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Metamodernism: A Brief Introduction - Notes on Metamodernism

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Metamodernism is a term that has gained traction in recent years as a means of articulating developments in contemporary culture, which, it is argued (and our generation appears to intuitively recognise) has seen a move beyond the postmodern mode of the late 20th century.

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The Women Weavers of the Bauhaus have inspired generations of textile artists.

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The Women Weavers of the Bauhaus Have Inspired Generations of Textile Artists

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It is fellow New Bauhaus student Lenore Tawney, though, whose work reveals the most delightful connections between her community and her deeply innovative practice. Tawney not only studied with Ehrman, but also forged long-lasting friendships with Zeisler, Kuh, and artists (who studied with ) and Sheila Hicks (who met Anni Albers while studying at Yale and is one of the only artists included in the exhibition who is still living).

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Metallic Dry Brush on Clay

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How art movements tried to make sense of the world during the 1918 flu pandemic

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How art movements tried to make sense of the world during the 1918 flu pandemic

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How Art Movements Tried to Make Sense of the World in the Wake of the 1918 Flu Pandemic

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The outbreak magnified the absurdity of the moment, according to art historians

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How art movements tried to make sense of the world during the 1918 flu pandemic

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How art movements tried to make sense of the world during the 1918 flu pandemic

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How Art Movements Tried to Make Sense of the World in the Wake of the 1918 Flu Pandemic

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The outbreak magnified the absurdity of the moment, according to art historians

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Outsiders (Folk Artists, Folk Art, Painting)

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Outsiders (Folk Artists, Folk Art, Painting)

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OUTSIDERS (Folk Artists, Folk Art, Painting, Outsider Art)

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The Gee's Bend Quiltmakers: A Modernist Art with Folk Traditions

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The Gee's Bend Quiltmakers: A Modernist Art with Folk Traditions

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What is Gee's Bend?

In 1859 a woman named Dinah was torn from her home in Africa and taken to the United States, to be sold for a dime to a man named Pettway. Pettway would bring her to Gee's Bend, Alabama, where she and her fellow slaves on his plantation became known as their owner's property, and forced, as was the convention, to adopt his surname. Though not all Pettways of Gee's Bend are blood-related, the community is small - located on a rural and isolated bend in the Alabama River in the Black Belt of the southern United States. Gee's Bend comprises less than three hundred inhabitants, most of which are descendents of Pettway's slaves, with about half of all residents bearing the name or origin.

In the 1930's the community was struggling when the price of cotton dropped nearly overnight, and creditors came to collect. Gee's Bend was reduced to abject poverty, and as the nation's poorest community the government stepped in to provide housing and farm plots at affordable prices with low interest rates. The aid scheme allowed African American families the opportunity to own land for the first time, and contributed greatly to the demographic makeup of the town today.

Mary Lee Bendolph in front of one of her quilts in an exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
(AP Photo / Chitose Suzuki)

Who are the Gee's Bend Quiltmakers?

Dinah's granddaughter, Arlonzia Pettway, began sewing quilts when she was 13 years old. She learned to sew from her mother, who had also inherited the methodology, and in so doing joined a long lineage of female quiltmakers that likely has origins beyond the 19th century. The group of women recognised today as the Gee's Bend Quiltmakers is composed of three to four generations of women that have created hundreds of quilts from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Nearly all of the Gee's Bend women began quilting as children, and many have cited their primary motivation was to keep themselves and their children warm in the unheated homes in which they lived. From a purely cultural standpoint, the work of these women is exceptional for many reasons, among which is the social and geographic isolation in which the creations took place - providing an unprecedented degree of cultural continuity in a community in which the folk traditions were passed down from grandmother or mother to daughter.

The Artistry of Gee's Bend Quilts

From an artistic and aesthetic standpoint, the quilts embody several distinctive styles, outlined in the following different categories: abstract & improvisation; housetop & bricklayer; pattern & geometry; Sears corduroy; and work clothes.

Abstract & Improvisation Quilts

Most of Gee's Bend quilts can be characterised as abstract & improvisation quilts, or 'my way' quilts, in that they are guided by the desires and passions of their creator. Often unorthodox in their patterns, or with no pattern at all, these quilts reflect the whims of the women who made them - guided by a love of a particular colour or cloth.

Housetop or Bricklayer Quilts

Evocative of the African American musical tradition of call and response, housetop patterning is a favorite technique of the Gee's Bend quiltmaking group. The housetop, or bricklayer, quilt can be thought of as a guiding concept more than anything else, beginning with a piece of solid cloth, or one comprised of many components; to anchor the rest of the piece. Then rectangular strips of cloth join at one strip's long side ad the other's short, forming a framing around the central patch, adding more and more until the piece is deemed complete.

Geometric Quilts

The Gee's Bend quilts of the early 20th century are largely geometrically intricate pieces, comprised of many pieces of cloth in repeating patches of triangles, squares, diamonds, or hexagons. These works are testaments to the artistry that evolved from everyday life in the rural area - an outpouring of creation stemming from a necessary object - a blanket to keep a family warm.

Sears Corduroy Quilts

In the 1970s the Freedom Quilting Bee, a cooperative Civil Rights group based near Gee's Bend worked with retailer Sears & Roebuck to produce corduroy pillow cases. The fabric came in a few distinctive colours, that by way of scraps and reuse, began to find itself in the work of Gee's Bend quilts very quickly. The distinctive yellow, green, orange, and red corduroy spurred a creative outpouring which resulted in numerous corduroy quilts, a novel fabric at the time.

Workwear Quilts

Perhaps the most famous, and most unique, of Gee's Bend quilts are the workwear quilts. Born out of scarcity and poverty, workwear quilts are the result of years of hard times and the simple need to stay warm. These quilts are patchwork pieces borne from the resourcefulness of salvaging fabric scraps from worn out utilitarian clothing. The fabric, already having lived a hard life and no longer functional is repurposed from its residual pieces. These works are exceptional works of art in that they are both reflections of the spirit of the community and its prevailing socio-economic conditions of the moment. Until at least the mid-twentieth century the quilts of Gee's Bend were largely workwear quilts, reflective of the hardship the area experienced in the 1930s, and the former slave status of the residents. The fabrics of the workwear quilts; stained aprons, worn denim, and torn dresses are a tangible reflection of the lives marked by the hard labor of cotton picking in the fields of the Southern United States. These quilts, more so than any others, are perfectly preserved remnants of a past time; artworks undiluted by other cultures and unique to the isolation, remoteness and hardship that necessitated their creation.

The Renown of Gee's Bend Quilts

It was these qualities that lead art historian William (or Bill) Arnett, to Gee's Bend after seeing one of Annie Mae Young's quilts in a book. Determined to track down its creator Arnett found his way to Gee's Bend, where he ended up becoming inextricably linked to the quiltmakers themselves. After seemingly helping to catapult the women into the art world and an ensuing mainstream commercial success, Arnett could be construed as an archetypal and problematic "white saviour" figure, making efforts to set the women up with a foundation and organisational structure within which to sell their own products. However, he also ended up embroiled in a lawsuit filed by key quilters Annie Mae Young and Loretta Pettway, two of the most prominent figures in Gee's Bend, alleging that he had pocketed large sums from sales of their quilts. Several articles could be written on this controversy alone, but regardless of the financial implications behind his involvement, Arnett's influence led the quilts of Gee's Bend into museums around the world. With quilts hanging across the country in influential institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and numerous others; the work has been lauded as among the finest examples of American modernist art in existence.

The pieces have been described as surprisingly minimalist works, yet lyrical and jazzy with their wavy stitches overlaid onto improvisational patterns. Alvia Wardlaw, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston proclaimed that "the compositions of these quilts contrast dramatically with the ordered regularity associated with many styles of Euro-American quiltmaking. There's a brilliant, improvisational range of approaches to composition that is more often associated with the inventiveness and power of the leading 20th-century abstract painters than it is with textile-making." But the most compelling and lasting reviews came from New York Times' Michael Kimmelman, who raved "Imagine Matisse and Klee (if you think I'm wildly exaggerating, see the show) arising not from rarefied Europe, but from the caramel soil of the rural South in the form of women, descendants of slaves when Gee's Bend was a plantation."

Relevant sources to learn more

View more of their work at Souls Grown Deep
Check out this free documentary from PBS
Read the original exhibition review from the New York Times
Enjoy some other artist documentaries

Know someone who would find this article interesting?

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The Gee's Bend Quiltmakers: Art with Folk Traditions | Artland Magazine

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In 1859 a woman named Dinah was torn from her home in Africa and taken to the United States, to be sold for a dime to a man named Pettway. Pettway would bring her to Gee's Bend, Alabama, where she and her fellow slaves on his plantation became known as their owner's property, and forced, as was the convention, to adopt his surname.

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Stories of Iconic Artworks: Joseph Beuys' I Like America and America Likes Me

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Stories of Iconic Artworks: Joseph Beuys' I Like America and America Likes Me

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It was 1974 when Beuys arrived in New York City, ready to tackle a whole new challenge and create what was to become one of the most famous works of art of the time. Upon arrival, his assistants wrapped him in a large piece of felt and transported him, by ambulance, to the René Block Gallery in SoHo. There, awaiting the artist, was a live coyote. Beuys spent three consecutive days, eight hours at a time, locked up with the wild animal. He sat or stood, wrapped from head to toe in his large felt cover and held a crooked staff, peeking out from the top of the felt.

Props accompanying him in the cage included heaps of straw, a pile of copies of The Wall Street Journal of the day and a raggedy old hat from the best hat shop in London. Then, of course, there was his co-star, the coyote.

Beuys' idea behind I Like America, and America Likes Me was to start a national dialogue. America in the 1970s, caught in the horrors of the Vietnam war, and divided by oppression of minorities, the indigenous population and immigrants, was far from the welcoming American Dream that the title of this performance suggests. The coyote symbolised a variety of things for Beuys:

First, there are some Native American myths that suggest that the coyote represents the possibility for transformation, as well as an archetypal trickster. Then, there are certain creation myths in which the coyote teaches human beings how to survive. And while most European settlers and their present-day American descendents generally regarded the coyote as an aggressive and dangerous predator, Beuys saw the animal as something completely different: to him, it was America's spirit animal.

During the three days of the performance, Beuys attempted to make eye contact with the coyote, while performing symbolic gestures. He would toss his leather gloves at the animal, or wildly gesticulate at it. The coyote, in turn, was mostly curious, at times hostile, and often fairly calm. Once, he tore off a piece of Beuys' gloves; another time, he tried to rip the felt cover off of Beuys, clenching it firmly in his jaws. But he also allowed Beuys to briefly embrace him. Beuys stayed in direct contact and communication with the coyote up until the very end of his performance. When it was over, he was bundled up again, returned to the ambulance, and driven straight back to the airport. He never once set foot on American soil, except for the gallery space. He wanted the only ground he touched in America to be the ground he shared with the coyote.

With this intense performance, Beuys wanted to demonstrate that American society could only start to heal its social issues through communication, connection and mutual understanding between all of America's vastly different social groups.

After the Performance

Five years after I Like America, and America Likes Me, Beuys created a piece called News From the Coyote. This piece referred back to the 1974 work, and included mementos from the original piece: the staff, the hat, a strand of his hair and the coyote's fur, the felt blanket, and the bitten-up gloves. He also added the triangle that he had struck from time to time during the 1974 performance, creating almost sacred sounds. Another element in this 1979 piece was a white powdery hill, which consisted of rubble from the ruins of the René Block Gallery in West Berlin. He also used sulphur and branches with miner's lamps attached to them. The lamps were meant to symbolise light in dark, difficult places and times.

Beuys' performance with the coyote remains extremely relevant today, as America seems no closer to healing its deep wounds and closing the rifts between different social and ethnic groups. In fact, with white nationalism, fear-mongering, and racism towards minority groups prevalent not only across the United States, but also in Europe, Beuys' profoundly moving communication with the wild coyote is a work of art that people can continue to learn from and seek answers and inspiration in. It appears that basic human and animal communication are in desperate need of a revival.

Relevant sources to learn more

For more background information and reflections on Joseph Beuys and his iconic performance piece, explore:
New York Times
See part of the performance here: Vimeo

Read more about Joseph Beuys on Artland: The Other Joseph Beuys: The Drawings of the Myth-Making Action Artist

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Joseph Beuys - I Like America and America Likes Me

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Who spends 3 days with a coyote in an art gallery? Get to know the meaning of Joseph Beuys: I Like America and America Likes Me

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Renowned abstract painter Jack Whitten discusses the personal philosophies that drove his work over the course of nearly six decades, chronicling his development as an artist and his relentless innovation in painting.

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Artist Nick Cave discusses the experiences that force him to confront his identity as a Black man-including being racially profiled by police-and how they fuel his impulse to create. Cave explains that in these moments he gets quiet and avoids lashing out in rage. "And if I do, lashing out for me is creating this," he says in reference to his intricately constructed Soundsuits.

"The Soundsuits hide gender, race, class and they force you to look at the work without judgment." The exhibition Here Hear, which included a large-scale community performance, was installed at Detroit's Cranbrook Art Museum in 2015. The museum is associated with the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where Nick Cave attended graduate school in the 1980s and was the only minority student at the time.

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Credits

Producer: Ian Forster & Nick Ravich. Consulting Producer: Wesley Miller. Editor: Morgan Riles. Camera: Jamin Townsley. Sound: Richard K. Pooler. Artwork Courtesy: Nick Cave. Special Thanks: Cranbrook Art Museum, Robert Faust, William Gill & Laura Mott.

Art21 Exclusive is supported, in part, by 21c Museum Hotel, and by individual contributors.

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Nick Cave creates "Soundsuits"-surreally majestic objects blending fashion and sculpture-that originated as metaphorical suits of armor in response to the Rodney King beatings and have evolved into vehicles for empowerment. Fully concealing the body, the "Soundsuits" serve as an alien second skin that obscures race, gender, and class, allowing viewers to look without bias towards the wearer's identity. Cave regularly performs in the sculptures himself, dancing either before the public or for the camera, activating their full potential as costume, musical instrument, and living icon. Cave's sculptures also include non-figurative assemblages, intricate accumulations of found objects that project out from the wall, and installations enveloping entire rooms.

"I don't ever see the Soundsuits as 'fun,' they're really coming from a very dark place."

Jacquelyn Gleisner speaks with artist Nick Cave about his immersive installation Until, on view at MASS MoCA through September 2017.

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Nick Cave discusses the experiences that force him to confront his identity as a Black man-including being racially profiled by police-and how they fuel his impulse to create.

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Sew Your Soul: Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Installations

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Sew Your Soul: Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Installations

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Sew Your Soul: Lucy Sparrow’s Felt-Art Installations

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Shown installing work at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice, France, Sarah Sze discusses the importance of improvisation and spontaneity during her installation process.

Originally shown at her New York City gallery, Sze altered The Uncountables (Encyclopedia) (2010) for its reinstallation in France by incorporating locally found items. Sze's use of improvisation allows for viewers to trace her decision making process as they explore and investigate the artwork.

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Credits

Producer: Ian Forster. Consulting Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Field Producer: Agnes Jammal. Camera: Miguel Sanchez Martin. Sound: Roger Phenix. Editor: Morgan Riles & Mark Sutton. Artwork Courtesy: Sarah Sze & Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Special Thanks: Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nice. Theme Music: Peter Foley.

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Interested in showing this film in an exhibition or public screening? To license this video please visit Licensing & Reproduction.

Sarah Sze builds her installations and intricate sculptures from the minutiae of everyday life, imbuing mundane materials, marks, and processes with surprising significance. By arranging domestic detritus and office supplies into fantastical miniatures, she builds her works, fractal-like, on an architectural scale. Whether adapting to a site or disrupting the urban fabric, Sze's patchwork compositions mirror the improvisational quality of cities, balancing whimsy with ecological themes of interconnectivity and sustainability.

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Experimental Sculpture

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Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art, and the go-to place to learn first-hand from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, Art21's mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.

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312 Famous Artists and their Studios

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A good studio for an artist is a very important place. Creative studios might sometimes look like a pile of rubbish or a mixed-up room, but this is where famous artists paintings are born!

Take a look at this assemblage of the greatest artists and their most intimate working places - their studios. I bet that you've seen lots of their works in museums and art history books, but the artist himself, and his studio, is often left unseen.

From Salvador Dali's artist studio full of beautiful women, Pablo Picasso's decorated hall to David Lynch's industrial looking creative space and Francis Bacon's utter chaos. All these photos are intentionally mixed up - you will find both very famous artists and somewhat less popular painters, sculptors, architects, and even their Muses. Some of them are contemporary, but you will also find genius classical masters as well.

Enjoy the collection!

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A good studio for an artist is a very important place. Creative studios might sometimes look like a pile of rubbish or a mixed-up room, but this is where famous artists paintings are born! Take a look at this assemblage of the greatest artists and their most intimate working places - their studios.

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Woodmere Art Museum tells the story of Philadelphia's art and artists through a broad range of exhibitions, music events, classes, lectures, and programs.

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In the early 1990s, Drexciya, a Detroit-based techno duo made up of James Stinson and Gerald Donald, imagined an underwater kingdom populated by the children of pregnant women who had been thrown overboard or jumped voluntarily into the ocean during the transatlantic slave trade.

Drexciya's founding myth has inspired numerous artists, among them Ayana V. Jackson who, in this exhibition, brings to life an immersive, feminist, and sacred aquatopia where African water spirits from Senegal to South Africa both midwife and protect the Drexciyans. Jackson asks that we reckon with the brutal history that cast these beings to the sea while simultaneously envisioning a world of powerful, resilient women. By using her own body to convey her message, Jackson actively engages in what it might have meant to be among the estimated two million captives who never made it to shore. What do you imagine the Drexciyans see looking back at us?

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National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution

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In the early 1990s, Drexciya, a Detroit-based techno duo made up of James Stinson and Gerald Donald, imagined an underwater kingdom populated by the children of pregnant women who had been thrown overboard or jumped voluntarily into the ocean during the transatlantic slave trade. Drexciya's founding myth has inspired numerous artists, among them Ayana V.

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Encounter masterpieces from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century at Frick Madison, the temporary new home of The Frick Collection.

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Virtual Adult Studio Workshop
Drawing Connections: Rendering Space

Houdini: Magic, Art, and Literature
Virtual Workshop for Educators

Access Family Workshop
In-Person and Virtual Tour and Workshop

The Jewish Museum's 37th Annual Purim Ball
Party at The Plaza!

The Jewish Museum's Annual Purim Ball After Party
Party at The Plaza!

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Movies that Matter: Film Screening for Schools
Changing the Game Q&A with Impact Producer and Film Protagonists

Picture This! Global Treasure Box
Virtual Tour & Art Workshop

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Victor Levenstein and Matvey Levenstein in Conversation

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For Participants Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision

Art Making Workshops for ASL Families
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The Sassoons: Art Collectors, Patrons, and Civic Leaders
Co-Presented with 92NY

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Christopher Rothko and Kate Rothko Prizel

ASL Tour at Home
For Participants in the ASL Community

Picture This! Collage Wonders for Passover
Virtual Tour & Art Workshop

JM Journeys
In-Person and Virtual Tour and Workshop

In-Person Adult Studio Workshop
Abstract Sculptural Painting

Movies that Matter: Film Screening for Schools
'Seahorse' Q&A with Nele Dehnenkamp, director

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Virtual Adult Studio Workshop Drawing Connections: Rendering Space Houdini: Magic, Art, and Literature Virtual Workshop for Educators Access Family Workshop In-Person and Virtual Tour and Workshop The Jewish Museum's 37th Annual Purim Ball Party at The Plaza! The Jewish Museum's Annual Purim Ball After Party Party at The Plaza!

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While the Michener is temporarily closed, you can still experience our Museum from home. We hope that our collection can be a place for inspiration and enjoyment and provide a sense of calm in these uncertain times. Explore our online resources and perhaps rediscover an old favorite...or learn something entirely new!

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ceramics ceramic ceramicart pottery studiopottery craft design art

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Ceramic Review is the magazine for contemporary ceramic art and craft, and is read worldwide. Combining both practical and theoretical features, while presen...

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How a Ceramics Master Makes Plates for Michelin-Starred Restaurants — Handmade

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Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese Philosophy for a perfectly imperfect life

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Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese Philosophy for a perfectly imperfect life

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Life is unpredictable. And that's okay. Embrace it.

When nothing is certain, everything is possible!

Your plans for tomorrow, next month or next year may not unfold as you expect. But it's important to make plans and move on.

Landon Donovan once said, "Life isn't perfect, of course, but we all know it's how you react to things that counts."

Imperfection is the basic principle of , the Japanese philosophy of accepting your imperfections and making the most of life.

"Wabi" is said to be defined as "rustic simplicity" or "understated elegance" with a focus on a less-is-more mentality.

"Sabi" is translated to "taking pleasure in the imperfect."

The concept of wabi-sabi, is wide and almost impossible to distill in a single post, but can easily be applied simply to moments of everyday life.

The relentless pursuit of perfection - in possessions, relationships, achievements - often leads to stress, anxiety, depression and hasty judgement.

This is where wabi-sabi invites a pause.

The Japanese philosophy encourages us to focus on the blessings hiding in our daily lives, and celebrating the way things are rather than how they should be.

Wabi-sabi prizes authenticity.

Wabi-Sabi is "a way of life that appreciates and accepts complexity while at the same time values simplicity," writes Richard Powell in his book, Wabi Sabi Simple.

Richard says it acknowledges three simple realities:

"Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."

In Zen philosophy, there are seven aesthetic principles in achieving wabi-sabi:

Kanso - simplicity

Fukinsei - asymmetry or irregularity

Shibumi - beauty in the understated

Shizen - naturalness without pretense

Yugen - subtle grace

Datsuzoku - freeness

Seijaku - tranquility

The timeless wisdom of wabi-sabi is more relevant now than ever for modern life, as we search for meaning and fulfilment beyond materialism.

Wabi-sabi is like minimalism with a conscious choice.

The concept has its roots in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

A common explanation is the example of a well-loved teacup, made by an artist's hands, cracked or chipped by constant use.

Such traces remind the observer that nothing is permanent - even fixed objects are subject to change.

A great example of wabi-sabi in creativity is the art of kintsugi, where cracked pottery is filled with gold dusted lacquer as a way to showcase the beauty of its age and damage rather than hiding it.

The fault is not hidden but highlighted.

This is not to say the Craftsman was sloppy (wabi-sabi isn't an excuse for poor craftsmanship). Wabi-sabi draws attention to the cracks in a tea cup as part of the beauty of the object.

In his book The Unknown Craftsman, Soetsu Yanagi argues that imperfections are necessary for a full appreciation of the object and the world.

We in our own human imperfections are repelled by the perfect, since everything is apparent from the start and there is no suggestion of the infinite.

Wabi-sabi is everywhere, you just need to know how to look, and what to do to embrace the concept in your life.

The cracks in the old teacup are seen as assets rather than flaws.

"Wabi sabi is a different kind of looking, a different kind of mindset," explains Robyn Griggs Lawrence, author of Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House . "It's the true acceptance of finding beauty in things as they are," he says.
What does it take to embrace Wabi-sabi in your life?
Robyn explains that you don't money, or special skills to appreciate your imperfections and make the most of life.

Bringing wabi-sabi into your life doesn't require money, training, or special skills. It takes a mind quiet enough to appreciate muted beauty, courage not to fear bareness, willingness to accept things as they are - without ornamentation. It depends on the ability to slow down, to shift the balance from doing to being, to appreciating rather than perfecting.

Mike Sturm says Wabi-sabi is about accepting yourself and building on what you already have in life. He writes.

Embracing wabi-sabi is as easy (or as difficult) as understanding and accepting yourself - imperfections and all. It's about being compassionate with yourself as you are, and building on whatever that is - not feverishly trying to rebuild yourself in order to pose as something else entirely.

Today, appreciation of the things we have, people we love, and the experiences we have the opportunity to weave into our lives is losing value.

Wabi-sabi represents a precious cache of wisdom that values tranquillity, harmony, beauty and imperfection, and can strengthen your resilience in the face of materialism.

It gently motions you to relax, slow down, step back from the hectic modern world and find enjoyment and gratitude in everything you do.

Put simply, wabi-sabi gives you permission to be yourself.

Embrace the perfection of being imperfectly you.

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Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese Philosophy For a Perfectly Imperfect Life

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Life is unpredictable. And that's okay. Embrace it. When nothing is certain, everything is possible! Your plans for tomorrow, next month or next year may not unfold as you expect. But it's important to make plans and move on. Landon Donovan once said, "Life isn't perfect, of course, but we all know it's how you react to things that counts."

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How to make a bowl from shredded paper (DIY Watermelon Craft)

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How to make a bowl from shredded paper (DIY Watermelon Craft)

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How to make a Bowl from Shredded Paper (DIY Watermelon Craft)

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How to make paper clay - newspaper or shredded paper - Craft Basics

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How to make paper clay - newspaper or shredded paper - Craft Basics

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How to make Paper Clay - Newspaper or Shredded Paper - Craft Basics

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SpongeBob SquarePants S02E15 Artist Unknown

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SpongeBob SquarePants S02E15 Artist Unknown SpongeBob SquarePants S02E15 SpongeBob SquarePants

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This list is from a friend, Charles Goss, who teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Art (Boston)

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This list is from a friend, Charles Goss, who teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Art (Boston)

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Longest Continuous Line

Draw 1-ONE continuous line for at least 3 hours a day for 7 days. Continuous means that you don’t lift the pen or pencil from the page-just keep moving and let the line take you. If you need to leave for lunch or bathroom etc. remember where you left off and continue on from that same place. If you don't have 16x20" paper, tape or glue 4 pieces of standard printer paper together and use that for your piece.

Let the line take you for a walk for a run or a swim- dance with it, fight with it…have fun with it. Use a standard pencil and sharpener or black ballpoint pen (if you have several that’s good-they can run out).

ALSO, try to do this with no music for a while...just listen and watch the river of your mind- stories going on in your head. See if you can quiet and calm them, let them come in and let them go away. Easy to say and hard to do a lot of the time. DO use your music when absolutely necessary-eventuately, I need it too!

Drawing Breath

Sit quietly and place your drawing paper and any and all mark-making tools near you-so you can reach them easily. Close your eyes and bring your attention to your breathing. Watch, listen and feel the action of your breath. Begin counting each breath. Keeping your eyes closed, pick up one of the tools and begin to draw-with eyes still closed. Draw what you’re sensing. Do this for 2 hours. If you find you can’t draw with your eyes closed, try a bandana-keep watching your breathing. If the bandana doesn’t work, then just see how long you can go just following your breath.

Page-a-Day

Get a used book-with words + pictures-and make drawing/collage/cutting on an open 2-page spread-every day for 30 to 60 minutes a day. It could be a favorite book or just one ready for the Good Will. Draw in it every day. Be reminded that this does NOT need to be artistic in the usually accepted way. It’s an exercise of the mind, the eye and the hand. If you simply let it take you anywhere it can take you-sounds perfect…interesting things can happen.

Memory Mind Walk

With paper and pencil/pen, begin then write down the first memory that comes to mind. Don’t do this on a keyboard. Then just allow the next memory to come along and continue to write. Let this happen for at least 1 hour. And if it goes longer…it goes longer! If you want to stop, coax and nudge yourself along for the hour. If the memories stumble and stop, write about something you are feeling in the body in the present.

In this process it’s very possible that you may find something to do or to make or investigate more fully. Go after it. This is part of YOUR story-a story you can make very strong work from and about!

Most Important Object, Place or Person From Your Childhood

What is this? If you are home and can visit this person, place or thing…how fortunate. Design and compose a work around the feelings you have from this stimulous. Any and all materials are fine-and even home goods and maybe you can include these actual people’ places or things in the work-make an installation w/your childhood toys, old artwork, clothes, shoes etc.

The Map

Design and make a map of a journey, a destination, an imaginined or real place, an emotional situation, the circulatory system of the brain, a section of time-past present or future…

Set of Directions with Schematics (images+words)

Design and compose directions about:

How to tie a sneeker, wash your hair, how to count your toes, how to solve algebraic problem, OR a visual cook book of the best recipies etc.

Cash Register Tape

Aquire a paper  cash register roll- Begin to draw…and keep drawing until you reach the end. If you can’t find one, let me know and I can send you one!

Draw the weather, the water, the dirt, the stars….

Design and Construct a Secret

How do you make a work about a secret? How do you reveal something without showing it?

SHOW US!

Make A Puzzle

Find some cardboard-maybe a back from a paper pad, cereal box or regular cardboard-the thicker the better. Draw and paint some complicated or chaotic.-a Jackson Pollock action work? Cut it up into small-ish pieces and have the family do the puzzle. Maybe there could be a secret in this puzzle?

Draw an Argument

Arguments come in a multitude of shapes colors, forms, directions, tones, temprements and temperatures. They can be emotional, intellectual, aggressive, abussive, loving or loosing.

Make a piece about an argument.

The Gift Piece

Make a piece for and about someone very close to you. When you complete the piece, give the piece to them.  For an interesting opposite action: make a piece about someone you don’t care for.

Series Piece-10, 20, 30 pieces

Choose an issue, and idea, a state-of-mind: any issue you feel you can expand-and make 10, 20, 30, 100 pieces about the issue.

OR:

Shape Series Piece

Choose an important object, a special shape and/color color you like. Make 100 drawings on pieces of brown paper bags. 5 inches’ square

Personal Book

Using any and all materials which you find in your current environment, construct a 20 page book about ___________?

Non-Studio Practice

STAY AWAY FROM THE NEWS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

Make cotton face-masks-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1evPjZxx64

Learn how to play Cribbage

Take a shower

Make your bed

Brush your teeth

Wash your clothes and wear them

Stay HUMAN

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The New York Academy of Medicine Library

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Monoprinting with plastic bags and eggshells

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Monoprinting with plastic bags and eggshells

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Dan Tirels  Monoprinting with plastic bags and eggshells ? Recycled art materials.

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The Best Places to Take Ceramics Classes across the U.S.

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The Best Places to Take Ceramics Classes across the U.S.

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As the largest ceramics facility in Washington, D.C., District Clay Center offers 10-week classes in handbuilding and wheel-throwing. The latter tends to be more popular. "People find something magical about working on a wheel and seeing a lump of clay rise up into a beautiful cup or bowl or vase just using their hands," said executive director Cass Johnson. The studio also offers one-night classes, where people can try out throwing for a night and see how they fare, or workshops with esteemed artists like

. Once you sign up for a series of classes, you're entitled to perks like the ability to drop in on other classes, along with free open studios on Sunday afternoons. "Practice, in pottery as in other things, makes perfect-and so we want to give students as much practice time as possible," Johnson added.

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The Best Places to Take Ceramics Classes across the U.S.

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As the largest ceramics facility in Washington, D.C., District Clay Center offers 10-week classes in handbuilding and wheel-throwing. The latter tends to be more popular. "People find something magical about working on a wheel and seeing a lump of clay rise up into a beautiful cup or bowl or vase just using their hands," said executive director Cass Johnson.

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The Evolution of Art (and how it shaped the modern world)

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The Evolution of Art (and how it shaped the modern world)

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The Evolution of Art (and how it Shaped the Modern World)

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Let's Go! Moravian Pottery and Tile Works

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Baltimore Clayworks is a ceramic arts center that brings the world of ceramics to our city and surrounding region through outstanding artistic, educational and collaborative programming. Understanding that art nourishes the human spirit and brings us together, we work in our studios, galleries, classes, and communities to nurture and welcome a diverse community of professional and emerging artists, seasoned potters, and the new learner.

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"the clay studio" "the clay studio philadelphia" "clay studio" claymobile

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The Clay Studio As Philadelphia's only nonprofit solely dedicated to the education and promotion of the ceramic arts, and as one of the world's leading insti...

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The Oregon College of Arts & Crafts: Ceramic Arts Network

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The Oregon College of Arts & Crafts: Ceramic Arts Network

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The Oregon College of Arts & Crafts | CERAMIC ARTS NETWORK

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Penland School of Craft: A Place to Learn

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Penland School of Craft: A Place to Learn

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Penland School of Craft: A Place to Learn

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Anderson Ranch Arts Center: Inside My Studio 

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Anderson Ranch Arts Center: Inside My Studio 

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Some very cool studio visits with some wonderful artists

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Address

Anderson Ranch Arts Center
United States Postal:
Post Office Box 5598
Snowmass Village, CO 81615

Shipping (FedEx and UPS only):
5263 Owl Creek Road
Snowmass Village, CO 81615

Anderson Ranch is an equal opportunity service provider and employer. Anderson Ranch workshops operate under special use permit from the USDA Forest Service, White River National Forest

Contact Us

Phone: (970) 923-3181
Email: info@andersonranch.org

Student Resources

Newsletter Signup

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Address Anderson Ranch Arts Center United States Postal: Post Office Box 5598 Snowmass Village, CO 81615 Shipping (FedEx and UPS only): 5263 Owl Creek Road Snowmass Village, CO 81615 Anderson Ranch is an equal opportunity service provider and employer.

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Louvre Museum Official Website

Highlights

Welcome to the Louvre

There are plenty of good reasons to visit the Louvre! So many works of art to discover in this fabulous museum that used to be a palace! So plan your visit in advance to make the most of it. Why not pick one of our visitor trails to follow a theme-based tour? And when you need a break, where better than the museum's restful gardens?

Louvre at home

Delve into the Louvre

Things to see

On Instagram

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Welcome to the Louvre - prepare your visit, explore the palace and museum collections and check out the latest news

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The first collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, exhibitions, shows, debates, activities for children ... in a mythical architecture, with the most beautiful view of Paris in its heart Marais-Beaubourg

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Portrait Painting on COVID-19 Lockdown - John Singer Sargent Master Copy

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Portrait Painting on COVID-19 Lockdown - John Singer Sargent Master Copy

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Portrait Painting on COVID-19 Lockdown - John Singer Sargent Master Copy

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More options for traditional clay here.

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Air Dry Clay

Air dry clay is a type of no-bake clay that doesn't require a kiln for hardening and finishing. Ideal for hand-built crafts, miniatures, jewelry, cosplay, theatre props, creating 3D graphics, and more, many air dry clays have a long working time before hardening and can be decorated with tempera, oil paints, acrylics, or markers when dry.

Available in many varieties, some air dry clays can be thrown on a pottery wheel, and some are designed especially for making a handprint keepsake, life-like dolls, or home décor items that have faux marble or stone finishes. Some can even be carved, drilled, or sanded.

Shop Blick for top brands of air dry clays and modeling clays such as Amaco and Crayola. Some varieties are intended for more skilled artists, and others are for younger artists who play with clay in art rooms, classrooms, and other learning environments.

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Air dry clay is a type of no-bake clay that doesn't require a kiln for hardening and finishing. Ideal for hand-built crafts, miniatures, jewelry, cosplay, theatre props, creating 3D graphics, and more, many air dry clays have a long working time before hardening and can be decorated with tempera, oil paints, acrylics, or markers when dry.

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You will find many options for traditional clay here.

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Polymer Clay and Oven Bake Clay

Polymer clay and oven bake clay are pliable, versatile, manmade clays that are used by artists and hobbyists to make beautiful jewelry, crafts, dolls, small sculptures, home décor, and more. Because they're non-toxic and so easy to work with, these clays are ideal for younger artists. They can be rolled, shaped, and cut with tools, pressed into molds, and painted, drilled, and sanded after baking. Polymer clay and oven bake clay don't require a professional kiln or oven for curing. Just follow product directions for baking in a home oven or craft oven.

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Polymer clay and oven bake clay are pliable, versatile, manmade clays that are used by artists and hobbyists to make beautiful jewelry, crafts, dolls, small sculptures, home décor, and more. Because they're non-toxic and so easy to work with, these clays are ideal for younger artists.

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George E. Ohr _ The Mad Potter of Biloxi

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George E. Ohr _ The Mad Potter of Biloxi

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George E. Ohr - The Mad Potter Of Biloxi

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Jim Leedy and Tom Harnack Ceramic Workshop

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Jim Leedy and Tom Harnack Ceramic Workshop

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Jim Leedy and Tom Harnack Ceramic Workshop

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52 for 150: What's So Special About Ken Ferguson?

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Jun Kaneko: 2018 American Craft Council Gold Medalist

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Jun Kaneko: 2018 American Craft Council Gold Medalist

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Jun Kaneko: 2018 American Craft Council Gold Medalist

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Paul Soldner 2004 Inductee to the Aspen Hall of Fame

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Paul Soldner 2004 Inductee to the Aspen Hall of Fame

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Paul Soldner 2004 Inductee to the Aspen Hall of Fame

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Midwest Potters: Warren MacKenzie, Jeff Oestreich, Clary Illian, CROSSROADS Episode

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Midwest Potters: Warren MacKenzie, Jeff Oestreich, Clary Illian, CROSSROADS Episode

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Midwest Potters: Warren MacKenzie, Jeff Oestreich, Clary Illian, CROSSROADS episode

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Lisa Hammond: 'A Sense of Adventure' Feature Film about British Potter

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Lisa Hammond: 'A Sense of Adventure' Feature Film about British Potter

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Lisa Hammond: 'A Sense of Adventure' feature film about British potter

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The Most Satisfying Pottery Viseo Compilation #2

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The Most Satisfying Pottery Viseo Compilation #2

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THE MOST SATISFYING POTTERY VIDEO COMPILATION #2

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SATISFYING POTTERY / CERAMICS VIDEO COMPILATION  #ultimate

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The Most Satisfying Pottery/Ceramics Video Compilation

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The Most Satisfying Pottery/Ceramics Video Compilation

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THE MOST SATISFYING POTTERY/CERAMICS VIDEO COMPILATION (100% Relaxing)

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The Most Satisfying Pottery and Ceramic Compilation!

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The Most Satisfying Pottery and Ceramic Compilation!

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THE MOST SATISFYING POTTERY & CERAMIC COMPILATION!

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30 Artist Taking Pottery to the Next Level

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30 Artist Taking Pottery to the Next Level

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30 Artists Taking Pottery To The Next Level

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Lorna Crane is an abstract painter whose work is inspired by the Australian landscape. She makes her own artist's brushes using diverse natural and man-made materials, many of them found at Pambula river mouth on the NSW far south coast.
From deconstructed fishing ropes and nets to feathers, plant roots, grasses and driftwood, each brush is unique, and makes its own unique mark on paper.
Brush-making has brought a new freshness and spontaneity to Lorna's painting, and deepened her connection to the landscape.

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Artist Chuck Close Writes a Letter to His Younger Self

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Artist Chuck Close Writes a Letter to His Younger Self

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Artist Chuck Close writes a letter to his younger self

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Photography of the York Piano Sanctuary by Jane Sage.
'Resettled' is a creative/procedural generative audio remix project, birthed from a piano loop from ‘Railway Spine’s “Damnatio Memoriae”. Inspired by Werner Baer’s arrangement of Jewish hymn “Emet Ki Ata”, a three part string piece by NSW artist Charles Sage and NY composer Scott Archangel was recorded at Infidel Studios NSW by Alex Voorhoeve of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Stems were distributed internationally to seven sound designers and musicians in sequential order, with each participant reworking the arrangements of the previous – “a remix of a remix of a remix”. 
The resulting progression is intended to demonstrate a dispersal of the contribution of The Vanished into Australian musical culture.
https://internecine.bandcamp.com/album/resettled

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Lorna Crane - Internecine: The Vanished Musicians (an inked response)

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Lorna Crane - Internecine: The Vanished Musicians (an inked response)

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Lorna Crane - Internecine: The Vanished Musicians (an inked response)

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Using piano timbers, felt hammers, vintage sheet music, violin strings, reel-to-reel tape and components, Lorna Crane performed a public response to The Vanished Musicians exhibition and story using handmade brushes constructed from the above materials. The work was completed to aged pianola rolls, using coloured ink to the project colour scheme, in her unique calligraphic style.
http://www.lornacrane.com

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Director: Adam Ridley
Producer: Adam Leibowitz
Director of Photography: Gabriel Patay

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Alternative Methods of Ceramic Shaping - The Blast: Adam Zelezny

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Alternative Methods of Ceramic Shaping - The Blast: Adam Zelezny

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Ceramics Master: Lee Hyuang Gu From South Korea

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Ceramics Master: Lee Hyuang Gu From South Korea

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Ceramics master: Lee Hyuang Gu from South Korea

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Arm Knitting - The Fast and Easy Way to Knit a Scarf

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Arm Knitting - The Fast and Easy Way to Knit a Scarf

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Arm Knitting - The Fast & Easy Way to Knit a Scarf!

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Quarentine Challange: Recreate Famous Artworks With Household Items

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Quarentine Challange: Recreate Famous Artworks With Household Items

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Getty Artworks Re-created with Household Items by Geniuses the World Over

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Animate the total work of art.

Oskar Schlemmer's iconic stage production highlighted the interconnectedness of costume, choreography, color, and music.
Performance of these elements expressed the total work of art ( Gesamtkunstwerk), a central principle of the Bauhaus.

Create your own performance

Animate the total work of art.

Oskar Schlemmer's iconic stage production highlighted the interconnectedness of costume, choreography, color, and music. Performance of these elements expressed the total work of art, a central principle of the Bauhaus.

View samples of animated performances inspired by Schlemmer's ballet. To create your own performances, load this page on desktop or tablet.

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Oskar Schlemmer's iconic stage production highlighted the interconnectedness of costume, choreography, color, and music.Performance of these elements expressed the total work of art ( Gesamtkunstwerk), a central principle of the Bauhaus. Create your own performance Oskar Schlemmer's iconic stage production highlighted the interconnectedness of costume, choreography, color, and music.

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Build 3D structures from single sheets of paper, the same exercises that Bauhaus master Josef Albers assigned to his students.

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Art History Timeline: Western Art Movements and their Impact

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Art History Timeline: Western Art Movements and their Impact

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Modernism vs. Postmoderism: a comparison PDF

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Modernism vs. Postmoderism: a comparison PDF

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How to Give your Painting Depth Through Layers: Art with Adele

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How to Give your Painting Depth Through Layers: Art with Adele

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How To Give Your Painting Depth Through Layers / Art with Adele

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Contemporary Art of Today: Materiality & Media

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Contemporary Art of Today: Materiality & Media

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Contemporary Art of Today: Materiality & Media

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Kids can go through a large amount of art supplies. It's wonderful to see them expressing their creativity, but keeping up with the demand can mean spending lots of money and sending too much disposable packaging into the trash. Fortunately, many art supplies can be made at home using ingredients you already have. From paint to clay, beads to glue, you can whip up some new art materials in no time. The following list of homemade art supplies comes in handy when you need an easy solution to bored kids trapped inside by cold or rainy weather or just when you reach the bottom of the paint jar. Most of these materials can be made with your kids, so it's a great way to introduce a DIY ethic and encourage making things from scratch. These ideas are great for crafty adults too!

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Kids can go through a large amount of art supplies. It's wonderful to see them expressing their creativity, but keeping up with the demand can mean spending lots of money and sending too much disposable packaging into the trash. Fortunately, many art supplies can be made at home using ingredients you already have.

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Materiality: Website with WHS student work.

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Materiality: Website with WHS student work.

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This is the first of a series of three pieces exploring materials rather than ideas. High school students were given a wood scrap from a salvaged crate, a shop rag, a piece of chicken wire, rope, twine and a piece of burlap. They were instructed to allow the materials to create an assemblage and to add some sort of embellishment. They were influenced by work and words from Jamey Hart, Wilma Vissers, Tom Duimstra and Kevin Finklea. The artists referenced Richard Tuttle, Charles Harlan, Anna Fasshauer, Judith Scott, Philadelphia Wireman, Blinky Palermo, Suprematism, Neo-Plasticism and Art Concret. I added semiotics to the mix.

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This is the first of a series of three pieces exploring materials rather than ideas. High school students were given a wood scrap from a salvaged crate, a shop rag, a piece of chicken wire, rope, twine and a piece of burlap. They were instructed to allow the materials to create an assemblage and to...

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This was a very fun exploration  based on assembling a sculpture with random, found materials. I surveyed several FaceBook artist friends for the inspiration. I will post the link to their comments and I will post a link to a website with student work. If you choose to do this my advice is to limit your number of materials. Also key is these are about the materials so you would not try to make your piece referential. If you look at my older assignment posted below you don't need to follow the guidelines I set then. You can run with it however, but I think it's best to not be referential with this.

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Material generally denotes substances that will be further processed, it points to the forces of production at the time. From a critical perspective, the term 'material' describes not prime matter but substances that are always subject to change., be it through handling, interaction with their surroundings, or the dynamic life of chemical reactions. It is therefore a political decision to focus on the materials of art: it means to consider the processes of making, and their associated power relations, to consider the workers - whether they are in factories, studios or public spaces, whether they are known or anonymous - and their tools and spaces of production. Materiality is one of the most contested concepts in contemporary art... Make the materials laugh...
Lange-Berndt, Petra, "Introduction: How to be complicit with materials". Materiality: Documents of contemporary art. Co-published by Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press. (2015) (12)

Jamey Hart The following is from a phone conversation.

Material Intention: Put the material first. Look at the material and try to siphon its' intention. Have meaning come from the object as opposed to having an idea first and making a piece about it. (When I asked about the title for a group of work, Cobble Bobble) Hmm... I am not really sure. I made that the album title earlier at the start of this work. The work has changed a lot and I have been thinking about changing the title of that album. But, when I started the work I was very much clumsily navigating the materials again after spending two years doing white paintings that restricted my material/palette/practice. So, coming back to disparate materials was like learning to see again or something. I always liken it to having cake again after not eating cake for a really long time. It was sort of disgusting and made me sick, but also really interesting and I had a completely different respect for it. So, that is where the cobble came from. Bobble just rolled out of that naturally. I really like words and sound a lot and I was reading a bunch of E.E. Cummings at the time and he is a sound guy. Also, the work in the beginning was a lot smaller and more toy like. In my opinion it was a lot less strong than the work I am making today because of various reasons, but that early work definitely forged the way to the more complete paintings I am doing now.

Tom Duimstra The following is from written correspondence.

As for my materials, I guess I would consider myself a post minimal appropriationist. I use pieces of stuff that were, at one time, part of something else. Everyday materials such as fencing, siding, fabric, wire, staples, wood. Sometimes I find a piece of plaster or wallpaper, etc. and just hang it on the wall as is. Richard Tuttle is one influence, but I have many others that a lot of artists have probably never heard of.... Charles Harlan comes to mind as does Anna Fasshauer. The interesting thing about those two is that I was doing like work before I ever discovered them..... same with Judith Scott and Philadelphia Wireman. I have been working like this with these materials for over 30 years. Must be something in the air.

Wilma Vissers The following is from written correspondence.

Materiality of painting objects

Last week I was in my studio and looking at the artworks that are displayed on my walls. My conclusion about them was: I don't often use material that can be called neutral, like paper of canvas which is white.The last years I tended to use pieces of wood, actually found in a wood and cut with a chainsaw by my husband or other pieces like samples of wood used by an interior designer. I also have created some pieces with material Kevin Finklea sends me, and artist from Philadelphia.

The pieces have a meaning and a certain character to start with, which I like. I try to use the structure of the wood and in certain cases use it as it is. I use oil sticks. These are sticks made out of oil paint. I like to draw and not to use a brush to apply oil paint. By drawing I feel more connected with the ideas I have while starting a new piece.The combination of oil sticks, especially on the pieces of wood, cut with a chain saw, maintain their rugged character. Mostly they are adapted to a form which I find exciting. It must appear like it was no effort to create and I just unveiled it like it was always present somewhere.

In other cases, I am inspired by the color combinations and the space certain colors create when used together. This is something I always admired very much in the work of Blinky Palermo. I want to use pure color and hope to evoke an image as simple as can be. I hope that my artworks give space and freedom to the viewer. I don't want to guide this process to much. The viewer should be able to make something out of it without knowing me.

Last Spring I was artist in residence on the Shetlands, an island group very close to Norway. I made long walks and prints on self-made paper, which I had made in my studio at home. The beaches off Shetlands are full with pieces of plastic. I made a few prints with this on the paper I had brought with me.

It seems like I have to use natural materials because off the surprise this brings me and in that way, I feel connected to Richard Tuttle who can make anything out of nothing. That's an attitude I like very much. I am also connected with everyday life much more by the use off the wood and the pieces I find.

Kevin Finkle The following is from the website Geoform.

Pure, simple, direct. These are the guiding principles for my studio.

The wooden work resumed in October 2007 during the run of a solo show in Philadelphia. That was a show of paintings that significantly approached a state of immateriality. At that time, I was consumed by the notion that something of such great personal importance could be so easily discarded. Personal convictions seemed as fleeting and dispensable as daily weather reports: data important now, just for now, largely forgotten tomorrow.

I responded by making painted wooden objects. I needed to make things that were verifiable and tactile to counter the state I occupied. I had left object making for pure painting in the year 2000. In returning to objects, I realized the importance of making work as uninfluenced by past experience as possible. I made painted forms as directly as I could without narratives, memories or other past histories attached to the process. I realized this added the burden of expectation to the work. The pieces simply lost their fresh directness when I tried to bring something from the past into the present process. My guiding rule became: glue it, screw it and paint it.

I have little interest in geometry per se. In fact, it was my single worst subject in my math coursework. It seemed I was never able to get it right. While I am interested in pure form and color, these concerns are almost always manifested in some manner that is neither perfect nor quite right. Never square, my pieces are intentionally off balance. While my work is often seen as minimalist, I would note that I actually reject much of Minimalism's concerns. My thinking has its' sources in Suprematism, Neo-Plasticism, Art Concret. Subsequently my work is heavily influenced by post-war non-objective European painting. Specifically, I would note four German artists: Blinky Palermo, Imi Knoebel, Günther Förg and Frank Badur.

Assignment : On the WRITING page of your WordPress site you are to list the following and objectively describe the work to the best of your ability. I have provided some links to the 4 artists who will be looking at your work in the near future. Most of you are familiar with the 3 types of criticism described in the PA State Standards for Art & Humanities (contextual, formal & intuitive). Even though intuitive criticism is the most common I'm not interested (at this time) in whether you personally like this work or not. You are welcome to refer to what you might read, but do not copy and paste someone else's writing. Describe the work to me as if I have never seen it before and you don't want to influence my judgement. You do not need to include images.

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Material generally denotes substances that will be further processed, it points to the forces of production at the time. From a critical perspective, the term 'material' describes not prime matter but substances that are always subject to change., be it through handling, interaction with their surroundings, or the dynamic life of chemical reactions.

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This is inspired by the Australian artist, Lorna Crane, a Facebook friend of mine. She makes beautiful brushes from found objects and then makes beautiful paintings with them. I have had students do this in class, but it would be easy to make some at home (I think). You can find her on Pinterest under Lorna Crane Brushes. I will attach a video of hers and a photo of some student-made brushes from my class.

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Lorna Crane is an abstract painter whose work is inspired by the Australian landscape. She makes her own artist's brushes using diverse natural and man-made materials, many of them found at Pambula river mouth on the NSW far south coast.
From deconstructed fishing ropes and nets to feathers, plant roots, grasses and driftwood, each brush is unique, and makes its own unique mark on paper.
Brush-making has brought a new freshness and spontaneity to Lorna's painting, and deepened her connection to the landscape.

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Find an empty plast bottle and turn it into a sculpture. When I had students do this in class I shared some traditional doll-like sculptural things such as Kachina Dolls, Corn Husk Dolls, Worry Dolls, Voodoo Dolls and Avatars.

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These structures loosely represent something about each student. They are currently being used in a 36″ square, one-frame comic titled Bottletar and the Heroic. That will be followed by a prequel & sequel in the format of Abstract Comics. The results will form a triptych. Process, sequence, linear, non-linear narrative/story telling, construction and painting come into Play (play with a capitol P).

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These structures loosely represent something about each student. They are currently being used in a 36" square, one-frame comic titled Bottletar and the Heroic. That will be followed by a prequel & sequel in the format of Abstract Comics. The results will form a triptych. Process, sequence, linear, non-linear narrative/story telling, construction and painting come...

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Circle Line Art School: New Tutorials Every Week

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Circle Line Art School: New Tutorials Every Week

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Learn to draw with Circle Line Art School. Visit https://www.circlelineartschool.com to learn more and join my online drawing courses for beginners. My name is Tom McPherson and I post a new how-to-draw video every Saturday. I specialise in perspective and architectural drawings. I also draw optical illusions, landscapes etc.

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How i draw Realistic drops of water - Multiple !

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How to Draw a Nose [Narrated Step-by-Step]

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How to Draw the Mouth & Lips [Narrated Step by Step]