word aversion! Writing privately has given me the capacity to consider sharing more openly.

This month I am going to start writing out some of the building blocks to my story and sharing them here with you. I remember my grandma critiquing a coloring page that I made as a kid (in the most well meaning way) that really kind of pissed me off at the time, but recently sparked a series of sketchy patterns that have been growing over the past few years (see below!) I have deep memories of spending time after school in the sample room of my dad's architectural firm playing with color swatches and building little worlds of my own. I had a jewelry business with my mom when I was in elementary school and that sparked my interest in creating and selling things.

I have also had a few big earth shaking life events that have drastically shaped who I am and the reasons I make the work that I do. I am finally feeling ready to open up and connect in this space on a much deeper level with some of these stories. It is easy to share the bright and colorful artwork that comes out of my creative practice, but the stories that have shaped my perspective and allowed me to see the rainbows have come after a few intense storms. So, I am going make an effort to write and I'm sure in the process, I will learn some things. :)

revisiting a 2016 Carve Out Time for Art interview

I’m doing an instagram takeover over on Carve Out Time for Art’s handle @carveouttimeforart today. In the intro, Marissa Huber mentioned that she had interviewed me in 2016, which prompted me to revisit that, which was fun and encouraging. It made me even more aware of how little steps towards those big goals can really add up to something. I was just setting up a shop at the time and had aspirations of making patterns, designing wallpaper and creating public art. It is amazing how putting things out there does manifest those dreams and help them come true! I’ve since partnered with an amazing local company to create two beautiful wallpaper designs, and I’ve painted 6 murals!

We are often making progress towards our dreams even when it doesn’t feel like it. The mistakes and missteps count too, even if we are just learning what not to do. If you keep working away, eventually you will look back at those mountainous goals and realize that you might just have accomplished them.

Read the interview from 2016 here.

This collection of images shows some current work in progress… I want to make a deck of cards, and that was one of the 2021 goals that got lost in the pandemic shuffle. So, baby steps, I'm kicking off the year tackling one suit at a time. (Again with the boundaries!) January is all about creating hearts. Hearts represent feelings and affection. They carry senses of understanding and compassion. The heart is synonymous with love and they are the suit of spring – who doesn't want to fill themself up with lovely feelings and dream about spring in the middle of winter in Buffalo?

In the spirit of manifesting big dreams, I will share three of mine for this year – I want to create and produce a deck of playing cards, paint another mural, and license more of my artwork/patterns. Tell me, what are your goals for this next year? Let's cheer each other on!