Free Ideas

I couldn't help by remark that I received tons of page views when I chronicled the subject of "Crabby Muses", in which I addressed artist's blocks. This leads me to meander back to an idea that I originally had for a blog, before I started this one, and that was to offer up an idea a day for any aspiring artists to use.
I think (sometimes foolishly) that ideas are cheap. There's lots of them- and (obviously) not all of them lead to the Garden of Good Art. Some ideas are simply good for that momentary "Hey! That's a good one" flash that evaporates a few minutes later, and probably for the better.
On the other hand, it dawned on me years ago that I have so many ideas and inevitably will be unable (and disinclined!) to execute them all. There are only so many days and years in an artist's life! This is where the idea of a blog  which I generously make available fresh ideas for anyone to use.
I know that sometimes you can spend hours in your studio (or garret or where ever you go to make art) and nothing seems to "click" or come easily. Sometimes, you just have to slog through a few uncomfortable, prickly hours (or days or weeks!) before things flow again. But my first rule is: stick it out. Just be available for your muses to visit, should they decide to deliver inspiration. Bob and I were just remarking that sometimes you need to rearrange shelves or clean out cluttered corners or tear up old work in order to be ready for the new stuff. It can feel like some cruel celestial constipation when you try and try and nothing happens but I subscribe to persistence ultimately will triumph.
I also offer the useful (or not!) suggestion that having several pieces going at once is a good way to avoid stuck-ness.  If the impetus to work on one piece dries up, this means there's always another to turn to. I have three, four or five pieces being simultaneously being worked on (or ignored) at any given time. This allows me to quit an artwork temporarily and come back to it later- or never.
The above example illustrates that. I started to work on "NIMBY" thinking it was a great phrase for me to translate. Then it occurred to me that it would be a good challenge to make fabric read as graffiti, as I like to play around with inventing/corrupting fonts and typefaces. (Rarely are they "real" ones; mostly I mash up several ideas.) But I got to a point and was stuck- the word looked good and I liked the back ground- which is actually to distinct different shades of red in rays- but I couldn't get the transition between the yellow behind the blue/grey of NIMBY and the red just right. It looked too harsh and I kept trying out various shades of grey and blue to echo the lettering. Still no luck. I almost tried painting on the fabric in between (glad I didn't! What a mess!!) Then I hit on using this striped material I had left over. I chopped it up every which way and ta-DAAA! It sang!
But importantly, while all this hemming and hawing was erupting in my head and my studio, I was at work on another couple of pieces that required really mundane chores. (F'rinstance: I am painstakingly sewing a million dimes all around the edge of the piece that says "Monetize Me". Pretty repetitive but needs doing and it allows all the subconscious parts of me to do other things.) So, I guess the point of this blog is keep up the slog.
And the free idea for the day? Start on a project that I swear by: Face-A-Day. Everyday for an entire year, make a face collage. Seriously. Whatever you're doing- going to work, being sick... whatever!- make a collage of a face. Do not edit or over work it, just commit to doing it. You'll be surprised. At the end of a year (which passes remarkably fast!) you will have 365 new collages. Some will be good, some will be bad and some will be ugly (hear that music in the back ground?) but it will get even the crankiest of muses going.

Robin the Good- Super Model

Ooooh! Our Lil' Robin is all grown up and quite the stunner. I call her "Super Model"* because she has these high cheek bones and very long legs. And she's slim. What a looker! (She is actually still a teenager at eleven months old).
I'm thrilled to have been able to snap these pictures because Robin is either running full tilt around the yard, in hot pursuit of falling leaves or she's conked out in some upside down outlandish, tongue lolling deranged sprawl. The other day, though, her guard was down and she just kept posing.

I did annoy the hell out of her by following her around with my camera at the ready, trying to document her canine magnificence. She didn't hold most poses long enough for me to take a picture but I was wilier than she and finally managed to capture her in that coiled muscle moment, just before she sprang into motion again.
Even if she weren't beautiful she'd still be a great dog... responsive, affectionate and smart, smart, smart. She does have her endearingly persistent interests in socks, eye glasses and ball point pens but in general she's a good canine citizen.
Here's a doctored Robin:

(Nothing like a bit of Photoshop to enhance the most jejune of surroundings!)
I am entertained that while on our morning walk, people we encounter often ask what kind of dog Robin is. They have frequently mistaken her for a Flat Coated Retriever and one person thought she might be a Belgian Shepard (although they have definitely upright pricked ears... but she's black!) I guess that mixed or mutt designations often bring to mind scrappy lab or pit bull mixes so frequently seen nowadays. When people see an attractive dog, they just assume it MUST be some purebred. I tell them that Robin is the best kind of dog- a happy accident between two (not so common) breeds. (Just for the record, Mom was a Long Haired Weimaraner and Dad was a Llewellin Setter, which is the field or working variety of the English Setter (although that apparently has some controversy as to what denotes a "real" Llewellin. Dog breeders are nuts; way crazier than artists!) We are fortunate that both of these breeds tend to be healthy and not over bred and inbred. Don't get me started on the perfidy of the American Kennel Club and their desire to breed to (something they call) "type". Give me a good mix any day!



*In reality, Robin has about a million nicknames: everything from "Klondike Bar" to "Wicket" (because she's so leggy and thin that sometimes  she arches her back and looks like a croquet wicket).

More Autumn Color

As previously reported, Bob and I have been very busy ministering to projects around the BauHaus Chicken Coop. With the help of the new chain saw, Bob's been gathering fire wood (I helped a little...) and the pile is already growing appreciably. It scares the hell out of me (and Maggie and Robin) when Bob fells a tree as it lands with an impressive THUD but it does mean our house and studios will be warm this winter and Bob knows what he's doing (I hope!) so the more wood the merrier!
The above picture is our scabby front door, soon after I spackled it in advance of a good paint job. We have been threatening to repaint our many front (or side) doors for ages and even had a color in mind. Recently, we went on a very successful shopping spree; I think we hit 6 stores- certainly a new record for us. Bob got clothes and I got socks and we got blue paint for the front door. Yay!

And that's after only a single coat. Isn't that spectacular? It looks so clean and (in keeping with the BauHaus Chicken Coop theme) MODERN. It's the color of the October sky and definitely more cheerful that plain brown like the door frame. This has inspired us so much that we plan on hitting the other doors with a coat of paint before the snows fall...

And here's another bit of fall color that I couldn't resist. Around Maggie's field, there are several tree stumps, both large and small, that have sprouted glorious blossoms of mushrooms. Mixed with the pine needles, they're beautiful (and to my mind) more interesting than chrysanthemums!

Crabby Muses

Bob carved this Tiki mask from an over grown cucumber (maybe it's a squash?). I found it a charming emblem of the "crabby muse" phase that both Bob and I are experiencing.
For those of you who are not artists, crabby muse is when you sort of (but not really) feel like working in your studio but there's always something else to do. Or somewhere more distracting to go. And when you do plop yourself down in your studio, nothing seems to "click" or fall into place. That project that seemed so compelling just the other day now seems trite or complicated or just unnecessary. This stage passes (thankfully) but it can seen to drag on interminably. (I think a few really unlucky artists exist in this funk land for months or years! Then it has progressed to a true artist's block!)
I think my muses are simply a bit tired. I was in a bunch of shows this year, not to mention finishing a whole pile of sophisticated and engaging art work to populate those shows with! The artist's book, "Rita Valley's Guide to Collecting Art" alone would have been a good years production, but I also made a slew of fabric pieces- some finished under deadline for all those shows I mentioned! So possibly my muses are just taking a breather.
Don't worry: I have loads of ides and phrases jotted down on scraps of paper in my studio. They lie in wait for just the right time when I enter my studio and find myself re-immersed in art projects and I complete some of the many half-done masterpieces that hang near totality on my studio walls.
For the present, though, I'm happy to play with Lil' Robin the Good and enjoy the lovely fall weather.