tools of the trade

back to thinking about art process, specifically, tools of the trade.  i have noticed, in myself and other artists, the tendency to develope an infatuation with tools and process.  this leads to loosing sight of your message or goal you had in mind when you got everything out to begin with.  this was more of a problem for me, when i was very young and unaware of what i wanted to do with my talent and what was distracting me.  just the physical enjoyment of stretching canvases, handling brushes, washing color onto surfaces, etc, was engrossing enough.  this wonderful respect for the tools of your trade is important in the begining but can't be aloud to become an end in itself.  it is not unusual to find mature artists who's work is flawed by their inability to evolve beyond their initial love of the tools of their chosen art.  so how do you distance yourself if you think this might be your problem?  there is one simple thing that comes to mind right away.  shop for materials and supplies way ahead of the time you need them.  prepare materials and surfaces ahead of time too.  let the rush of newness fade.  then, when an idea surfaces, you have settled these new tools and materials into the inventory of your mind and aloud them to blend with the rest of the stuff you normally use.  now you can choose what will serve necessity and your idea and not be distracted by novelty.  onward and upward!

victory for the Egyptians and for the internet!

This is extraordinary, what the Egyptian people have accomplished today.  With the help of the internet popular uprisings against dictatorship may be trasformed forever.  Can we even hope for and end of war?  The more real information people have and ease of communication with each other creates, in my opinion, the possibility of fairness of government and economy for the majority of people world wide.  This also allows more voices in on the converstion about future forms of democracy.  Democracy is a process and everywhere it is parcticed today can and needs to be improved upon.  The Egyptian people will now be able to start making contributions to this effort as they form their own government with real representation.  I am thrilled that I lived to see this happen and hope the best for them.   Will their artists now try to capture this historical moment?  I'm sure they will.  Wonderful.

  I hope that some of what i am going to write will be helpful to you in your creative process.  I am convinced that creativity is essential for sanity.  For me, making art is the closest I get to practicing a religion.  So anything I can do to encourage others to begin or continue a creative process makes sense to me.
  I find essential to the success of any art (no matter what form it takes) is idea.  The idea must be good.  What I mean by idea is your thought process, concept or philosophy that stimulated your desire to create something.  Idea is essential and subjective and comes from the core convictions of each individual.
  Once you have an idea you can't shake, you know you are on your way.  The form will follow. And around the core idea endless improvisation can occur.  Without idea an artist is just playing with the pleasures of their media ( paint, notes, words, clay etc).
  There is no end of ideas and you learn to listen for them.  I find writing them down when i think of them, then going back to read these notes days later, seeing if any of them still hold my interest and feels true, a process that works for me.
  That's all for now.  Looking forward to hearing from you.