QUESTIONS FOR THE MIXED MEDIA ARTIST

KINDLY TAKE A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT

THESE THOUGHTFUL QUESTIONS.

 THANKS! 

• What art do you make? What makes you create, and why?

(I paint, collage, and make assemblages, because I need an outlet for my energy and I get ideas that just have to come out!)

•  What problems have you encountered on your journey to create art?

(I became deaf and couldn't listen to music, which previously really inspired my art. I also had a long recovery from a terrible accident, & I couldn't do much in a prone position.)

•  How is your artwork unique? What makes a creation of yours different?

(I have eclectic tastes and a mind that often appreciates the strange and weird. I also taught art and am inspired by many different ways of doing things. I love to experiment!)

Please take minute to comment...I'd love to hear from you!

Paula

  

Between Fine Art and Pop Culture: A Visual Arts Educator's Rants and Ravings

Call me a curmudgeon, criticize this post if you will, but I'm driven to speak my mind. And by doing so, I'm wide open to attacks, I know. Yet, art is extremely subjective and everyone has an opinion, to which they are entitled.

As an art teacher, I know that some (or many) people may dislike my creations. I'm aware that much art is made to stir controversy and discussion. That's not what this post is about.  

I am sick and tired of "whimsy" and cute little fairy wings, dunce hats, and big eyes on poorly drawn faces. I'm also disgusted with so-called "art" that relies on words and sentences to fill the page.

The latter is fine with me if you call it journaling or call it a poster...it's writing, not art! It's either personal or commercial, but fine art? No.

My plea is that so-called art magazines (for grownups)  stop publishing artworks with faces and figures so lacking in proportion that they seem malformed. (And yes, I'm aware of primitive art and all the other art movements that promote such malformation. Again, that's not what this is.) If an artist is just learning, more power to him or her, and I wish them luck in their pursuits. But there are standards that should be met, dammit!

To continue to promote clichés is equally offensive to me.

I believe most of us would agree that honing our skills, and then moving on, trying new things, experimenting, exploring, attempting to better ourselves is the right thing to do.

Thanks for hearing me out. I feel better now.