Early in my art “career”, I realized I had to find a way to get and stay organized. I was using a lot of online resources, and I needed to keep a list of these so I could not only find them again when needed, but also keep track of what I had seen and not seen yet. I also needed a to-do list application that was both easy and convenient to use. And, knowing me, of course, this had to be free or very low cost. I looked at a few online “organizers” and eventually settled on one called “Airtable”. I have mentioned it before, and I still really like it. It is not the simplest tool to use, and here my computer background certainly helps. It is built pretty much like a spreadsheet, but with many many more built-in features. And even though it has all the features I need, the version that I use is free. Unfortunately, just as buying professional quality paintbrushes and paints doesn’t make you a professional artist, using a great organizational tool doesn’t make you a great organizer! As well as using it to store a bunch of my lists, I built my to-do list in Airtable. It is a model to-do list. Each task includes a Name, a Due Date, a Status, a space for Notes and another for Attachments. Once they are marked as “Done”, most tasks disappear from view, but the “recurring” tasks get added back to the list according to each task's schedule (some weekly, some monthly, etc.). In order to concentrate on things that will help me reach my goals, most tasks are also attached to a specific “Strategy” which itself is attached to a “Goal”. Other lists in my Airtable file include Packing lists for different types of shows, Expenses, Painting ideas, lists of courses or programs I have looked into or taken, and detailed notes that I have made about some of them. I am very proud of my “Airtable” files. Very organized. Very OCD. I am not saying these lists don’t help. They do, enormously! However, recently I have been letting my “to-do” list slip. I used to look at it every day and follow it closely. For the past 2 or 3 months, I have found myself regularly pushing “late” tasks further down the list. Some of these have perfectly good reasons for not getting done, but others I just can’t seem to muster the energy or the will to do. I occasionally decide against doing something I may have thought was worth doing when I added it to the list, but most of the time the items just get pushed further down the calendar. I probably shouldn’t care about most of these postponements, but it does wear on me that I keep postponing things. I suppose it is easier to postpone something than to decide not to do it. Also, I have long been an “out of sight, out of mind” person, so removing an item completely from my list is pretty ‘final’ for me. Some of the items on the list are creative or art related, but most are housekeeping or administrative tasks. Maybe I should add a “Category” to each item and see which type of task gets postponed more often. That is exactly the kind of thing I would do. “Busy work” to keep me from facing the things I don’t really want to do. Then I would know exactly which things I don’t want to do, but they still would not get done! Is there a name for this disease? What about you? How do you get motivated to do the things you don’t like to do? Let me know in the comments!
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If you have been reading me regularly, you know how much I like to explore new mediums and techniques. Since last winter, I have been concentrating my “research” on printmaking. My July 21 blog described linocut printing in a bit more detail. More recently, I discovered “Chine collé” (sounds like sheen colay), and thought that today I would explain what that is. “Chine collé” is a printing technique that involves adding color or texture to a print by gluing paper to all or parts of the print. The name “Chine collé” comes from the fact that originally, fine papers made in China or Japan were used. And of course collé is simply glued. So a rough translation would be glued paper from China. This is not a new technique, and was used by such artists as Matisse and Delacroix. The simple diagram above illustrates the principle of Chine collé. The base block is carved and inked as usual for printing on a normal piece of paper. Before printing, a piece (or pieces) of colored or textured paper, which can be either cut or ripped to fit the desired part of the design, is covered with glue on the back and placed on the inked block, glue side up. In the example, the smiley-face’s “hat” will be colored green in the final print. During printing, all the ink-covered marks on the block will of course transfer to the large sheet of paper, including any marks in the hat area, but these will be printed onto the colored piece of paper, which the printing process will simultaneously press and glue to the larger sheet of paper (the final print). There are several difficulties in this technique. One is finding special colored paper to use. You could in theory use any paper, but it should be thin enough to not interfere with the base paper, yet thick enough to not tear when applying glue to it. I had a look around local shops but couldn’t really find anything I liked. I looked at scrapbooking paper, but none of it was what I wanted. I did use some that I had from previous projects to do experiments. That’s the good thing about being an art supply “collector”! I found some suitable papers at a large online US art supplier, but the shipping charges were outlandish! Thankfully, I finally found some gorgeous yet reasonably priced papers from a small supplier in western Canada. I haven’t tried them yet, but I am looking forward to it! Another difficulty is actually placing the glued piece of paper on the block for printing. The block is already covered in ink, so you have to be very careful to get the small piece of paper in the right spot on the first try if you don't want extra ink marks! And once you get it in the right spot, you have to get it to stay there (remember the side facing you is covered in glue!) A third difficulty is finding the right glue! Traditionally, Nori paste is used, but it proves to be next to impossible to find in Canada at a reasonable price. I finally resorted to making some myself (why not!!) from rice. Not difficult, just a little time consuming. But even with the difficulties, I really like this technique, and all the possibilities it has opened up! I am actually surprised that I like it so much, because I never really cared for “collage” in any shape or form, as I always (perhaps wrongly) considered it cheating or the “easy way” to do art. But I guess Chine collé has enough “struggle” for me to make it "genuine". I am having a great time experimenting with it, and I plan to continue doing so for a while (or until the next squirrel flashes by!) Leave a comment to let me know how you like it, or to give me ideas on projects that would be suitable for “Chine collé”! Last week I participated in an art show with a local group of artists. They hold a show in this venue about four times a year. It is a great location, in a very popular park where hundreds of people every day take a walk around a small but lovely lake. Weekends are usually extremely popular. Except when it is over 35 degrees C (roughly 95F). And humid. So we did not get huge crowds, but the people who did stop and visit the exhibition enjoyed both the air conditioning and the huge variety of painting styles on display. It was also a great time to get to know some of the other members of this group, as we don’t have regular social meetings. Over two days, I had some very interesting conversations about art, the city government, copyrights, and people in general. From my vantage point, I could observe people as they made their way through the exhibit. I couldn’t help but notice how many people just glanced at my display and moved along, whereas they might spend several minutes at others. With 20 artists exhibiting, there was a LOT of art to see, so I could totally understand why someone would not want to spend time looking at art that didn’t “do it” for them. Of course there were some that did take time to look at my art, but I couldn’t help but hear the little voice in my head…. “Your work isn’t that good… you may think it is, but the people who really matter don’t…. See? They barely even look at it.... The other artists' (the real ones) work is much better than yours…. What are you even doing here?”.... That voice had gotten stronger in the last few weeks, after a string of shows with lots of compliments but very few sales. I know that sales aren’t everything, but I also know that compliments, even if sincere, are easy to give, and that parting with one’s money is a lot more difficult. But it is also a concrete way of, as the saying so aptly puts it, “putting your money where your mouth is” and giving the artist proof that their work is worth something. So yes, sales aren’t everything, but they do matter. And they allow me to make space at home for new work ;-) So anyway, that little voice had been getting stronger, and I was asking myself lately why I was bothering, not to do art -- I love that and have no plans to stop -- but why I was putting so much effort into getting my art seen. In last week’s blog, I talked about possibly finding a gallery to show my work, as an alternative to doing in-person art shows. It is a LOT of work to do in-person shows!! And then this happened. Early in the afternoon on the second day of our weekend show, the number of visitors had picked up noticeably. At one point a man, clearly dressed for a walk on a hot summer day, stopped in front of one of my paintings. And stood there. For minutes. Obviously mesmerized by what he saw. I gave him a few minutes, then walked over and said “You seem intrigued by the painting”, to which he answered, ”Not intrigued, interested”. We had a pleasant chat about why he liked the painting, and he eventually bought it and a second smaller one! He had no idea that an exhibition was going on, and obviously had not planned to be buying art that day He was just out for a walk. And yet….. So, that’s why I will continue to do in-person shows. To see that look. To talk to the one person in a hundred who loves my work. To experience the joy of knowing that something that I created makes someone happy, not just today, but hopefully for many days to come. Yesterday I had the pleasure of having High Tea with friends from one of my art groups at a local Art Gallery/Museum/Culture Center. We had a few minutes to visit the current exhibition of works by a local artist. The display was expertly curated and it was interesting to discuss the paintings with other artists. This got me to thinking about my own art. Is it good enough, and do I have enough of it to consider having such a one-person show? I have my doubts. Until today, I thought that I had a lot of finished art, in fact too much of it, but looking at all the art in this show, all by the same artist, has made me think that maybe I don’t actually have that much! I have been showing regularly for the last few years, or at least as regularly as Covid would allow. I have been fortunate to find a happy collector for a few pieces. Some pieces sold immediately (before even being framed) and others, that I humbly consider quite good, have been following me around from show to show for months, in some cases, years. I keep showing them, with the firm belief that if they aren’t seen, they will never find the person who wants to have them. But doing shows is hard work. For instance, today I have to finish getting ready for a 3-day show this weekend at the Armand-Nadeau Pavillon in Sherbrooke. Thankfully it is only 30 minutes away, so I can come home every night, but I know I will be knackered. For an introvert, standing around meeting people is exhausting. Not to mention all the work that goes into getting ready for the show. So some days, like today, I wonder if there isn’t a better way. Like art galleries. I have looked into local galleries, but they show mostly modern abstract art, nothing like what I do. I haven’t approached any of them, mainly because all I have read says that the gallery should be a good fit for your art. I wish there was a cooperative gallery that I could join, but I haven’t found one, or there again, the art they have is all modern abstract. So I have joined several art groups that show regularly, to get more exposure and experience. So far the results have been disappointing, but I know these things take time. Another thing holding me back from approaching galleries is that in a survey I did a while ago when I started getting more serious about my art, most people said they would not visit an art gallery to buy art. Is this because I asked the wrong people? When was the last time you visited an art gallery? Well, more to ponder… I have to get to work on this show. Hope to see you there if you are in the area! |
AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
March 2023
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