How to beat painter’s block
Dear Artist, A lot of stuff has been written about writer’s block, mainly because writers…
Yearly Archives: 2020
In search of anonymity
Dear Artist, Rumour has it that when J.D. Salinger died in 2010 at the age…
Negative space
Dear Artist, These days no self-respecting workshop instructor goes half an hour without mentioning negative…
How to improvise
“For an artist, greatness happens when you can take something organized and make it feel like it was improvised,” says dance teacher Helena St. Rogers in the drama series, Pose. In painting, you may wonder how to do this without ending up with an aimless jumble. Improvisation, the act of composing without a plan, unfurls in real time but rests on an armature of known structures and experiences, with the goal of getting to a breakthrough. Just as a jazz musician takes a solo over a grid of eight or twelve bars, your improvisation should have a beginning, middle and end.
Form them up
Dear Artist, In the good old days, students in art schools were provided with simple…
Hot executive function
Dear Artist, One of the most engaging aspects of Greyhound, Tom Hanks’ new film about…
Part-time artist
Tania Bourne wrote to ask if it’s possible to hold down a day job and build her career in art at the same time. The question keeps turning up. Here’s my take on it:
There seems to be some argument for the idea that the more you do — the better you do. There’s also the idea that if you want something done soon and well — you ask a busy person. That said, the practice of art requires a sort of tranquil contemplation as well as energetic execution. How do you pull off tranquility and energy after a rough day in the office or the frazzle of traffic?
Art collective
Dear Artist, I recently read about a new online platform where every artist shares in…
Trees
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Charlotte Hussey wrote, “I’m not a painter, but a poet. I’m writing…
Permanence
Recently, a group of art conservators were discussing the removal of monuments. “As a person invested in culture,” said one, “I have really conflicted feelings.” “Every public monument is an instrument of power,” said someone else. “Let’s put them in a museum with blurbs about their re-examined context,” said another. “Like the Berlin Wall, watching them tumble is terribly exciting,” said another. “But,” said someone else, “the sculptural rendering of that horse’s flank is magnificent!”