Making Like a Bunny Rabbit

I'm starting the first official Rhodyart Blog Hop

I follow a number of blogs I really like, and most of them, of course, are mixed media or art blogs.  Some don't publish enough for my taste.  Others can get annoying if I see posts from them constantly.

One of my real favorites is by a guy I've mentioned several times before on my Facebook and Twitter feed - not sure I've mentioned him here.  His name is Seth Apter, and he's an outstanding mixed media artist.  

He publishes a daily blog both about his adventures in art making, but also about art in general, and he loves to write about the classes he teaches and show off his students' work.  You can find Seth's blog here at The Altered Page

Another blog I started subscribing to recently is by Quinn McDonald.  I had actually learned of her way back when I was still subscribing to Somerset Studio, a very popular and long running magazine about mixed media art.

Quinn's blog is about the process of doing art and the impact it's had in her life.  She also talks about life events that really resonate with her readers.  I've come to really look forward to seeing her posts in my mailbox.  You can find it here at Quinn Creative

 A blog that doesn't publish nearly enough is Where is Paperwoman? by the company Paper Conection.  Obviously it is all about paper art, and it's about fine papers.  The company is local to Providence and also has a local base.  The papers she sells are amazing, and I hope to be able to buy some soon.  

Another blog that doesn't publish often is The Art of Collage by Nancy Egol Nikkal.  She writes about the classes she teaches, about collage artists, and about collage art.  I wish I could afford to take one of her classes.  

Last, but definitely not least, is another favorite that I always read when I see posts.   The blog is First Night Design and its owner Sarah Vernon writes lots of interesting items that range in topic.  Her Twitter feed is also hugely active.  You can find the blog here.  

That is it for now.  I hope you'll check out these great blogs, and see why I think they're great and fun.  

later,
lin

Looking for More Fun Things in Etsy Shops

Continuing my journey to fabulous Etsy shops....

My first stop today is Donna Batzer's shop, Twin Mountain Pottery, which you can find here.  I love pottery, though I don't dare buy it because I have two very curious felines who would just love to investigate it and knock it over in their enthusiasm.  However, I'm taken by this particular piece which is a lovely blue bowl for salsa or other fun foods.  Donna has several other pieces just as lovely, and I encourage you to visit her shop soon.

Twin Mountain Pottery

My next stop is at Sarah Scott's Grandma's Vintage Bling.  As you can guess from its name, this shop sells cool vintage stuff that belongs in your home, or would make a great gift.  I like the vintage jewelry that she sells, especially since I've begun to look for jewelry to add to my collages.  This item  is one of my favorites

Grandma's Vintage Bling

Another interesting shop is Punch Place Plus, owned by Jamie Omahen and found here.  It's a great shop for craft supplies, including jewelry findings, tape, dog tag blanks - so much stuff.  I have my eye on a couple of things, including this item which might make good mixed media bracelets.

Punch Place Plus

Our final stop of the day is Laura Williams' shop, North Highlands Art.  Absolutely gorgeous artwork can be found here via this link.  I particularly love her drawings, like this one of a horse.  You can find a number of great items to buy for yourself or use as gifts - remember, Christmas will be here before you know it.  Go and visit Laura - you won't be sorry.

North Highlands Art

I'll take you on another tour of great Etsy shops soon.  If you are an Etsy shop owner and want me to visit, leave me a comment.

later,
lin

Finding Out Who I Really Am

One of the Art Challenge Projects I dreaded was the self portrait.  Let's face it - I am not a trained artist - I don't draw or paint.  My drawings tend to be stick figures and my paintings of faces look like, well, messes.

And I didn't want to do a selfie, either.

About self-portaits, Peter Conrad wrote a review in 2014 of the book Self Portrait - A Cultural History by James Hall, in which he also pondered the importance of self portraits as a psychological journey.  He wrote that selfies basically look the same - identical poses, look-alike grins, taken only to mark an occasion or for self-aggrandizement. 

 Which was something I noticed on Thursday while I was waiting for a bus home.  Two women were entertaining themselves at the stop by taking constant photos of each other on a cell phone as each posed in increasingly suggestive poses.  Their antics were cheered on by the guys waiting at the bus stop, as well as guys driving by.  

Anyway, Hall says in his book that a painted self portrait is a sort of surgical penetration, an intense study while photographed portraits are instantaneous and ephemeral, skin deep in fact.  I would disagree with this, at least in the case of portrait photography done by the truly great photographers.  

The portraits done by Dorothea Lange, for example, are searing looks into the sitter's soul.

Who can forget Diane Arbus' photo of Germaine Greer, or her photos of circus people?

And of course Yousef Karsh's photographs of Jessye Norman, the great soprano

These photos really do get to the heart of their subjects.  I cannot call them instantaneous and ephemeral.

Hall sees early self-portraiture as reflexes of Christian conscience, and a way of checking that the artist is still here, not just a figment of his or her imagination.  The great artists painted their portraits with all the warts and wrinkles, like this one by Rembrandt

and Gustave Courbet

Contemporary self-portraiture in his eyes, however, is but a means of self-promotion, not self-review.

In light of all of this, I really wanted my self-portrait to serve as a way to review my life and the things that have created ME.  

And because I am, again, not trained to paint or draw myself (or anything else), I have to use photography.

I'll show you what I did soon.  

But the next time you see a painted self-portrait, as opposed to the ubiquitous selfie found on FB, Twitter or Instagram, appreciate the amount of time and skill it took to create that intense look into the soul.  I know I will.

later,
lin

From the Beginning

There's an old song by Emerson Lake and Palmer called "From the Beginning" and a couple of lines from it are
"You see it's all clear
You were meant to be here
From the beginning"

And so I start here.

By vocation I am an artist and this blog is intended to chronicle my journey as an artist.  It's also meant to chronicle how my life as someone with mental illness impacts that journey, as well as my daily routine.  This is not intended to be a "woe is me" blog by any means, but rather simply to be open and aboveboard about my struggle with several disorders and how it affects EVERYTHING.  How it has changed EVERYTHING.

But I am not just my mental illness.  It's easy for people to hear that someone is mentally ill and automatically assign particular labels.  Crazy. Psycho. Violent.  Deranged.  Abnormal.  We all know this from how the media reports on mass shootings and acts of violence.  And so we become afraid to say openly that we deal with this.  I want to change that, even just in a small way like this chronicle.

Getting back to what it is I do, I could quote from my artist statement (rewritten many times according to the occasion) but I'll say simply that I do collage work and also work in mixed media, which is combining several artistic processes into one.  People say I'm pretty good at what I do.  My style is mainly taking vintage characters and displaying them along with appropriate materials, vintage and reproduction.  The trick is that in many of my pieces I include a saucy remark.   I do them in several styles - canvas wall art, cards and magnets mostly.

I do create serious pieces, but my favorites are the silly things.

Like this - 

"A Little Rowdy, Were We?"

I sell many of my pieces in my Etsy shop and you can find this particular birthday card here   

One thing I plan to do in this blog is to document my process, my inspirations (often music), and my journeys.   I hope you'll come along for the ride

Later,
Lin