I have to say this came pretty darn close to calling me names. I do tend to put a few (well chosen) pieces of fabric down (but hardly slapping them), and stitch a bit (hand but usually machine) and I DID use a BEAD on the last Friend of Twelve By Twelve piece. I DID remove it (step away from the bead tin). Really, I did! The sad fact here, is that I do have an art education. I can draw very nicely. I understand the elements of design. But I still feel like my style of making fiber art is being attacked. I wonder if the work would seem more artistic if I gave it a Name and suggested (rather firmly) what my intentions were in making it look like it does? I worry about the piece in progress right now. Very abstract. In fact, I chopped it up and reconstructed it yesterday and like it quite a bit more than I had before it was cropped and chopped. But still, it may not be understood or appreciated. It may not be art.
Terry used some examples from Picasso and De Kooning in her post. I remember an early figure drawing class where we were required to draw in the "style of" both of these artists (and many others) in order to stop drawing realistically. Our figures were supposed to morph into shapes and not be strictly anatomically or proportionally correct. We were asked to turn realistic into abstract. The bodies we sketched didn't look like bodies, but rather an assortment of shapes and shadows arranged on a full sheet of paper. Extra credit for working off the edges of the paper. It was very difficult and we had to really LOOK at the model. We had to really SEE. We had to create expressive line and volume. I remember leaving drawing classes completely exhausted. And then, in Art 101, we had to draw our supplies as exact as a photograph. Same size, likeness of our paint tubes and ink bottles, in black, white and 8 shades of gray. And after that, I had a painting class where abstract was very good with lots of color. And then a Lettering class (which I failed, twice) and Printmaking (Intaglio) of which I was the "super star" in black and white. For each class, another style. And now, we are supposed to have our "own" style.
I have a difficult time with style. My artistic vision is somewhat like my real vision (eyesight). I am constantly trying to get things to focus. Even things I don't like, need or want in my work. Or life. I can appreciate it all. I can imitate it all. I can make a good copy of anything I see. My difficulty is in doing something that is mine alone. Original. I make something and think "have I seen this somewhere, before?" I wonder what I would be making if I had not been influenced and trained to do so many other things?
2 comments:
why do we always hear the critics? I went to a Miro exhibit yesterday and did not understand it at all until I read about the pieces and became educated about them . I love abstract art on a visceral level but tend to shy away from discussion because of so much ignorant criticism.
slap away. your stuff is wonderful. put in your earplugs.
Joanne, I don't think of your art as the kind of slapped together little nothings that my commenter (and I) are referring to. Your training and eye bring much to the table, even in the simplest piece. Maybe you don't look at as many blogs and web sites as I do where a proudly self taught artist has created their art by truly slapping a few pieces of fabric together, without regard for composition, color, contrast, any of those things, and then torturing it to death with beads and glitter and shiny stuff. I am a huge fan of abstract work and wish I were better at making it. I think it takes a better eye than more representational work.
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