Coffee & Deep Thoughts

 Cruising my favorite internet comics can be quite insightful. Like this on at http://joegp.blogspot.com/2009/07/navigating-coffee-shops.html  Joe writes the Comic  featuring Talking Guinea Pigs. Internet comics are great inspiration for me but the deep thoughts are even better.  Joe wrote and experimented with working on his comic in public. Working in public, such a simple subject, but for artists this is a leap. We go out into the work, most of us…LOL! and gather our inspirations, photos, and sketches and boogie back to our little art spaces and build. Its very “Mad Scientist sometimes…

 Joe’s article got me thinking about it more and more.

Before I married I painted in public, it was always a social spark. Lots of talking to people while painting. It was wonderful. I learned so much about people and about myself.  It shaped the art.  Of course the energy of the crowd is nice. Also a distraction. So planning what to paint helped. Since I could not take too much with me I had to think about what I needed ahead of time. Again planning. With 10 themes in my head, supplies packed and ready. I hit the streets feeling comfortable. Would have been a mess with folks talking to me and I actually had to think. * giggle* 

Painting at home I would diddle around more because I had everything at my disposal and the ideas of what to create came slower without the push to plan ahead.  I produced different art too. There is a truth and a burden to being exposed as an artist in public. I naturally simplified, didn’t try to get fancy, just painted clean and quick. 

Where at home I would get inside my own head more. In public, I couldn’t hide my techniques and I often saw them from the public’s point of view, it helped refine them. Also I found people ask great questions, ( Okay and not so great ones too, but it wasn’t illegal to be a stalker in the 80’s…unless you were stalking someone famous) I couldn’t hide away and let the art speak for me, I was forced to hear and take into account the publics opinion of  a piece before it was done. ( or work faster! LOL!) and all mistakes are public too.  Sometimes I would get into a groove where everything was falling into place and have to stop to sell something or answer a question and I would lose my mojo, ending painting for the day. 

All that said, I found it to be the best for my art and my soul. I think I sold less art for art sake than for the experiences that were shared. I mean, more people bought what I painted for a memento  of the moment than because they LOVED the art. For some artists that could be a sticky point. It was for me sometimes, but for the most part I didn’t take it too seriously. Working through interruptions helped me conquer my artist temperament.  Eventually, interruptions or a creepy person hanging around didn’t bother me at all so much! LOL!

Now I create in the middle of our noisy, fur filled house. Practically in the front doorway. I like being able to just crane my head around the monitor and see the kids in the kitchen, the dogs sleeping in the living room or running upstairs right in front of me. I can hear Jack picking out a tune on his guitar upstairs at night. I am perfectly positioned so when Harvey Dane launches himself into a run for the door I can grab it open as he goes by. I feel like I am a part of this crazy household even though I am carving out some time of my own. I have learned that 5 minutes without an interruption only happens between 3-5 am and even then the pets acclimate to my awakeness so it the kerfluffle just starts earlier. I get pretty used to the interruptions, its becoming a vital part of the process. I now save more and walk away. It gives me perspective.  All this makes me wonder if I would again enjoy working in public?

Its a lot tougher to paint in public, now than in the 80’s. Permits, forms, requirements, its daunting, so I probably won’t. 

Logistically I could see blogging in a public coffee house or cafe.  Easy. My laptop is powerful enough to handle a few more programs to make that happen. It would need an upgrade to hold Photoshop and I have no clue how it would hold all the goodies I need to store to be flexible enough to design in public. So that is out. The thought of setting off with the laptop loaded with a few scrapkits, camera, and basic Photoshop and just start taking pictures of people and scrapping on the fly, sounds inviting.  It could be part public experiment,  part quick draw scrapping. I only started learning Photoshop in January of this year so refining my skills could be good. As with painting all those years ago, I dawdled at home quite a bit! * smile *

I like this idea. 

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Remember me talking about the Painted Bunting?  Well I am bound and determined to get a picture of this little fella! I even built this layout to house his picture. He keeps showing up but my pictures do not have him in it. I have my set up fixed with the tripod, camera with settings focused on the seed plants he likes to eat but he sees me going for the camera and flies off. Little Monster!!

I could build a blind in the yard and get this picture but I am too lazy to do that. In my pre-flylady days I would have taken an entire day to do just that, but then there wouldn’t be dinner, the dogs would not get food, my children wouldn’t…hey, my boys would learn how to build a blind to watch wildlife from…hmmm. Tempting…very tempting…

Its ON birdie!

I turned around to check the camera and Man! There he is! Speak of the Devil!

Be back…

Jodiann