Working in a series means deciding which doors to open and
which ones to close. In researching
this class, somewhere I ran across a comment from Lisa about “deciding which
doors to close.” The number of ideas and
the different techniques and options and possibilities are limitless and
overwhelming. If you never at least
temporarily close some doors, you will end up randomly bouncing from one idea
to the next never getting good at anything and never fully exploring
anything. I learned in architecture
school that the most common rookie mistake is trying to cram every idea you’ve
ever had into the first building you design.
The most successful buildings and art works are successful, in my
opinion, because they have been pared down to the essence of the idea.
Working in a series does not mean locking all the other
doors and throwing away the key, it just means learning to FOCUS on one aspect
at a time. I looked at Lisa’s Structures
series which has been underway for about ten years, I think. I noticed that there are some groups of
pieces that are very similar to each other, but very different from other
groups. Assuming the numbers are
assigned in chronological order, she explores one idea, then maybe tries another,
then goes back to the first one, having been informed about some other aspect
of the concept in the second work.
I’m going to have a very hard time deciding which of my two
series ideas I want to explore in this class.
I guess we will work on that next week.
In general (outside of a class structure) I don’t think it is a problem,
and probably it’s a good thing, to have a couple different series going at
once. Just as one work in a series can
inform the next, one series could also inform the other.
Something else I learned both from school, and from looking
at quilt artist’s websites is that the successful artists have a “voice.” This voice runs through all their work,
although it sometimes may be a scream, other times a soft melody. Artists who constantly bounce around,
creating one-off works seldom are published, or chosen for exhibits. The whole idea of having a “body of work,” is
one of the things that presents who you are to the world. Of course the body of work evolves over
time, and might become something totally different. Picasso started with cubism, and later did
the blue series, totally unrelated, but still from the same hand.
One of the first art quilter’s books I read (don’t even
remember her name) described the quilters story and her having received many
judges comments about not having a voice, wondering what that meant, then
finally learning it for herself.
At this point, I’ve spent way more time looking at other art
quilters than I have doing my own art.
(It’s easier to browse the web on your lunch hour, than run home to
piece for 30 minutes… though both are possible.
Having studied many, it’s clear
to me that you cannot develop a good body of work without following one thread
to see where it takes you. The first
part of this class for me will be all about deciding which doors to close, and
which to open. I hope in a year or so
to have a good start on maybe both of the series I am considering, and to NOT
tinker too much with other options and directions right away. One of my favorite quotes is one by Goethe
that I unearthed from my Bartletts Quotations way before there ever was an
internet: Art is long, life is short,
judgment difficult, opportunity transient.
What is the best way to make use of this short life?
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