Tag: art talk

Am I An Artist?

Am I an artist just by virtue of calling myself one? When I create art, does that automatically make me an artist? Can I even call what I create ‘art’? Why is this word ‘artist’ so important, and what power does it hold over me? These are questions that occupy my mind often and I think are important to pay some attention to in order for them not to become obstacles on my journey of creating art and being an artist.

Has anyone ever given you a compliment on your art, only for you to quickly dismiss it or downplay it? For example I often find myself saying “Oh it’s only a hobby”. As if my art is not as arty as someone else’s, simply because it’s not my day job. If I accept that compliment, truly, it becomes a scary tentacle monster with lots of expectations. It becomes a gateway for judgement, because WHOA if I call myself an artist then I must tick the boxes of what other people think an artist is or should be.

I don’t know what other people think, but I know they’re out there, ready to judge, ready to trample my fragile budding artist soul. Better to not call myself an artist at all actually and crawl back in my cocoon of safety where I never risk anything or put myself OUT THERE. Isn’t it funny though, because I have no such problems with calling myself a mother. I became a mother automatically when I gave birth to my first son. I might be concerned sometimes with being a good mother, whatever the hell that means, but a mother I am, for sure, no question. So why is art so special that I feel creating it doesn’t automatically make me an artist? Whose permission am I waiting for to call myself an artist?

Face it, in order to reach our potential and be fulfilled we need to take risks. It’s the easy option to let your fear of what other people think inhibit you being yourself. That way you never have to face your fear, you never have to own up to it, and you never have to truly admit that it is PART OF YOU. The roots of your fear may lie in other people in the past (don’t we all have those childhood scars?), but the change lies with you right here, right now. Stop externalising your fear, OWN IT!

Have you ever noticed that people tend to treat you in accordance with how you present yourself? A confident person gets treated with respect. A shy person gets ignored. If you meet someone new and you ask what they do and they say “I’m an artist”, are you going to ask for their qualifications to make sure they’re really an artist? No, you’re going to accept it just as you would have if they’d said they’re a teacher or an architect or a mother.

If it doesn’t sound too cultish (lol), then please join me in saying that: From this day forward I will call myself an artist and not apologise for it.

Tags art talk, inner critic, insecurity

Art & Craft Art Journal Musings Tutorials, Guides & Advice

It Can Be Simple

I love art supplies. I have a LOT of art supplies. The choices are endless when I’m creating something, but I often have to remind myself: it can be simple.

When you have a lot of tools available the temptation is to want to use all of them, which can be to the detriment of the art piece. I love complex pieces with many layers that make you wonder ‘how did s/he do that?’, but sometimes it’s OK to pare it right back. Minimalism can be tasteful, it draws attention to the important elements and lets the piece breathe.

I have the same thing with blog posts. I feel they have to be long and in depth. So instead, I will stop writing now and leave you with some works in which I have tried to simplify.

Tags Art & Craft, Art Journal, art talk, pictures

Art & Craft Featured Musings Tutorials, Guides & Advice

Top 5 Tips For Doing It – Motivation and Art

Post author By Iris
Post date 14 March 2014
16 Comments on Top 5 Tips For Doing It – Motivation and Art

After my post the other day about having found motivation for doing art I thought I’d share these tips for getting down to business and doing it. Just in time for the weekend to put them into practice!!

There are many reasons why we might not do something we want to do. I wrote the tips below with art in mind, but with some modification they can apply to pretty much anything. The important thing is to find something that works to enable you, to do what you want.

1. Take A Course

Courses give you an external motivation to do art. They will give you more practical skills, which in turn will increase your confidence. There might be assignments or exercises which walk you through new techniques. This is a much safer way to start something, because there is already a blueprint for doing it: you don’t have to make it up all by yourself.

It can also be motivating to be in a group of like-minded people and to share the results of the lessons and discuss them. By the end of the course you will have completed work you can look back on, feel proud of and see your own progress in. It will be a jumping off point to keep creating.

Places you can find courses: local college (in London you can try City Lit or Morley College), art/craft shop or online. I’ve taken online courses from Tam @ Willowing, Suzi Blu and Adriana Almanza.

2. Distract Yourself

Occupy your conscious mind to access your subconscious mind. I overthink what I do ALL.THE.TIME. My inner critic works overtime when I’m creating a painting. It’s hard to be free and create art from the heart when my mind is so present all the time. Something that can really help is to distract your thinking mind so you free your creative mind to do what it does best. I do this by watching TV while painting (or you could listen to an audiobook, music or have a conversation with someone etc). Following the storyline and dialogue distracts me just enough to let my hand move freely and helps me make organic choices rather than getting stuck on things like which colour to use.

3. Copy Your Favorite Artists

OK this might sound controversial but bear with me. Ask yourself what you like. Whose art makes you happy or evokes strong feelings in you? Create a folder on your computer (or a board on Pinterest) with art that makes your heart sing. Then copy the hell out of it. When you copy something another artist has done it is called a study. Obviously you don’t sell these works or pass them off as your own, but what you are doing is slipping on someone else’s shoes for a bit and in so doing it will help you develop. You are practicing, you are learning your own likes and dislikes and it will spark your own original creative side and eventually develop your own style.

4. Limit Your Options

This world of ours has limitless choices and if you’re anything like me you’ll have an abundance of art supplies. I get almost as excited about buying new art supplies as I do about creating art. I find myself getting overwhelmed and scared when I think about all the supplies I have sitting around waiting to be used. So much potential but how best to use them, in what combination and what to use in this particular painting?

So strip it right down, reduce! Don’t leave the choice open to all your art supplies available. Pick a limited number of supplies you will use. For example I would choose: 4 colours, 2 patterned papers, 1 stamp, gesso & brayer. Then as you gain confidence creating paintings with limited options, you will find you automatically know what other supplies to reach for because you know what your painting needs.

I give a bunch of limited supply suggestions in my art & inspiration guide, so go and download that if you haven’t already. You can also check out some art journaling videos where I created journal spreads with limited supplies.

5. Acknowledge Your Fear

I left this one to last as it’s the most important one and the crux of a lot of motivational problems.

You have finally carved out some you-time to do art and you find yourself with a compelling urge to tidy your desk, or alphabetise your DVD collection, or clean the kitchen or [fill in the blank with your particular distraction]. You don’t actually need to do any of those things, and they certainly have nothing to do with creating art. This is your fear in the driving seat. Your fear is there to protect you, perhaps you’re trying to avoid disappointment or you don’t want to fail or you’re afraid of what other people will think. But for all its noble intentions, your fear holds you back and stops you doing what you actually set aside time to do. Tell yourself ‘thank you very much fear for trying to protect me, but I’d like to do some art now please, so piss off’.

I admit I wrote that last line for comic effect, but the point I’m trying to make is that by acknowledging your fear you bring it into the open. If you see your avoidance behaviour for what it really is – fear – then you can try and move past it or work with it and turn it into creative opportunity. It is also helpful if you can try and identify exactly what is it you are afraid of. Personally I fear creating something ugly and ‘failing’ at being an artist (I hardly feel I’m even allowed to apply that word to myself, a topic for another blog post!). I fear other people’s criticism or lack of interest. I feel I have to be perfect and create perfect art. So for me it helps to acknowledge these issues. I try to give myself permission to practice, see what I’m working on as a process to getting better and try to create things for myself in the first instance.

The fear is always there and sometimes it is louder than other times. It is likely that it will never go away, but you have to arm yourself with techniques that will help you do art despite your fear.

Finally, just try and get on a roll. Start so you may continue. I find that ideas breed ideas and creativity breeds creativity. The more you are doing it, the more you will feel like doing it.

I would love it if you shared in the comments what your top tips are for doing art or any other activity you feel passionate about.

Tags Art & Craft, art talk, fear, feeling blocked

Art & Craft Musings

On Change – Motivation To Do Art

Post author By Iris
Post date 11 March 2014
3 Comments on On Change – Motivation To Do Art

For years I have been in love with mixed media art and art journaling, but for the longest time I have suffered from some kind of creative paralysis. I would look at other people’s art or read mixed media books or watch art videos or buy lots of art supplies and get crazy excited and inspired. I might even attempt to do art myself but I always ended up disappointed. It wasn’t GOOD enough, I didn’t ENJOY creating it, it was a labour (and not one of love).

So I have a number of art works spanning from about 2008 until early 2013, but there are always big gaps in between. There is no thread, no consistency. When I look back at them I am far less judgemental than I felt at the time of creating them (“How crap! Why should I ever make art again?”), but there is still something lacking. Like they exist in a vacuum. Strange, disjointed one-offs.

Then in the summer of 2013 something changed. It wasn’t a lightning strikes or epiphany moment, but probably more of a gradual shift that culminated at that time. I can’t know for sure the exact reasons, but two things played an important part. The first was therapy. I started seeing a therapist towards the end of 2012. On a short term basis I didn’t notice anything, but as the months passed I slowly started feeling differently. More empowered, more in charge, less confused or clouded (sorry to be so vague! I find it hard to put into words!).

The second thing was having Zephyr, my second son, in June 2013. It gave me confidence, as stuff like that tends to do, but it also marked an important next phase in my life: the chance to start thinking about myself. What do I want, what do I want to achieve, who do I want to be? A sort of awakening after being solely in the ‘mother/pregnant’ role for quite a few years.

So it was in August 2013 that I started doing art, not necessarily every day (circumstances prevent that), but consistently and with joy. What a change! What a difference in how I feel towards it! I haven’t stopped since!

Now at this point in time I’m starting to get to a point where I actually quite like my art, I enjoy doing it, I feel confident about it and I enjoy the result. Sometimes the doubts set in though. As long as I’m in my art room creating art I’m fine. But then I visit some blogs and expose myself to other people and I’m like: SO MANY other people are already doing this, who am I to think anyone is interested in what I’m doing. There is no space for me.

Or I’m thinking about a video I want to do and then it’s like.. it’s been done before. And I KNOW that it’s never been done by ME and that I have a unique voice blablaba, but it STILL stops me in my tracks and makes me feel like everything I do is useless…

However, I am also counting my blessings and remembering the fact that a year+ ago my inner critic was preventing me from making any art regularly. I’ve got past that now. Yay progress! Currently it’s making me feel scared of sharing it or trying to carve out more recognition.. So maybe a year on from now… who knows.

I’d love to know if this experience resonated with you or hear your story if you’ve experienced something similar!

Tags Art & Craft, art talk, feeling blocked, insecurity, Thoughts

Art & Craft Tutorials, Guides & Advice

My 10 Favourite Art Supplies

Post author By Iris
Post date 10 March 2014
4 Comments on My 10 Favourite Art Supplies

I looove art supplies (and have spent way too much money on them over the years, probably a lot on useless stuff) so I thought you might like to know my favourite supplies. As a consequence these are supplies I use all the time and in almost all my work. This top 10 is in no particular order because it’s never just one thing that is the greatest, with mixed media it’s all about the effect things produce in combination.

Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Watersoluble

I looooooooove these babies! They come in so many different colours. I like that you can buy tins as well as single ones. I’ve got the tin of 15 and have got about 20 more loose ones of various shades for faces and vibrant backgrounds. I especially like their versatility, you can use them as a wash for backgrounds or use less water to make them more opaque; you can use them to paint faces and figures and other more detailed things; you can use them undiluted as a regular crayon. Almost every single piece of art I create, whether it’s an art journal page or a full blown painting on wood or canvas, has me using at least one of these.

White Acrylic Paint / Gesso

So simple but absolutely essential. I remember being so disappointed when I was a child when I was told white was not a colour! Nevertheless I love using it. Acrylic paint is especially nice to create texture with by building it up really thick (heavy body acrylic paint is good for this). Gesso is lovely for brayering onto the page and create texture that way. Acrylic paint has more of a plastic-y sheen to it, whereas gesso is more matte.

Gel Medium

I use Golden which I love, it’s expensive so other brands might work as well, I haven’t tried any others. Gel medium has many uses I’m sure, but I use it mainly as either a glue for three dimensional objects or to create raised texture. It is great for gluing because it dries clear AND remains flexible. That means things are less likely to fall off over time which is always a plus. It’s nice for texture because it retains its shape when it dries (if you layer it on thick it needs quite a long time to dry though!) and you can mix it with paint for colour or you could even add other fun things like glitter or coloured sand. You can pretty much go wild and gel medium will stand up to it!

Heat/Embossing Tool

Also called a heat gun or embossing gun this one isn’t very exciting but it’s so so nice to have. I dislike having to wait for things to dry, it interrupts my creative flow. Having a tool to speed up the drying of your paint so you can continue your work is easily overlooked but to me it really makes the process much more enjoyable. The one I have has two settings, a ‘low heat’ one (still very hot though, like a hair-dryer on the hottest setting) for speeding up drying times and a ‘high heat’ one (incredibly hot, handle with lots of care!) for embossing.

I don’t do much embossing but I have noticed some areas to take care: one, if you point it at any acrylics for too long, they start bubbling which may spoil your work (or on the other hand you can use this effect to your advantage and create awesome texture!) Two, it will melt beeswax in a heartbeat (and may also ‘blow’ it into a different direction from where it was), which is great if that’s what you’re after but if it’s not just make sure to apply your beeswax only after you’re finished with any embossing.

Beeswax

It smells GORGEOUS! I find working with beeswax very soothing. It smells so nice and adds a dreamy look and texture to any piece. You can add little elements inside it like glitter or other small objects. Do be aware that if you layer it on very thick it becomes opaque. I use a quilting iron to melt the wax and smooth it over my work. Then afterwards I either leave it like that or sometimes I scratch into the surface (you can use an empty ballpoint, the end of a paperclip or anything else that creates interesting texture). Sometimes I cover a whole piece with beeswax as a final unifying step, and other times I just put it in select areas. Another fun way to use it is to create a ‘resist’: beeswax will resist most products you put on it, so you can drip some beeswax on your piece and then spray walnut ink on top, the ink will stay on the wax-free bits but rub off the parts where the wax is (as long as it’s smooth, if you created texture into the wax the ink will settle in the crevices which creates a more grungy look).

Stamps

I know that’s quite a broad category there but there are so many out there that are wonderful! I love using floral or grungy stamps as an element in creating a complex layered backgrounds. At least one set of alphabet stamps are integral to art journalling, they really add to that recognisable art journal aesthetic.

I love acrylic stamps, they are unmounted stamps made of acrylic (they are seethrough) and you use an acrylic block to mount them (they stick to it automatically and come off easily, no glue needed). The fact that the stamps & block are seethrough helps with placement and you can also mount more than one stamp on a block at a time which is handy for lettering or adding a group of elements in one go. You can wash them in soapy water to clean them (they won’t lose their stickiness!) which is another plus.

Uni Posca Markers

There are a lot of markers that promise to write on anything, but few actually deliver. These are the best I’ve tried! They even write over (watersoluble) oil pastels, as long as you are careful and don’t press too hard. When you write with them the flow is quite ‘inky’ (so be careful because they will smudge before they’re dry!) unlike felt tip pens or some other markers which can be really dry, and thus don’t write on textured or more complex surfaces.

They are quite expensive but investing in at least the black and white is well worth it. Even the lighter colours go on opaque. They are great for adding text to pages (the thinnest size is nice for writing and doodles), adding accents around elements or filling areas in with colour. They are waterproof when dry, which is great because they won’t smudge.

Book Pages

I use a cheap paperback I knew I wouldn’t read again, but you can also use newspaper, phonebook pages etc. The small dense lettering can really add interest to a page, either as part of a complex layered background or perhaps as a shape cut out from the paper. Printed papers tend to absorb paint very easily which makes it very easy to integrate them into a background and give them colour. Book pages tend to already be slightly brown/yellowish which is much nicer on the eye than black text on a white background.

Wood

I love working on wood as a surface. It can be a bit challenging due to the texture, but at the same time that is exactly what is so great about it. The wood grain and imperfections add to the overall look of the painting. It’s a very forgiving surface for using a lot of materials on, especially when you’re working with wet paint and mediums. It’s also very solid so you can attach 3d or heavier objects more easily. And you can drill into it either for artistic purposes or to attach ribbon/twine to hang it with.

Embellishments

A broad category but they are so much fun! Embellishments can really add something to a piece, either used sparingly as a focus point or used in abundance to add complexity and texture. Because there are so many of them it’s a lot of fun shopping for them as well (or finding them in your house, like bottle caps or dice!) and then integrating them into your pieces. I’m not into scrapbooking but I always find scrapbooking embellishments can work well in mixed media art: brads, eyelets, glitter, confetti, rub ons, raised stickers, ribbon etc

Tags Art & Craft, art supplies, art talk, reviews

Art & Craft Musings Tutorials, Guides & Advice

OMG You’ve Ruined It!

I have such a big fear of spoiling things. Either spoiling things for myself of a fear of external things spoiling things for me. It affects pretty much all areas of my life, for example I find it very hard to order off a menu, in case the choice turns out to be ‘wrong’ or disappointing.

Similar with art. What if this colour is the wrong one, what if this stamp makes things look ugly, what if I ruin the pretty face I’ve sketched once I add colour to it? It is so stifling as it always imbues the next thing with so much risk. I recognise that this is once again my fear trying to protect me from disappointment. If I don’t take the risk, I can’t ‘spoil it’ and can’t be disappointed (order the same thing off the menu every time… wait ages to create another art piece in case the next one is going to be super horrible).

I watched an art video by Tamara Laporte recently in which she draws with black marker pen on the face she’s just painted. My initial reaction is “OMG no! That’ll ruin it!”. Except, it turns out that actually it doesn’t. I learned from this.

The next step is the next step. It does not inherently hold ruining power.
If you don’t like it, you can paint over it. Mixed media is all about layers. The ‘flawed’ layer can become a building block to a more complex finished piece.
Your latest art piece is not you. It’s an expression of you, but it does not personify you. If it is ‘bad’ (such a subjective concept anyway!), it doesn’t mean you’re destined to make ‘bad art’ forevermore.
You’re allowed to practice. Make mistakes. ‘Ruin things’. You may not have created something you like, but you have learned about what you do not like. Next time it will be better.
TURN THE NEXT PAGE AND MOVE ON!

Ahh fear.. my misguided frenemy. Thank you, but not this time please.

Tags Art & Craft, art talk, fear, Thoughts

Art & Craft Featured Musings Parenting Popular

It’s Not Automatic – Deserving To Do Art

Post author By Iris
Post date 23 January 2014
36 Comments on It’s Not Automatic – Deserving To Do Art

From a young age I feel I have always been given the message that if you’re not good at something, you shouldn’t do it.You are only ‘allowed’ to pursue something if you’re already magically good at it. Kids who are good at drawing should keep drawing. Kids who are not good at drawing shouldn’t bother.

We say things like: “Oh I can’t draw” or “I will never be good at painting” or “So and so is much better than me”. You didn’t wake up one day speaking your native language the way you do today. You learned over time. It was most likely an automatic process that you didn’t notice, but it took TIME and you were LEARNING. However, when it comes to anything creative, it’s as if we feel that the ‘talented’ are deserving of pursuing their art, but the ‘untalented’ are not.

A friend of mine in primary school loved drawing. She was ‘good at drawing’. I put that in inverted commas, not because she wasn’t, but because it’s a problematic label. She drew a lot and consequently was ‘better at drawing’ than many of the other kids. She got a lot of praise for being good at drawing and I compared my drawings to hers and felt disappointed and why should I bother as I wasn’t as ‘good’ as her.

As an adult she’s a rather accomplished artist now. I love her art. It is very rich and technically detailed. She didn’t wake up as a 28-year-old who could suddenly create amazing art. If she had stopped doing art as a little girl and picked up a pencil now, she wouldn’t be creating what she is right now. She’s had a lifetime of practice.

The above example shows how incredibly logical it is that you need practice to get better, and yet we tell ourselves we are not talented enough or not good enough as a reason not to do it!!

On the parenting forums/blogs I read there definitely seems to be a trend towards praising the effort rather than the result. It’s the approach I cognitively believe in and is how I’m raising my kids. And yet… that message from my childhood runs deep. It runs deep in my thinking, and I can see it runs deep in a lot of other people’s thinking as well. These wounds created in childhood are hard to heal!!

When I think back to my childhood I can think of a handful of things that happened that stopped the creative soul inside me in its tracks. My teacher laughing at a drawing I did. My mother telling me I needed more practice when I showed her a painting I’d done (not a horrible thing to say in itself, but that was the only comment). I think every child encounters these types of moments but the importance lies in how these moments are handled. How can a child be encouraged to move past these painful roadblocks? Hopefully not like me, with the decision that I shouldn’t bother drawing or painting.

I feel resentment because of these things that happened to me as a child. As a child you don’t have the life experience or emotional maturity to put things in perspective, ignore the haters or question the validity of a statement/opinion. Especially when the voices are those we trust (parents, teachers) to tell us ‘the truth’. I feel sadness for my child self and what I went through and the consequences that spill over into my adult life. It is very very hard to unlearn the patterns of thinking we learned as a child.

However, and this is the big turning point, as an adult I now do have the benefit of life experience and emotional maturity (ish *grin*) to start doing something about this. I can’t turn back the clock and undo the scars, but I can think to myself ‘Hey, those people so long ago, they don’t need to dictate my thinking in the present’. I can tell myself this every day, and believe me, I need to, in order to quieten those voices in my head that tell me I don’t deserve to do art because it’s not inherently ‘good enough’ or I’m not inherently ‘talented enough’.

I have the power to choose to do this and I empower myself by deciding to create art despite the emotional obstacles and negative voices in my head. Every time I decide to do something creative I am not just ‘getting better’ in a technical sense (i.e. by practicing), I am also growing as a person. I am recognising that I myself hold the power to start to heal my own wounds.

Tags Art & Craft, art talk, children, encouragement, feeling blocked, inner critic, Thoughts

Art & Craft Musings Paintings

Journey – My Word Of The Year & Artist Guardian

Post author By Iris
Post date 14 January 2014
No Comments on Journey – My Word Of The Year & Artist Guardian

When I was at university and had to write essays I was the Queen of Procrastination™. Although I always finished things on time, I was emotionally unable to put in the proper time required. I would always do everything last minute, rushing through it, wishing for it to be finished already. I never had anything looked at beforehand by teachers to be critiqued. I would read through it before submitting to spot spelling mistakes, but actual rewriting was too painful. It just had to be done, handed in, away, GONE.

I’m not very good at process. So, in 2014 my word for the year is ‘journey’. I want to try and spend more time experiencing the journey, rather than only focussing on the end result. I want to enjoy the process of whatever it is I decide to engage in. Too often I have started a painting and struggled through it, hating the work and just wanting it to be finished. That way I could feel the satisfaction of completion, but it left me feeling empty.

Most of all I want to allow myself to have a journey. Allow myself the time and space to grow. To stop feeling like I have to be perfect. To stop comparing myself to other people. I want to have my personal journey.

I’ve been working quite hard (in whatever little time my job & raising two kids allows!) to make this happen. I can genuinely say I’ve enjoyed painting more than ever these past few months. Partly because I was painting to paint. Not for the result. Not to share. Not to get recognition or attention. With this post I am tentatively getting back into sharing my work. I love showing what I paint, but I also want to be really careful not to fall into the trap of becoming a ‘share junkie’. Where the sharing becomes more important than the joy of creating.

The following piece is my ‘Inner Artist Guardian’. She’s a welcoming and caring person inside me, who allows me to journey and create freely and tries to protect me from my own nasty critical thoughts.

Progress shots from sketch to painting