by lorigreenberg on June 5, 2010
Yesterday I came across a blog post that led me to an interesting article on the paint palettes of some of the masters. Not the palette of colors they used, but the actual palettes they used when mixing and using their colors. Why Preserve Van Gogh’s Palette? As is common when I’m reading something, one line jumped out and prodded me forward in self-examination:
“The whole value of what you are about” wrote John Ruskin in his Elements of Drawing, first published in 1857 “depends on colour. If the colour is wrong, everything is wrong: just as, if you are singing, and sing false notes, it does not matter how true your words are.”
(the bold one is the line that strikes me). While that can seem obvious to some, to me, it highlights something that feels like a curse. If the color is wrong, everything is wrong. I just can’t get past it. It is a terrible feeling to create something, and upon retrieving it from the kiln, see that something is off. Even the slightest clash in color ruins it for me, whereas it might be just fine for someone else.
Like these beads. Love the design, love the process, love the individual colors. But together? They do nothing for me. In fact, they turn me away from making more of this style for a while because of discouragement. That’s the curse. I can’t just accept them and move on. It haunts me that I could have made such a poor choice…which actually makes me laugh because they’re not THAT bad. Maybe it’s the perfectionist in me? Maybe it’s just the big baby in me that is throwing a tantrum because I didn’t get my way with the result and it’s laughing at me. Dramatic? Yes. I have an inner drama queen.
Above is another series of experiments that make me sad. Can you believe than anything with that bold of color could make one sad?
As a former art student, I don’t recall learning about color, if you can believe that. It is not the fault of my educators, but perhaps the fact that I went to a “party school” and didn’t focus where I should have. Yet, I have a sense inside of me that just knows when something isn’t right. The dilemma in that is that I can tell you something is off but I can’t tell you what would make it right. Frustrating.
by lorigreenberg on June 1, 2010
I recently wrote about the “search for inner peace” and incorporating it into my beads over on Watch Me Create. I wrote about part of where I’m coming from but I’d like to share more with you here. I’ve been busy, and that’s probably not the best way to search for inner peace, right? But, like I always say…ANYONE can find peace by meditating on top of a mountain…doing it in everyday life is the true challenge.
You might remember that I’ve dabbled in Venus beads. Not your traditional Venus de Milo goddess forms but a cross between venus flytraps and another, not-so-subtle, female representation.
I only dabbled in them because, well, I’ve had this mindset that, if they sell, I make more. And these haven’t sold like hotcakes. I’m on the edge of changing that mindset because I absolutely LOVE these beads and am convinced that people just don’t appreciate the true impact of them yet. They’re ahead of their time. Yeah. That’s it.
I feel silly admitting it but I pondered why they weren’t selling…like that should matter with art. But it does if you’re trying to make a living at it. Maybe they are too bulky? Too bright and bold? Just too darn funky? Offensive? So I tried a smaller rendition and they were ok. They sold. Hm. But I, as the artist, didn’t like them as much. So that’s a dilemma.
I decided it was time to get serious and I broke out the sketchbook. Well, not really. I got my sharpies and some shiny paper. You know it’s bad when I start to consider designing on paper.
If you can read my notes you can see that I’m reasoning with myself that I should be making what I like and stop trying to fit into something else. I guess this is the crazy artist version of talking to yourself and answering back. It worked, some. I made some neato beads and a few already sold to a regular customer who sometimes makes studio visits. These two:
It was interesting to me that these more earthy beads weren’t as appealing to me as the previous, brighter venus beads. What has happened to me? So, naturally, I tried to incorporate some brighter colors into this new rendition and yuckity yuck yuck. Here’s just one that resulted from that little educational detour:
So, I decided to leave the bright colors to the original venus beads.
by lorigreenberg on January 25, 2010
Lately I’ve been reading books about people. I guess you could call them biographies. I don’t know why I don’t call them biographies. I prefer “books about people.” People interest me. All kinds. They always have. You’ve heard of people that love to people watch and I love that too but more than that, I like to know what goes on inside their heads, behind the scenes. I guess I’m a version of a voyeur.
Last week I read a book by Carrie Fisher and one about Sarah Palin. This week I have one about John Edward of Crossing Over, one about an art dealer who struggled/s with bipolar disorder and has undergone many electroshock treatments, and a memoir of an anorexic/bulimic. Remember…I have a masters in counseling and disorders and the brain fascinate me.
I’ve dug the deepest into the John Edward book so far and something in it struck me today. Once again I was in a place where I didn’t know what to make. The big Tucson show is less than a week away and I haven’t gotten it together. I’ve had ideas here and there of what I want to show, how I want to show it, what I hope sells, etc. But I haven’t really focused.
So, with six torching days left for me what did I do? I sat down and started making purple hearts for Beads of Courage. WHAT? I haven’t made purple hearts in forever, it seems. And regardless of what I SHOULD be doing, purple hearts it was. At least I had a purpose and knew they would be useful. I had fun messing around with a Zoozii press that I hadn’t used before.
As I was on my sixth purple heart I thought to myself, “This is crazy. I can make purple hearts any time. I need to be making inventory for my show!”
Then it hit me. Something that John Edward said in his book. ”It’s about the work.” And the second you stray from that you’ll get kicked in the teeth, or something to that effect. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the show. It’s not even about survival. If you focus on the work and do what you know you should be doing, it all works out.
Hm.
For me, it really has worked out that way. If I feel like I’m in the flow, in every aspect of my life, good things happen. Sure, bad things happen too, but they’re easier to deal with when the majority of other things seem to be going well.
It’s about the work.
I can hear some of you saying, “but what about the heat bill, and groceries and gas?” I used to worry about that. One day something changed though and I just had faith. I knew it would all work out. And it has. As long as I focused on what I was SUPPOSED to be doing. Sometimes it was my business, sometimes it was kids and family, other times it was church, etc. It changes but I’ve become sensitive to where I’m feeling drawn and I try my best to listen to that.
So, today I did the same with my bead making. The scary thing? I went back to a favorite color combination that has been under-appreciated. People don’t see the richness. The depth. The soul in it. And I don’t know why. I wish I had a whole bathtub of them that I could roll around in. Gray and Orange. I hear ya. But that’s where I was called and I had to go with it. Nothing else would have felt right.
Throughout this post are old pieces in gray and orange. They started out as my Cirque du Soleil beads. I will show you the new, smaller beads when they’re out of the kiln.
