Specialist

 

Specialist language. 

Many jobs have it. The acronyms, the phrases that are thrown about as if everyone who hears them knows exactly what you mean by them. And maybe they do in the office/lab/warehouse/courtroom etc., but when you use them in everyday conversation they don't mean anything. 

I guess I'm wrestling with my 'exhibition rationale'. I wrote something, and a friend turned it into 'art speak'. There are key words and phrases that make it sound more 'arty', but I wonder if it really helps people who are viewing the art to understand it better or not. And if not, who is the specialist language for? Is it to facilitate or to exclude?

Tangled

 

Tangled lives - we rarely live in straight lines.

Sometimes we move from A to B by the shortest route - the straight line - but often there are twists and turns, leaps and pauses. There are the chance crossings with others that provide a step up where we might otherwise have turned a different way, or taken longer to reach the same place. We make plans, but how often do they follow through exactly?

Straight lines might be neat, but the twists and turns are where we meet interesting people, where we meet the unexpected. They can be the biggest places of growth for us.

All the other parts of art

 

The other parts of art - the artist bio, the CV, the exhibition rationale. All those things that go into an expression of interest. As artists, we want to make art. But if we want others to see it, we need to learn about all the other parts of art. 

We need to learn how to express in words what we naturally put down in colour and shape and composition. We need to put ourselves forward where we would naturally hide behind what we make. 

I'm hoping that the more we do the other parts of art the easier it gets, but I'm not sure if that will be the case. 

Anyway, back to my exhibition rationale. It's only 300 words, but they're taking an awfully long time to craft. Let's hope all the work I'm putting in bears fruit. But if not, I'll at least have had some practice.  

Smell

 

Enjoying my sense of smell today - eucalyptus and the bakery.

Walking to work on Friday morning was one of those mornings where the eucalyptus trees were particularly fragrant. Then the yummy smells of the bakery wafted past. It's just a ten minute walk but I really enjoyed it and it set me up nicely for the day.

What smells make you happy?

The right time

 

Waiting for an opening.

It may not be the way most people do it, but I've painted my series and now I'm waiting for the right opportunity to exhibit. I'm hoping it will be for SALA (South Australian Living Artists) which takes place every August, but there may not be a venue. I'm waiting and praying and I know that the right opportunity will present itself at some point. Right now I need to be patient. The work is done, and although I could be impatient for a chance to show it all off, I'm not. I find that I'm content to wait for the right thing to come along. 

Each day

 

Take each day as it comes.

There's no point worrying about what might happen until it does, otherwise you're attempting to live a life that isn't yours. 

Yes, we all have low level stress about things, but we mustn't let worry about something that might never happen take over all our thoughts. When my husband goes out on his motorcycle I don't worry that he will be in an accident, because he could just as easily be killed walking down the road on the footpath. 

Life happens. Let's face it as it does, not in case it does.

Me time

 

Caring time out alone is essential.

Especially when you are as introverted as I am. 

Especially when you have visitors for the next four weeks.  

Then a six week gap and more visitors for another four weeks.

I love them, but these are the times when I really value my studio :)

Beauty 2

 

"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that." Lauren Bacall.

Yes! Wrinkles are interesting. So-called 'perfection' is not. I fail to see why any woman wants to change her face to look like someone else. Botox and fillers lead to carbon copy faces, not the beauty of a life lived and embraced. I think of all those women who have shunned surgery and carry their beauty with dignity. 

You are unique. Why would you want to change that?

Beauty

 

Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself. Coco Chanel

Have you noticed that those people who seem happiest in themselves have a radiance that just shines through? When you are at peace with yourself it shows in your face. 

It also shows in the way you interact with others - another type of beauty. 

Impact

 

What impact will you make?

This page felt like the big red circle had bounced down to impact on the page. The red squiggle looked like a graph of an earthquake, the record of an impact. 

So what's an impact? The action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another. Or a marked effect or influence. 

We don't necessarily like to think of ourselves as making forcible contact with others, but sometimes our effect on someone - and theirs on us - can be like that. It can cause a crater, a dent. When this happens, we need to own that. Better to have a 'marked effect or influence' on someone for good.