Don't be daunted

Don't be afraid, don't be daunted, just do your job. Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love shares an inspiring talk about another way to think about creativity.

If you doing anything remotely creative this video is worth 19 minutes of your life:

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Jack Hadley founder of coworkutah recommended it. This morning Jack taught my senior seminar art class a thing or two about social marketing. I now see the value of Twitter and Facebook and blogging beyond just socializing. Thanks to Jack we are not listening to anyone who gives us the concerned look when we tell them we are artists. Today my fellow artists and I will be inspired to carve our own way.

I'd love to hear about what you thought of the video and if you have any ideas about how to stay focused on your creativity and not about how bad the economy is.

Wy'east Peaking Through the Clouds

Planes are magical. They lift you up and drop you off in a new place. Yesterday I was in Provo and today I'm in Portland. While you are on a plane you have some time to think about where you are going without being instantly in touch with the world via phone or internet. However, I did use my iPhone to take a picture of Mount Hood in flight as it was peaking through the clouds.
I learned that The Multnomah name for Mount Hood is Wy'east. In one version of the legend the two sons of the Great Spirit Sahale fell in love with the beautiful maiden Loowit who could not decide which to choose. The two braves, Wy'east and Klickitat, burned forests and villages in their battle over her. Sahale became enraged and smote the three lovers. Seeing what he had done he erected three mountain peaks to mark where each fell. He made beautiful Mount St. Helens for Loowit, proud and erect Mount Hood for Wy'east, and the somber Mount Adams for the mourning Klickitat.

Just goes to show what happens when women are indecisive. The mountain is more generally known as Mount Hood after some British general. I like Wy'east better.

10 Years Old Again

I felt like I was 10 years old again. Thursday night, my friend Chris and I went in to the woods armed with a flashlight in search of dead branches. We needed a lot of sticks. We dragged the dead branches through the woods and got some questionable looks as we passed a few cars on the road. Back at my apartment I thought if some parental figure walked into my living room they would have been aghast. It was so dirty with bark and branches and leaves everywhere.

We needed lots of sticks because we were working our creative minds to liven up our refreshment table at the Woodbury Art Museum with our tiny budget. With a little twine we decorated some old bottles. My friends Brynne and Jane, food artisans made some tasty treats that we served with apple cider. Robbie took these pictures of our festive decorations.

I was thrilled to be participant in the National Invitational Postcard Exhibit and I was so happy to see many friends come and support the show. Thanks!

P.S. We started a blog for the museum follow this link Woodbury Art Museum.

Reunited with the Past

As many of you know I work for UVU's Woodbury Art Museum. A selection of the dolls from the McCurdy Doll Museum will be on display at the Woodbury Art Museum from November 6 until January 15, 2010. Earlier this week I interviewed Shirley Paxman founder of the McCurdy Doll Museum in Provo, Utah. Mrs. Paxman told me many wonderful stories about the collection of 4,000 dolls.

When asked which was her favorite doll Mrs. Paxman said without hesitation, "Rosie". She received Rosie, a composite baby doll, for Christmas in 1929 when she was 9 years old. Like Mrs. Paxman, countless women can fondly name their favorite childhood doll too.

My favorite doll as a child was Ruby Louise, a 1983 red headed Cabbage Patch doll. I had secretly wished my hair was red because I wanted to be like Anne of Green Gables. My mother braved the crowds of people who all wanted the popular Cabbage Patch dolls for their daughters in search of a red headed one. I was so excited to receive her for Christmas and as I dragged her with me everywhere I went she became a little friend to me for years.

Mrs. Paxman told me she still had Rosie, and asked if I still had Rubie Louise. I regretfully told her, that Ruby Louise was lost along with most of my childhood possessions in our Gulf Coast home during Hurricane Katrina.

After the interview, Mrs. Paxman showed me through the many rooms of dolls. At my surprise in the last room, I saw several Cabbage Patch dolls still in their boxes laying on the floor. I was so excited to see a red headed Cabbage Patch amongst them. It instantly conjured up my memories of Ruby Louise. Mrs. Paxman picked it up and said she wanted me to have it. I tearfully told her that she shouldn't give it to me that it should stay with her. She explained that this doll should go with me because no one else would appreciate her more than I would.

Sadly disaster did take many things that I loved, but I am so thankful to have been reunited with my childhood doll in such a serendipitous way. I think sharing the experience I had with Mrs. Paxman truly tells the story of who she is and what she is about more than any interview question I could have asked.

Dinner with the Board of Trustees and President Holland

Last week I was invited to give a small presentation over dinner of my summer research that I was granted through the Scholarly and Creative Opportunities Program at UVU to the Board of Trustees and the President Matthew Holland of Utah Valley University.

I briefly explained that I explored my connections between art and music by specifically listening to the music of Elizabethan Report. It was a lovely dinner and a great opportunity to share my experiences at UVU in the art department.

President Holland has some outstanding ideas about Engaged Learning and Community Engagement. I am so happy to attend a University that offers these opportunities to learn by doing.

The art featured here is a sneak preview of what is to come. I painted this to Elizabethan Report's song "Two Silver Trumpets".

Hitting the Books

As you might have guessed I'm an art student. I'm currently taking 18 credits and working at the Woodbury Art Museum 30 hours a week. That kind of schedule is enough to make anyone crazy. Besides my art history classes there are no text books. But that doesn't mean that we artists don't read. There are over a dozen books that are piling up in the chair in my room that I am currently reading, skimming, and studying from. I thought it might be helpful to share with you some of my favorite books in future posts. Right now, "Book + Art, Handcrafting Artists' Books" by Dorthy Simpson Krause has really got me excited. I like this book because it combines artmaking and bookbinding ideas together. It even explores boxes and unbound collections. The instructions are easy to understand and inspirational.

I am currently learning some simple bookbinding techniques that I will share in a later in a post. For you local Utah readers, the Woodbury Art Museum will be having a book binding work shop very soon. Will let you know about the dates soon. Let me know if you are interested so I can get a good idea about how many to plan for.

50 Drawings in 50 Minutes on Top of Each Other

After the previous assignment with Catherine Downing, (50 Drawings in 50 minutes) my instructor Tawni Shuler, recommended me to do 50 drawings in 50 minutes on one big piece of paper. She asked me to use an organic form. I chose a piece of burlap paper and twirled it smashed it up a bit and then arranged it on the table in front of me. With this approach I never rearranged the object. I just moved my drawing paper around and changed mediums each time I drew it. I drew small parts of it, I drew it very large and very small. I drew it with my eyes closed. I tried angular approaches and soft circular approaches. The time went by very fast. As you can see the result doesn't look like a still life drawing at all. I had fun just playing with different materials. Sometimes,"Unexpected paths lead to great discoveries"(Wayne Hodgins).

50 Drawings in 50 minutes

To prepare for this I gathered various types of paper and different drawing and painting materials I enjoy. I used an object, in this case a pair of glasses that was missing a lens and drew it for about 60 seconds. Then I switched to a new piece of paper every minute. Exercises like this are useful for revealing the way we work and think as artists.

Immediately I looked at the drawings and wrote notes about how I was affected by the time restraints and what developed through the process. In the beginning I was nervous about making true marks that would identify the form accurately. I knew the process was going to be long so it started out as work.

As I warmed up I began moving the object around and then I even added a bottle to personify the objects more. I drew 17-23 blind with a marker. I was surprised at how accurate I was. I began to single out parts of the glasses that seemed symbolic. I like the limbs of the glasses crossing. They seemed to be guarded. I became agitated in the middle worried that I would run out of ideas. Then when I realized the end was near I calmed down. I switched to watercolor. I began to zoom in to shapes that I liked more. At this point I could have kept going because it was no longer work.

I reached a place where I began to be connected. I thought of the rushed days thatI don't have the opportunity to take time for myself to think and ponder. Those are days that I become easily frustrated and I have less patience for others. I contrasted that feeling with the days when I do take time to read and think and meditate and my view of the world is full of light and inspiration. I like the glasses that have the yellow paint and missing lens because I was able to construct a visual verse about that experience.

I found this exercise to be very helpful. I hope it proves to be helpful for you as well. Have you noticed up anything about these drawings and this process that I didn't mention? Please share it with me. If you try this exercise on your own let me know how it works for you.

Shaolin: Temple of Zen is Open

It's official, the exhibit is open. I might have been so busy planning and getting all the last minute things finished, I failed to announce things here. The opening reception featured some great Jiaozi (chinese dumplings) and Amano's new Dos Rios Dark Chocolate bar samples.

I even tried my hand at flower arranging after much morale boosting from my Mother who arranged flowers when I was young.

Without the volunteer work from our friends I don't know how it would have all come together in time. many thanks to those who helped things run smoothly and to those who attended.

If you have not made it to The Woodbury for this exhibit there is still time, that is until Oct. 9. The Museum is open 11am-5pm Monday through Friday.

Peach Berry Dessert Pizza

Our friends get together once a week for dinner and cards and last week we made our own pizzas. Brynne made a peach berry dessert pizza. It was delightful. She also made homemade buttermilk ice cream that proved to be a perfect companion to the fruit. She thinks I'm the friend with artistic talents but what she does with food is creative, inspiring and delicious. Thanks for taking the pic S.C.Cannon. 

Dinner Clubbin

This blog is mostly about artistic endeavors. When it comes to food the guys at Pizzeria Seven Twelve are artisans.

They have a monthly dinner club with four courses and the menu is a secret until you get there. Last night was my first time to experience it and it was exquisite.

The first course was peekytoe crab, butter lettuce, radish, avocado and cucumber salad.

The second course was pan roasted duck breast, melted leek risotto, braised swiss chard and cherry gastrique. The cheese course was a spanish blue cheese, house made walnut bread and honey gelee. The fourth course was vanilla poached figs with sweetened mascarpone on a shortcake biscuit.

Their regular menu recently featured Amano's white chocolate in a rice pudding that was luscious.

Trust the Process

Artist Catherine Downing suggested I read,  Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go.

It is a great book for anyone who fights with a creative block in the arts.

 

Shaun McNiff explains in his book, "Trusting the process and accessing the energies of creative movement is a discipline. I liken it to the practice of sitting meditation. It is not simply a matter of surrendering to circumstances and external forces. The creative process requires the active participation of the artist over a period of time. People beginning to commit themselves to creativity have to realize that important results are not always immediate. Just as the meditator practices staying with the object of meditation no matter what thoughts, sensations, or other distractions arise, the artist learns how to stay connected to the image being constructed and the process of creation, assimilating whatever occurs into the creative act."

Amano Chocolate

I currently do freelance graphic design work for Art Pollard owner of Amano Chocolate.

They make artisan chocolate from select beans imported from around the world. They use vintage equipment and every batch is made with the best ingredients. I am totally addicted. Not only are they winning awards for the best tasting chocolate around the world we recently won top awards for the packages I designed for them this past year.

Translations in Visual Language

Elizabethan Report comprising of Tony Petersen, Aaron Hatch, Spencer Petersen and Thomas Carroll have burrowed their way into my heart over the past few years. It seems they reached their boiling point in Utah County and will be moving on to California.

I have designed their cd's and promotions and have currently been working on a new project involving them. I received funding from Utah Valley University to conduct a creative research project.

It is entitled Translations in Visual Language: Exploring the Connectivity of Sensory Elements and Emotions.

While traveling through southern Utah a year ago I was struck by the shapes and shadows of the mountains on the desert plain. Reminded of sound waves I began to wonder what this landscape would sound like if all the horizon lines and shapes were fed into some kind of music sequencing machine. Conversely I wondered what different types of music would look like as art.

As an artist I have long understood that people connect to their world in different ways; yet we all share the same emotions and often, similar emotional responses. Artists have been cross-pollinating emotionally for centuries: a story helps create a song; a song prompts a dance, etc.

With these experiences in mind I would like to delve into my own emotional responses, perceptual screens, and the connectivity of various sensory elements to each other. Exploring such questions as do certain shapes and colors synestheticly evoke in the creator/viewer a similar or equal emotional response as a piece of music based on those colors and shapes? Can specific instruments or music be translated into these visual language elements while maintaining their emotional power?

Specifically, I will explore my own connections between art and music by listening and examining 10 pieces of music by Elizabethan Report.

Check back about news and updates involving their music and my art.

Elizabethan Report, "Are you a Murder?"

From a moderate Utah culture known for clean cut faces and social graces, Elizabethan Report conversely has an unkept concern with their looks and concentrates on their sweaty sound which is splitting at the seams. 

Their new CD which poses the question "Are you a Murder?"  to a ravenous girlfriend in its second track cuts right to a raw thumping interlaced trio of drums, bass and guitar.

The chaos is controlled by well crafted wound up and loosened melodies that stain Tony Petersen's ornate illiterations of brooding lyrics. His velvety voice rises and swells with the infectious energy of the quartet.

Shaolin: Temple of Zen Coming to the Woodbury Art Museum

As the graphic designer at the Woodbury Art Museum I am currently working on promoting our upcoming exhibit Shaolin: Temple of Zen beginning Aug 14.

Over the past eight years, photographer Justin Guariglia has slowly but surely won the trust of the monks of the Shaolin Temple, a unique Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of kung fu referred to as the “vehicle of Zen.” With the blessing of the main abbot, Shi Yong Xin, Guariglia has earned the full collaboration of the monks to create an astonishing, empathic record of the Shaolin art forms and the individuals who consider themselves the keepers of these traditions. It is the first time the monks have allowed such extensive documentation of these masters and their centuries-old art forms—from Buddhist mudras to classical kung fu—in their original setting, a 1,500-year-old Buddhist temple.

The opening reception for this exhibit will be from 6-8 p.m, Friday Sept. 4.

The Woodbury Art Museum is located in the University Mall on the second floor between Nordstom and the Gap. Admission is free. For more information please call (801) 863-6200.

Check out the Aperture Site for a look at some of the images and video that will soon be on display at the UVU Woodbury Art Museum.

Aperture, a not-for-profit organization devoted to photography and visual arts, has organized this traveling exhibition and produced the accompanying publications.

Renew Orleans

I was referred to the Las Vegas City Hall Bridge Gallery Post Card Exhibit to represent my home state of Louisiana. Artists from each of the fifty states were asked to make a postcard size image about the place they are from. I made a 5x7 piece called "Renew Orleans" that is currently on display there until July 2, 2009