A Suggestion

(Attention! Something else to take our minds off of the Ascension of the Orange Menace to the Presidency! I must keep busy for four years...)
In light of the overwhelmingly positive response I've had to my (occasional) postings on art, artist's blocks, creativity etc etc, I decided to provide all my many readers with another foray into the workings of the creative mind and another exercise to pursue.
First, a suggestion- or if you wish, an assignment. This will sound really simplistic but it can be very effective. You may find yourself sort of stumped or stymied or even a tad weary of what has been occurring in your studio or work space, and what seemed like an effortless flow last week suddenly seems to have screeched to a halt and you're cosmically constipated. I know when I find myself occupying this cramped and awkward state, I often keep bulling ahead, as if forcing things to happen will make it all work out okay. (And sometimes it does!) But more often than not, it just makes you feel worse.
My suggestion? Do something entirely different. See? I knew it would sound simplistic but I mean REALLY different. If you paint, make a sculpture out of modeling clay. If you make sculpture, try making a video or hell, just draw on the computer and alter a few photographs, like I did in the above (heavily doctored) picture of a vase of flowers. The idea is to rearrange your thoughts so they're not so serious, but you're more available for play.
Often that's all I need to get things chugging along in the right direction. Let's face it: sometimes, I'm super fired up and ideas are pouring out so fast I can't keep up with the thoughts I'm scribbling down. But there are definitely periods where doing something/anything is tough. I can also find it helpful to divert myself by doing an activity NOT art related, like gardening or raking leaves or going for a walk. But that not art related activity can become an excuse or a dodge and take you away from the very real (and hard!) work of making art. I know that many people think making art is "fun" (and mostly for me it is. I'm pretty lucky...) But it's also lonely, isolating, and can be crazy-making.
And now a plug for an artist's book presentation (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!!!) that I'm giving in conjunction with the inaugural Collector's Club meeting at Odetta, the gallery in Brooklyn that I have been showing with.

Now, this should be fun. Some friends and I are going to read selected excerpts from my latest opus, "Rita Valley's Guide to Collecting Art". I- like most artists- am always on the look-out for new collectors; maybe this is the chance to jump on that gravy train!

2013 Here we Come!

I am so surprised sometimes by my own work and how it manages to emerge from me. Even in the darkest, coldest time of the year, when I feel cranky (haven't I honestly mentioned that recently?) and it would seem I/we should be creatively "frozen", all kinds of things pour out of me. The last week or so has been ridiculously productive...
As sometimes happens, I have been motivated by the endless debates in Congress about whether to end Bush (ugh) era tax cuts, go over the 'fiscal cliff" (voted one of the most over used phrases of 2012) raise the debt ceiling, get partisan politicians to agree for once, blah blah blah, blah... But I have made a small suite of collages and a fabric piece and I made an entire new (very silly!) alphabet book; the list goes on.
And I was remarking to Bob the other morning, over coffee in bed, that we still don't know where "creativity" comes from. They've located places in the brain that hold memories and dream centers and language but the formation of creative ideas-or thoughts in general!- is elusive. It seems like one minute you're debating whether to have peanut butter and jelly on your toast and the next minute, your next overwhelming concept/ project is arrayed out before you. I know; it's a hackneyed discussion, but miraculous none the less!
So the piece above is done entirely in flesh toned magazine samples. I feel that is appropriate as Congress often seems to "traffic" in us. (Like the proverbial pound of flesh). How else can they justify giving themselves raises while they argue for years about raising the minimum wage (how it will hurt business to give workers something like $10 extra a week. Don't get me started!) And the price of not raising the debt ceiling is real in human terms.
Anyway, the alphabet book I made is an exercise in fun and games and an antidote to all that budgetary hogwash and dreck. Gotta lighten up some how!

Creativity is Flowing

I partly attribute my recent spurt of studio enthusiasm to my participation in New Haven's annual City Wide Open Studios. There's something about involvement with hundreds of other artists- many friends- and the attendance by loads of willing audience (almost 1000 on Sunday!) that just plain feels good. Where else can you get so much contact and feedback? I rarely sell anything and even less frequently get asked to show because of random curators, critics and kunst- hustlers that happen to hustle through, but hey! It's good clean aesthetic fun.
On a happy note, though, I seem to have broken through or somehow overcome my past years inability to make collages. Let's face it: my eye injury is major and traumatic and my vision has resolved into a very odd mash-up of scratchiness and blurriness and imperfection. But it's mine! And I can remarkably do a weird variety of things. Until a few weeks ago, collage wasn't one of them.
But then I started pestering whatever part of us creative people that creates. I have a persistent urge towards a particular subject and look of that subject. Just had to do it! And it's working out splendidly.
I certainly don't see any better than I did a while ago, but somehow I'm working around and through that obstacle course that is my present sight and I am able to cut up small pieces of paper into meaningful shapes.  So stay tuned. A new book is in the offing and it looks great. The above shape fell onto the corner of my table and I immortalized it as a flake of creation.