Currently updating/revamping this site & my portfolio work as well. Keep an eye out for the change!
on organizing and considering minimalism
May 6th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
It’s been quite a month, with finishing my degrees in Graphic Design and Illustration, a wedding of two good friends, and once again moving all my possessions. As I see both my everyday items and my art studio paraphernalia piled in the hallway, ready to be organized, I fight the urge to retreat.
I’ve been reading Joshua Becker’s Becoming Minimalist blog and Zen Habits periodically for the past year, and, last Fall, I read “The 100 Thing Challenge” by Dave Bruno. I find this way of life attractive because 1) I’m a designer & love the clean; 2) I move and travel frequently. Organization and minimal possessions streamline this process; and 3) Unpacking and finding places for each thing takes way too much of my time. Instead of creating a new art piece, I am visually overwhelmed by clutter.
Knowing that another move is imminent in a few months, I see now as the perfect time to cut out unnecessary possessions from my life.
Also another question I seek to answer is: How can you be more minimalist in your art studio? I’ve always said to my friends that I would have so many fewer possessions as a non-creative. But this is who I am. So, as an artist, if you see value in certain items, can you then separate that from the every-day?
So this is my first step before the soon many others: reduce, reorganize, and live with less. Let’s go do some cleaning…
Current Project…
April 18th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
first color layers
Here is a sneak peak at the first color layers of an eight-illustration series on “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” More updates to come…
Listening to Your Artwork
March 9th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
Lately, I’ve been slowly making my way through Madeleine L’Engle’s reflections on the arts. Good stuff – I read small sections at a time and journal as I digest her writing. She expounds upon simply being – something I love, and why I often post about finding the workspaces in which you work best, de-cluttering, and cultivating creativity. Sounds pretty zen, but I love the contemplative.
Out of her many quotable morsels, I love:
When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, then the artist listens…We must work every day, whether we feel like it or not, otherwise when it comes time to get out of the way and listen to the work, we will not be able to heed it.
In my own life, I’ve found the hard way that time management is what allows this breathing room for my work. When I’ve allotted specific time to projects – for research, sketching, painting, etc. – I leave time to think and be… and I’ve stopped talking long enough for my work to reply.
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