An Obscure Madness

Illustration Friday: Boundaries - Snake Charmer

People were stunned by Yolanda's talent at snake charming.  Her gift was she could blur the boundaries between human and reptile.

Illustration Friday: Mysterious - Japanese Ghost

This mysterious woman haunts the backstreets of Tokyo, chilling the bones of all who encountered her.

Illustration Friday: Disguise - Geek Fairy

Melanie was looking for a disguise. She wondered if she stuck this star on her forehead it would make her look less geeky.

15 Tips on Writing an Artist's Statement by Janet Bloch

1. Do write an artist’s statement in the first person.

2. Do keep your “core” statement fairly brief. (150-200 words)

3. Don’t be generic in your assertions—if what you write can be said about most artists or artwork, take it out.

4. Do keep sentence structure concise. Beware of rambling, confusing sentences.

5. Don’t combine two separate ideas in one sentence. Use one sentence for each idea.

6. Don’t keep repeating yourself.

7. Do use active sentence structure (i.e. “I focus on ephemeral moments” not “I enjoy focusing on ephemeral moments.”)

8. Don’t be wishy-washy or dilute the meaning of your ideas—own your ideas!

9. Don’t set forth subjective statements as facts (i.e. “I see the physical world is alive with potential sacredness” not “The world is alive with potential sacredness.”

10. Don’t tell your audience what they see and feel or what the results of your work achieve. Tell them your intent and let the viewer decide if you were successful.

11. Don’t use obscure terms or references without explaining them. Connect the dots for the viewer.

12. Don’t cite an influence without explaining your artwork’s relationship to that inspiration.

13. Don’t be flowery, poetic, or cutesy. It make sound pretty, but unless it has real content and a purpose for being there it doesn’t belong in your artist’s statement.

14. Do read your statement out loud to yourself or others.

15. Do understand that writing an artist’s statement is a process.

You can read the entire article "The Artist’s Statement: A Workshop with Janet Bloch" at Woman Made Gallery.

Penises, Vaginas, and Buttplugs - Oh My!

I recently discovered Regretsy and discovered a lot more in the process: Etsy is rife with naughty bits. You can find vagina shaped pendants, pillows with penises sprouting out, sexually explicit samplers, and even a wooden buttplug with a ponytail attached. I never dreamed such stuff could be found on Etsy. Obviously I've been using the wrong search words.

Illustration Friday: Influence

Mildred tried to be a good influence on her daughter, but what the child really needed was an exorcist.

Creativity and Rebellion: Why They Go Hand-In-Hand

"Studies on creative people have consistently demonstrated that creativity is associated with openness to new ideas, risk-taking, and being inner-directed. Do these traits put creative people at odds with the culture and people around them? The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no."

An article by Tom Filsinger for Creativity for Life.

Five Ways To Reach Eccentric Behavior

From the humor book "How to Be a Genius: A Handbook for the Aspiring Smarty-pants" by Andre de Guillaume:

1. Spend as much time as you can thinking

2. Say everything that comes into your head

3. Keep notes on everything

4. Hardly ever finish anything

5. Spend as much time alone as possible

This pretty much sums me up.

Three Definitions of Outsider Art

The Free Dictionary:
outsider artist

"Work produced by artists who do not fit the traditional standards laid down by the dominant art establishments of an era. The power, influence, and position of such establishments enable them to decide what is acceptable as art in society. At various times throughout art history, groups such as women, ethnic minorities, peasants, and the lower classes have been marginalized and considered ‘outsiders’. In today's art world, those labelled as outsiders may include artists who have not received official training, or associated themselves with a recognized art system."

The Coming In of Outsider Art
article by Audrey Regan

"Outsider art is not determined as much by the artwork itself as by the set of circumstances that were present in the life of the artist when the art was made. Once the outsider artist is "discovered", he can no longer be classified as one who creates art for his own use, for he is now sharing his art with the public. He can no longer be described as one who is unaware of the art being made by others as he is now a part of the very artworld he once knew nothing about and will be influenced by it. Eventually, he may stop using the materials of his everyday life, when demand for his work necessitates the use of more effective and readily available materials."

A CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: The Nameless Art of a Scrapheap Subculture
by Tori Orr

"...Ultimately it is an error to perceive outsider artists as eccentrics who act in supposed isolation. Many use their wondrous art in order to create a link with society. And to say they are unskilled and naive misses the point. Most may be self-taught but rely on skills picked up from others. Their art is neither psychotic nor accidental. It is simply inspired. As Howard Finster is fond of saying, 'all ideas are visions'."

Update on Kitty's Kidneys

Took my cat to the vet today. I now have to give her subcutaneous fluid therapy everyday. In the last post, I referred to it as an IV. It looks like an IV but doesn't go into her vein. Just learned the proper term today. Anyway, she is doing okay considering, but as the vet said it is only a matter of time.