Critique-small thoughts on a Sunday morning

I was just thinking about critique.  As artist students, we become used to it, right?  We bring our work to classes, and everyone looks at it; most people try to think of nice things to say because no one wants to be the meany.  But honestly, I usually cringe at critiques. They set off all my anxieties.  What are people going to say?  Am I any good?  Was all my work for nothing?  Do the LIKE ME??? So childish.

Now that I'm in grad school, critique has hit a new level that I've never experienced before.  Every class includes at least 3 crits, and then there is the big committee review where the entire faculty, including people who have never seen you before, talk about your work!  Plus, because we've been online since Shelter In Place, we have to go to the extra lengths of photographing (I'm no photographer, just a painter!) our artworks and considering the presentation of art not only as an image but as an actual object.  

It just occurred to me this morning, though, what a true luxury it is to have our work critiqued and the immaturity of my previous viewpoint.  What other time in your professional life do you have the opportunity to have several professionals look at your work and tell you what they see in your work.  Whether they like it or not is immaterial, they are actually looking at your work, in a serious way, and this is a significant matter.   This is actually an honor.  And you know what?  Most of the faculty at your school will probably treat your work with the respect it deserves; sometimes, you might run across the outlier who just wants to criticize but remember that is their problem, not yours. Try to remember that.  I grew up as a dancer, I was trained to accept corrections and say thank you to my teachers. So now, as an emerging professional artist, I have to apply that lesson from dance.  

Ok, go on with whatever you were doing now! I may go paint another butterfly.

                                              

Making Daily- June 24, 2020

My work is pretty intensive, I tend to make fairly big paintings and I put a lot of details and symbolism in them.  And I make them up, they aren't just a person sitting there, don't get me wrong there are many marvelous paintings of people sitting there that I adore, but I don't usually do that type of painting.   Anyway this kind of work takes a long time.  And I'm not going to lie, sometimes it's pretty exhausting.  I think for quite a while on each piece, I take notes, gather images, take reference photos, sketch ideas and think some more.  Then I assemble the pieces into a priliminary sketch or digital painting before I start.  This slow process can make it seem to the outside world like I'm not working, because I'm not posting my progress daily.  

I enjoy product as much as I do process though so I make lots of smaller things daily. This feels healthy to me, it gets me out of my head and into doing.  You may know that I'm an avid fiber artist as well as a painter, so usually I spin yarn and knit daily.  I'm working on a sweater right now, it's not perfect, but I like it.  I forgot to photograph it but I will tomorrow.  One other thing I do is I make a lot of my own clothes.  I really enjoy that and have done it since I was a kid.  I just cut out some new sweat pants for myself, you probably don't need to see those!  Just grey sweatpants.  I'm also waiting  for some interfacing I ordered from the fabric store so that I can sew a dress for my daughter Jillian which is all cut out and ready to go.  

Today this is what I did.  I'm making small paintings of animal symbols.  Hopefully eventually I will have an entire wall of these symbols.  I did the rabbits a while ago, today I worked on crows, they are not done...tomorrow.  They actually don't even look good yet!  So hopefully you will be surprised by how nice they look when I'm done.

I've had some people mention that they get stuck and don't know what to paint sometimes.  I think it's good to just paint through those kinds of times, we all go through that.  Especially lately we're all under a lot of stress with the sad and horrible political issues, and the pandemic going on.  I think it's a good idea to just paint something, look on google and make a pretty picture or string some beads into a necklace.  It helps to decompress. 

 I also ordered these tiny looms from Loome Studio!  Tiny Looms They were inexpensive and cute, I thought it would be fun to make little weavings at night while I watch tv.