when you go to art school, making art seems so easy.
then you go out into the real world and suddenly it's hard to keep it up.
for me, there have been two key elements to keeping the practice going: developing routines and rituals and creating a certain kind of studio space that works for me.
next term i'm teaching a class for seniors, the focus of which is making a body of work to be in the "Senior Show". i'd like to start by talking to them about developing their own process to keep themselves working and am looking for some ideas. i thought who better to ask than all my clever artist friends. so, if you could, would you take a minute to respond to this post in a comment with any examples of what you do on a regular basis that feeds your work?
mine would go like this:
studio must haves: sewing space, display space for both paintings and drawings, light, reading chair, dog bed.
3 ring binder: for images that might inspire color combinations or compositions.
routines & rituals: work on paper everyday before school, read arts section NYT and write friday mornings, blog, find some time during school day for sketchbook, go to 1st friday openings in boston
when i get a chance and as often as possible: talk to artist friends for feedback, go see art
i realize few people over-plan like this, but without these things i would not be productive.
what keeps you productive?
if you know of someone who has an interesting routine or ritual share that too.
help me out. if you'd like, send pics to dukebecky.at.gmail.com.
thanks!
4 comments:
Things I can't live without:
CAMERA, Computer, books and the library, movies, walking and driving are the best studios I can imagine, DOG for encouragement.
I am not an everyday 24-7 studio person so I have found ways to have my practice going no matter where I am and actually all of my source comes from the world so I have to go out and find and discover it. The studio happens when I feel full and need to purge and then it becomes an intense period of making. I think I am like a field scientist where they pick a research topic, go out into the field and collect data, observe and then go back into the lab analyze their findings and then present their research.
I started a crit group with friends to keep the discussion going. Also update website often
thank you so much cp! and thanks for the pics too! i'm going to make some kind of a powerpoint and will share it with you when i finish it.
this is an interesting question. I have a list of ideals that include a private studio, killer stereo , tons of paint panels paper and supplies of every shape, and though i do have those things, i have realized that my art needs to be more important than my surroundings.
in other words, i need to be making it in some form or another no matter what the circumstances. i always keep a sketchbook handy and work in it religiously. when i travel i usually take a limited amount of supplies with me, and give myself a couple of assignments to work on. For me, my studio practice is my number one priority, and over the years i have learned that for me the studio needs to exist in my head, and i need to be able to make work wherever.
good morning reba,
like most folks, my life is on the over-busy side, i teach, curate art shows at two spaces (an exhibition space at a small liberal arts college and in a much smaller alternative space i run in my home), i paint, and i have a family. with all this busy-ness i find that there's a natural ebb and flow to what i do, and have come to the realization that it is best for me to think of my practice as one life rather than a series of pursuits. if i thought about how i should be painting when i'm teaching or how i should be working on my teaching while i'm out in the back yard with my kids, or that i should be in the back yard with my kids while i'm helping an artist install a show i would be pretty miserable and in a constant state of distraction. i find that it's important to be present in the moment. to take the time to look and focus on what it is that i'm doing at the time. i hope that when i'm dead and buried they won't just talk about one of the things i did, but all of them.
for me, the routine that works best is to wake up early (i am writing this at 530 am) in order to work in the studio, later on i will walk on the treadmill and watch movies or tv while i do that, i'll do some teaching, and then at the end of the day when the kids/wife are home, i will be a dad/husband. once the kids are down for sleep i will come back downstairs for a few minutes before i go to bed and think about the paintings i made earlier in the day.
the studio time is divided sometimes between my own work and a series of collaborative notebooks i work in with different friends across the country, some here in memphis, one in brooklyn and one in minneapolis. i find that collaborating in acrylics or drawing media in these notebooks is a way to broaden my own vocabulary and to just have fun.
the most important part of my studio practice is to (try to) be present when i am with other people. since my work is about moments in my life with people or books or movies or art, i have to be in the moment with others in order to find these events about which i paint. if i'm not paying attention and miss the rainbow that the light through the window is casting on my little girl's hair, i'll miss out on fodder for painting or worse, i'll miss out on my life.
my studio must haves are my sirius radio (howard stern show) my podcasts (fresh air, sound opinions, radio lab, the treatment, on the media etc), books on tape, my computer for photoshop, my printer for the images from which i paint, and the hundreds of objects that make my studio feel like mine (gifts, found objects, other people's paintings, images of my friends and other places.)
intertia is the key to keeping myslelf moving, if i am at rest i tend to stay at rest, if i'm painting i tend to keep painting, etc.
hope this helps, hope you are well.
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