Art harvest: farming your artistic crops

Expression, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Hilari Ford

"for years now I've kind of operated under an informal shopping cycle.
A bit like a farmer's crop rotation system. Except instead of
wheat-maize-barley-fallow: mine pretty much goes
clothes-makeup-shoes-clothes. (I don't usually bother with fallow.)
Shopping is actually very similar to farming a field. You can't keep
buying the same thing--you have to have a bit of variety."
--Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella, 2001.

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There are four stages to my art life: Perspiration, Inspiration, Education and Appreciation. I bounce between them like a tetherball. Before I read the quote to the left, I would strive for more cohesion in my art life. Work on one project at a time. Work consistently. Don't waste so much time looking at what others have done when I'm supposed to be coming up with my own ideas. But life through fiction has made me realize that I have my own crop-rotation system. And each crop serves its purpose to make me a better artist.

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Perspiration When people describe me, they usually use the words creative, arty, crafty, imaginative, or artistic. It's well-known that I tackle a number of differing types of projects, some of which I've discussed here, from sewing to collage to stamping to knitting to altered books. At any given moment I am likely to be working on at least three different projects simultaneously. For example, I am currently working on a knitted scarf for a friend, a set of bracelets for my secret pal and a set of personalized stationery.

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The way I work is somewhat schizophrenic. I'll start on a bracelet, and then realize the clasps I just bought are still in the bag in my purse. I'll go and ruffle through my purse, find the clasps and notice the logo on the bag would look really cool on my stationery. I run to the computer, scan in the logo, mess around with it in Photoshop and while I'm waiting for it to print, I knit a few rows on the scarf. The logo is done and I'm back to the bracelets. One of the beads I run across would really look better as a necklace and I think to myself that more people wear necklaces than bracelets. I should make my secret pal a necklace instead. But since the bracelet is half done, I may as well finish that first.

As you can see, I'm not a linear worker. This method would probably be counterproductive to most people, but it seems to work for me. I tend to go back and forth between projects that are repetitive and ones that are freeform. Both have their time and place--often within the same hour! At least I never get bored.

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Inspiration There are times when I'm not making anything at all. My drafting table stays clear for days, even weeks at a time. What I do attempt to make during this time is usually a wee bit on the hideous side. I've learned to recognize this downtime as a time to refresh my imagination. I look through books and magazines, I organize my materials, I go through my closets and drawers to look over what I've obsessively purchased in the past months. I clear out and make certain that everything is fresh and ready for the creative process once the muse returns.

I think this is a phase similar to writer's block, only I am not under the pressure of a deadline usually, so I'm allowed to take advantage of the relaxation. Whenever I find myself staring into my overloaded stamp drawers and not finding anything to work with, I know I am overworked and need to slow down. My natural inclination is to go out and force the issue--buy more stamps--but that only works for a short time. When I give myself permission to do nothing, I find that's when I'm most open to new, wild and innovative ideas. The world around me becomes my inspiration. A scene from a movie or book will give me an idea for a card. The color combination in a window display will make me think about colors for a beaded piece of jewelry.

However, often times I will not know why a certain scene will hit me; I'll keep playing it over in my mind, wondering what exactly it is that intrigues me. For example, after seeing the Elton John/Tim Rice adaptation of Aida I started using a lot of warm colors accented with cool. It wasn't until I saw photos of the show that the colors I had been using lately were from the Aida set design. Watching a lot of old movies adds a bit of retro influence to my art. Music changes my mood and gives me a lot of subtextual ideas.

We artists are always looking for that next idea, the next project, but how is that idea going to come and settle in a brain that is already working on 12 different projects? Enjoy that slow time.

Education A friend of mine was talking about a painting workshop weekend she had attended in the Midwest last spring. Not being a painterly type artist, I asked a lot of questions--what would she be learning, what type of techniques, what other artists would attend. Knowing her work, I was curious at what types of classes an artist of her advanced caliber would take. It turns out that the classes were mostly beginning painting and drawing techniques--with beginning artists. The very basics--light and shadow, drawing figures, color theory and the like. The explanation she gave for taking the workshop is that you can never know it all, and the more you know about the basics, the more you understand your own work. You only see through your own eyes until someone else tugs you toward a different view.