It's hard to believe how long it's been since I blogged here, but a lot has been happening lately. I took my artwork to the local Art School - The Victoria School of Art - on Quadra St. (http://vancouverislandschoolart.com/about.html) to have a "critique" of my work, to get an idea of what direction I should focus on, with the little time that I have for my artwork. I realized in putting this website together that I have a lot of artwork in groups of themes, but no strong suit consistently showing up other than my interest in allegory and transformation.
I have been accepted for the jury process for the Sidney Art Show and have paid for three pieces to be adjudicated. I wanted some feedback on which pieces I should finish to submit. Instructor Wendy Welch was really great and her perspective really helped me discover what I've been doing and where my strengths lie. Wendy had some great questions and they allowed me to hear myself speak about my art in a way that I made new connections between what I have been doing and what comes naturally for me, what I've been trying to achieve in my painting and what I naturally do in the miniature theatre paper craft. I brought three paintings, one which was finished but felt unfinished somehow, and also three pictures of my miniature theatre and the 3D paper sculptures of the two main characters.
She loved the photos I brought of my miniature theatre and the two paper characters that are part of it. She
gave me names of artists whose work is similar, but she said she has not seen anything like what I am doing with this
genre. She felt it was really exciting in how I used my personal archetypes. She also mentioned that the "crafting" of
the paper sculptures, and I realized that I have always leaned to "crafting" but have not held it as being valid or legitimate in the art world. I'm mechanically minded and have always loved figuring out how to make something that I have a concept of - I invented crafts for the Sunday School classes I taught and also developed programs and taught after-school and week long summer programs for kids. She reassured me that what I am doing is valid and unique. She asked that I do more and come back and show her what I've done in a couple of months.
I feel for the first time I have found what fits for me, even though paradoxically, it has been what I've been doing all my creative life - it's taken a long struggle to come to this realization! This genre really fits for me, is backed by my history of creating, the way I think in images like still-photos of a movie/story and the archetypes that speak for me.
This project fills me with energy and ideas. I have such a positive reaction to this genre, I feel I have finally allowed
myself to recognize that this is my medium and I can stop trying to be what I'm not. This genre of tableau/shadowbox/theatre has always been in my imagination and I have finally heard the words that validate this passion I have for creating a world of my own, and the powerful images that evoke the magic and discovery that motivates my creative drive. I have a million ideas, and that is amazing because I've found the genre that will allow all these pictures in my head come to fruition! (If you haven't seen the movie "Temple Grandin" yet, this is partly why I love this movie so - it shows how she thought in pictures/diagrams too!!!)
I decided with this new clarity, to change my submissions to being more "tableau art" - whether photos of the miniature theatre or shadowbox scenes - for the art show, and I would need to buy deep frames, called shadowbox frames, which I found at Michael's (http://www.michaels.com/) the other day. After looking at them, I wondered if I could make them a little deeper, more like 2" deep - which would require adding more wood to the frame. I also need to add lighting in order to make sure the viewer can see the deeper layer of scenery.
To that end, today I went to a frame shop to see if they could help me make the purchased "shadowbox" frames deeper. The first shop was closed, and I wondered what that was about. Then as I drove back along Oak Bay Avenue I went past another frame shop. I parked in front of a store called Dangerously Crafty, with Florance Simpson creating, and instructing courses in, amazing paper art craft (http://dangerouslycrafty.blogspot.com/) and went in to see what she had for inspiration. What wonderful happenstance!! If the first frame shop had been open, I'd have driven right past this store on my way back to work! Florance was interested in what I've been doing because she is a costume and set designer!!! Talk about synchronicity!!!! I will definintely go back for more! I loved the ArtChix packages of cool projects and supplies!! (http://www.artchixstudio.com/inspiration/index.html) Check it out!!! Just following the "Muse"!