The Artist's Quandary (or at least mine)

The most popular website I've created

So here’s my quandary, Blog:

On the one hand, I have this passionate desire to create things that are so uniquely, brilliantly original and captivating that they manage to please “most of the people most of the time.” In other words, I want to be the creator of something popular enough that it will naturally also result in some amount of fame.  Isn’t that any artist’s ultimate goal?

However, I’ve experienced--just a little--what fame is like; and that’s the other hand. The public always possesses a sense of ownership towards the famous.  They feel entitled to know whatever they want to know about you. They believe their affection for you ought to be reciprocated, at least a little. Although some of them respect your time and privacy, the majority aspire, however well-meaningly, to rob you of both.

MY favorite website I've created

Meanwhile usually there are others whose success depends upon your fame, and these people will drive you mercilessly…as undoubtedly you would drive yourself even without their demands. Becoming and staying famous is very hard work—hard work that can be utterly inescapable.  Unless, of course, fame abruptly abandons you.

My most famous crafted creation

Yes, don’t forget that any passion your devotees feel is subject to being doused in the next week or day or hour, either by familiarity or some new distraction. Meanwhile, of course, they have lives of their own, and for all their temporary interest in yours, theirs naturally take precedence. The adage “fame is fleeting” the truest of old saws. And as much as I’ve been annoyed by the demands of my flirtations with slight fame, being forgotten or ignored is just as unpleasant.

The creative will create, and if they have talent, will doubtless create some beauty. It is impossible for artists to desire that their work not be too beautiful, lest it attract too much attention. We can’t help but want our art to be admired, and be driven by that yearning. So either an artist will be annoyed by the costs of fame, or disheartened by the lack of it. I want my work to be loved, but I don’t want to suffer anything by consequence. Isn’t that just like a human being to only want the upside?

MY favorite crafted creation

There is another problem—yes, yet another! Sadly for the creator, there is no fairness or justice as to the popularity of art. We’ve all heard the countless stories of unrecognized genius that clearly demonstrate it’s folly for an artist to base his self-worth upon public recognition. The most exquisite work may not attract the slightest attention, the smallest validation, particularly if circumstances do not put it the public eye. “Putting it in the public eye” is, of course, marketing--the most precocious, frustrating business there is.

Marketing is a mysterious science even the greatest expert cannot decisively understand or apply. I’m one of those people who rather like marketing, but even I agonize over it. Who are the people who would enjoy my creation? Where are they? How can I reach them using my limited powers and resources? How can I shout louder than my competitors? Should I shout louder--or is morally wrong for me to try? How much shouting can I do before I exhaust myself and come to loathe my own creation?

Who wants to make life into the equivalent of a high school popularity contest? Didn’t I start this just wanting to create something wonderful?

My most popular book

So, to sum up: I want to be loved but not too famous, I’d rather be famous than unnoticed, and either way I want not to lose control of my time, effort, and creative license. Oh, of course I know it’s ridiculous to hope for all this--there’s no such thing as a free lunch, especially at my level of talent. But my problem is, I don’t even know what’s most important to me, or most likely to make me happy. I’m almost 56 years old, and I don’t even know what my dreams and aspirations should be!

I’m sure a guru with a far higher consciousness than mine would give me this advice: Simply create what you wish, and enjoy it yourself! I know I could try this...but there’s something inherently unnatural about that, isn’t there? Would it have been good for Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of his private home rather than the Sistine Chapel? Or for that talented star of the local theater production you enjoyed to not try out for the part? Or for your Aunt Sue to only bake her fantastic apple pie for herself? Of course not--even the humblest works of human minds and hands, such as mine, are worthy of sharing with others. Human society wants and needs such things to be shared.

MY fave book (of course)

I suppose there is another approach, although it’s not the easiest to pull off: create and share, by the simple means at hand, but don’t judge yourself based upon the praise you garner. If there is praise, enjoy it, but if there is not, you can still delight in what you’ve created, and be glad that you have the good fortune to be able to do so.

Maybe that last bit is the most important thing of all. If you are born with a skill, have had the opportunity to cultivate it, to train and practice, then be grateful. There are others around you who would trade a great deal to have your ability. Try not to focus on what you wish you could do, those lofty goals you are highly unlikely to achieve, and think instead how fortunate you are to be gifted with your talents.

It is a cliché that artists are tormented—a cliché based in large part on the truth. But if I want to be a happy artist rather than a tortured one, perhaps there really is a way to make that a reality. As in so much of life, it may depend far less on action, and far more on attitude.

Can you guess what these four jars represent?

Yesterday's crafty project at Magic House, Blog, was these four jars which I created in multimedia. What fun! And equally fun is seeing if you can guess what the four jars represent. What do you think?

If you guessed the four ancient elements, you're correct! I wanted to conceptualize each of the elements with its own "Alchemy Jar" and it was a very enjoyable challenge. Left to right, you have Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Let's take a closer look at each one (backlit for a different effect).

Air Jar

I got this jar, which resembles a perfume bottle, at good old American Science & Surplus. Since the top is plastic, it wasn't easy to work with (couldn't go in the oven). All I could do was dress it up with some fine silver metal mesh that I also got at AS&S. And how exactly does one represent air? Well, I made a coiled spring of white plastic coated craft wire to resemble a tiny tornado. Then I echoed the swirling theme with a ribbon of silver polymer clay, which I enhanced with silver Perfect Pearls and fine silver glitter.

Water Jar

I used an old pimento jar for this one (so cute and little). The glass is decorated with a swirly blend of polyclay in metallic blues and greens, in a wave design. The tips of the waves are translucent white. I covered the jar lid in a similar blend with translucent around the rim. All clay was enhanced with some blue Perfect Pearls, and after baking, coated with Future for extra shine. I added a couple of beads for a knob on top. Inside the jar I put colorless glass pebbles (the kind you put in vases) and filled it up with blue-tinted water. I love how that effect turned out and think I'll have to use it again!

Earth Jar

I adore earthy-stuff so this one was a blast. The bottle is another AS&S purchase. Around the base I placed some rough-torn brown clay that incorporated Granitex (hence the flecks). Over that, using liquid polymer clay, I affixed some faux pebbles left over from an old project. On top of the bottle, I was going for a similar look to the dribbled wax you see sealing certain liquor bottles, only with different colors of mud; I dusted the clay with craft sand in tan and black, and textured it with tiny holes using a plastic brush. The bottle neck is circled with a ring of gray Granitex clay. Inside: real potting soil and real pebbles. It came out like a tiny rock garden terrarium!

Fire Jar

This was a jam jar from one of those Christmas gift boxes you get. I thought the squared off shape mimicked a lantern. The clay on the sides is translucent with gold and copper Perfect Pearls blended in; I wanted light to be able to penetrate. The lid is covered in a similar blend with gold clay also included. Again, the clay here was coated after baking with Future for shine. I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of myself for coming up with the contents of the fire jar. I took the plastic "flame" top off one of those electric faux votive candles, revealing the circuit board and tiny light bulb. I covered the circuit board with some thin copper sheeting, and placed the light in the jar. Then I poured over it a mix of small gold beads and super tiny gold seed beads.

I'm pretty happy with the results of this experiment, Blog, and definitely inspired to use some of these techniques to make more jars in the future! And I'm wondering if any of our readers has ever done a creative project using the four classic elements. Please share if you have!

P.S.: Scrutinous readers who click on the photos for larger views will notice cracks in the glass of the Water and Fire Jars. You see, the best way to bring out the translucence in polymer clay is to immerse the work in cold water right out of the oven. As I discovered, though, this also causes the jar to crack! Fortunately, both jars only cracked inside, so they didn't break and don't leak. And I kind of like the effect. (Although I might just be telling myself that! LOL)

We went to Savannah, you should too!

Did you miss me, Blog? Well, I missed you too, but I didn't miss the craptastic weather that was going on here in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, where I was it was sunny and in the 70s! Like spring should be! That's just one of the reasons why I highly recommend a vacation in Savannah, Georgia. Here are some more!

1. The unbelievable beauty of the place. I guess modern architects don't totally suck (Santiago Calatrava for example, the designer of Milwaukee's spectacular art museum).  But they did know how to build homes back in the 18th and 19th centuries. And public spaces. The 22 squares of Savannah are so beautiful, especially this time of year. The city has got to be one of the best places in America to find restored buildings...you can explore for days and not see them all. Here are a few fave examples, brought to you by ICU, my camera.

Me and Davie in front of the famous fountain in Forsyth Park

2.  The live oaks. That's what they call the prevailing trees in Savannah, "live" because they do not go dormant. I guess they lose their leaves once a year but immediately get new ones. These trees are known for the broad spread of their branches, making them pretty much the best shade tree imaginable. They are also super strong and long-lived. Many of the trees in Savannah were here before the birth of the United States! I totally fell in love with them.

The Candler Oak dates from ~1730

3.  The flowers. While we're on the subject of flora, if you travel to Savannah in late March/early April, the flowers are at their peak of bloom. And they are everywhere, especially the glorious white and pink azaleas. Our patio is nice in the summer, but not quite on this level. Wow, Blog.

4. The history. Even if you're not so much a history buff, you have to appreciate being in a place that was key to the original settlement of America, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War. We saw the room General Lafayette slept in during his post-Revolutionary War tour of the U.S., and ate dinner in a building (The Olde Pink House) that was built in 1771 and used as a headquarters for the Union Army. So many places have remained much like they looked back in those days, like Factors Walk which was a commerce center for cotton in pre-Civil War days.

The Olde Pink House

Factor's Walk

5. The food. Speaking of The Olde Pink House, that is one amazing place to eat, Blog. In fact, we found scrumptious dining all over the Historic District. The seafood in this place is to die for. I don't know if I can eat the shrimp from Pick N Save ever again! There's also all kinds of quaintness in the dining locales. From the fabulous river view at Huey's to the elegant old charm of the Gryphon Tea Room, we loved eating in Savannah.

BLT salad and Southern Sushi from The Olde Pink House

Ceiling at the Gryphon Tea Room

6. The shopping. Savannah does have its share of touristy shopping, but it also has scads of fantastic boutiques that showcase the work of talented artists and artisans. (Intentional pun: SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, is a big influence here.) We treated ourselves both to a print of the trees (see #2) and to this fantastic glass piece which we call the Time Tunnel Orb.

This just scratches the surface of the joys of Savannah, Blog. It's simply the most beautiful place I've ever visited. I'll put it to you this way: I had a fabulous time last year in Vegas but I didn't cry when I left! I comfort myself by thinking that right now in Savannah, those live oaks stand faithfully shading the lovely streets and squares, as they have for hundreds of years and hopefully will for hundreds more.

Painting with clay: "Creation"

I did it, Blog!  I did something artist-y!  That is, I created something that I came up with myself, including some new techniques I invented myself.  Woo-hoo, every once in awhile everything comes together.  I can truly say the completion of my "Creation" clay painting was serendipitous from beginning to end.

So here it is, Blog!  What do you think?

Well, I can't say that I didn't have some inspiration for this work.  It was the clay-on-canvas creations of Gera Scott Chandler, whose stuff I just adore.  It never even occurred to me that you could use polymer clay as a "painting" medium till I saw that she had done it.  Seemed like the perfect venue to explore my love of organic colors and textures.  So, I had this idea to use a combination of media on canvas to express the "bursting forth" of some of nature's main building blocks:  sky, sea, sand, rocks, and plant life.

As I recently posted, I love making rocks from polymer clay.  So that was Step 1, and my pal Martha assisted.  I had a nice sackful of rocks ready to go.  Next I sketched the plan on paper, then transferred it to card stock and made templates for the various pieces of clay.  I also sketched it right on the canvas itself, which by the way is 12" by 9".

Step 2 was the creation of what I call "the God engine."  I wanted to create a ball of energy, reminiscent of the sun but somehow more magical-looking.  And Blog, it really had to look magical.  I wanted it deep and hot and glowing and sparkling, like you'd imagine the origin of the universe would have to be.  I had a theory of how to achieve this but hadn't seen anything quite like it. 

I started by cutting a hole in the canvas, then made a shallow cup of swirled colors of clay.  I embellished the surface with gold and copper Perfect Pearls embossing paint so it looked like copper or bronze.  The trick then was to layer UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) with layers of glitter and metallic leaf flakes to create a solid pool of glittering depth.  I did three layers, baking each one.  I have to say, I was amazed at the result:  even better than I dreamed it could be!

For Step 3 I made the sky layer, blending blue and white clay to suggest a slightly hazy summer sky.  The trick was to have the colors swirl into the God engine so the effect would suggest the sky (and other elements) pouring out of it.  Step 4 was the sand layer, using Premo "marble" clay (white with flecks) mixed with tan, and incorporating tan and black craft sand.  To add to the texture I lightly pressed the surface with the rough green side of a scrubber sponge.

For Step 5 I created a mottled blend of two greens and a brown and laid that down on the canvas.  With the sand and the land in place, it was time to put down my rocks!  They are placed half on the sand area and half on the land area.  To insure the rocks would stay in place, I "glued" them with colorless liquid clay.

For Step 6, I used some mixed moss I got from Michaels' floral department.  I glued it down with liquid clay, and then gave the whole mess a good soak with the stuff, pressing it down a bit to flatten.  I used some leftover clay from the land layer to make the long leaves, and affixed them with more liquid clay to the moss.  (I was really pleased how firm and secure this technique made the flora area after baking.  Awesome.)

Step 7 was the sea, and I used I technique I invented on my Beach Box project a year or two ago.  I used a swirled blend of dark green, teal, and pearlized dark blue for the water.  Then I blended white, pearl, and translucent clays to make the "foam."  Step 8, of course, was baking, 25 minutes at 270 degrees.

When the piece had cooled a bit, I did the final Step 9, which was glazing the water area (foam included) with two coats of Future.

And as the French magicians say when they make a lemon merigue pie appear out of nothing...voila!  And like I said, Blog, I couldn't believe how (a) everything came together in less time than I ever dreamed (about seven hours), and (b) the picture turned out even better than the what-I-thought-was-highly-optimistic concept in my head.  How often does that happen? 

It was clearly time to celebrate with Davie on the patio with a glass of Roaring Dan's Rum and Sprecher Diet Cream Soda with a dash of bitters!  Yay!

So not everything I do comes out like the three-quarters complete doll that lies in my cupboard now like a scary apparition from Hades, Blog.  Once in awhile the muses and whimsical forces beyond the beyond all come together to make something lovely happen.

I like it!  I even think I bizarradore it!

iTunes: unlike

We all do our best not to let the Web eat up our time pointlessly, Blog. I’m not talking about when a person chooses to do something, like play Mafia Wars, that someone else might judge as a waste of time but that individual enjoys. I’m referring to those time-sinks where your first click was hopeful for a fine reward, but in the end you realized you just expended 15 minutes for nothing.

This recently happened to me with iTunes. I saw on Facebook that a friend of mine had gotten a free download of an album of Latin Alternative songs from iTunes (and Kurt, this post is not in any way against you). I thought, “Wow! I love Latin music, there could be some great new group or artist in there!”

(To clarify, by “loving Latin music” I mean I enjoy any music with a Latin beat: salsa, tango, rumba, cha cha, etc. And to me flamenco guitar is basically aural sex (see my old blog post on that.)

Unfortunately, the lure of “Latin Alternative Sampler” was about to lead me into the Swirling Vortex of Infinite Clicking.

I wish I could remember the exact steps of the torture so as to relay them to you accurately. However, eventually it all became a nightmarish blur. It was something like this:

1. Click on link to free music – arrive at free download page
2. Be told you must be a fan – click on “become a fan”
3. Arrive at on iTunes Facebook page – be misled into becoming a fan of the App Store
4. Realize this wasn’t what you meant to do
5. Repeat steps 1-5
6. “Like” the correct Facebook page for iTunes
7. Be directed to new page with link for the free music
8. Click on link and be told you must be a fan to get free music
9. Repeat steps 6-8 several times, each time also being prompted to launch iTunes
10. Find that iTunes is suddenly requesting a password, but won’t accept your password
11. Repeat steps 6-10 several more times
12. Marvel at the fact that eventually this repetition actually launches the song download

At this point my cookies were frosted enough that as soon as the music had downloaded, I “unliked” both the iTunes and the App Store pages. I admit I am a PC and the iPod is my first venture into Apple products, one I would have avoided if there were a better mp3 player available. I like Ipo (the name of my iPod, for you newbies) just fine, but he has his quirks. Most of my anti-Mac feeling comes from the smug Mac commercials to which my response is: “Lower your prices to some level the average human can afford and then we’ll talk about your superiority.”

Okay, back to my little adventure. At this point I was really hoping my lost ten minutes would prove worth it somehow. Sadly, I lost more time listening to the free tracks. There were a couple I liked well enough to give trial time on the iPod (although I’m not confident they will qualify to stay), and the rest were all pretty awful. To me, that is--someone else might love them.

The only good thing about this whole experience is that it gave me fodder for a blog post. I wish I could say that I learned something about wasting time on the Web, but alas, I truly feel I had no warning what an epic fail this foray into iTunes was going to be.

On the brighter side, about twenty minutes after that I was in the basement dancing with my cat Cody to “I Saw Her Standing There” by the Beatles. Thanks to Ipo, who was accompanying my weight-lifting session. (Doesn’t everyone make cat dancing part of their workout, Blog?) Now THAT was fun. Except for the three times Cody bit my chin.