After the whole bug debacle a few weeks ago I promised myself that I would do a drawing of a fly in graphite pencil. This was to be my redemption drawing; proof to myself that yes, I can draw a housefly. Because I can never leave well enough alone this project somehow turned into a drawing of two flies mating, which then turned into a small series of different species of bugs mating.
I was really fried up about this so I found and printed several reference photos which I then pinned to my bulletin board. I got my paper-cutter out and cut down some of my fancy drawing paper (a.k.a. really expensive paper), and then classes started. I have a nice little stack of paper on my desk with the previously mentioned humping bug images hanging and that is as far as I got. My husband and son have now started referring to the pictures as my “creepy bug born” and both would like to know just what in the hell I am up to. I think I will leave them guessing for a while.
Truth be told, I am thinking this is going to be a pretty slow art month for me. I have two classes this session and this work load usually ends up being about all that I can take on. That doesn’t mean that I am not making art in my head thought!
Making art in my head is actually part of my creative process. Some artists do hundreds of sketches, some fly by the seat of their pants; my process usually looks a lot like me going through the motions of my daily life. I think and stew, sometimes for months, sometimes for days. Before I ever put my hands on so much as a pencil I have completed and art piece from start to finish 100 times in my head. Of course, once I physically begin I get to the messy business of loose sketches and gathering materials, but it always starts in my head.
Speaking of projects living in my head! The reason I am posting today is to tell you all a little about the podcast I am producing and to ask for a little help. I mentioned this briefly last week but thought I would let you all know my plans for the show and get some show ideas from you.
I am a podcast addict. I listen to about fifteen on a regular basis and have around 10-15 additional podcasts that I fill empty moments between new episodes on my favorites with. I listen to it all… history podcasts, science podcasts, comedy, live storytelling, science-fiction… you name it.
In my ever continuing quest for entertainment that drowns out my husband’s snoring at night while I wind down for bed I have listened to a lot of art podcasts. I realize that talking about visual arts for a listening audience is a bit challenging but seriously, there has got to be a more interesting way to do this! Most of the art podcasts I have run across are either hosted by the dreaded art snob, sound like a show someone’s grandma hosts on Sunday afternoon public radio, or are just flat-out boring as hell.
Well, I intend to fix that! My friend Alicia and I talk to each other at least twice a day, sometimes more. We are a bit codependent like that. What on earth can we possibly talk about that much? In addition to complaining about our husbands/ mothers/ fathers/ siblings/ random dorks who piss us off, contemplating the joys and trails of motherhood, or performing the occasional phobia check, we talk about art. I am never bored when I talk to Alicia about art. In fact, we are rather entertained by each other and although we both suffer from that odd condition which makes us thing we are funnier than most others find us to be, we laugh. A lot!
So that is our podcast in a nutshell. OK, not really. We are going to do a mixed media arts podcast, once a week for a half an hour we will talk about mixed media art. Our shows will focus on one topic per episode and we will have projects/demos which will be posted on the podcast’s blog for all to see. Most importantly we are not pretentious douches who feel the need to convince other artist we are better than them. We do not believe that you have to go to art school and receive a fine arts degree to create real art. We are not so elderly that we have forgotten how to have a good time or that creating should be a good time, and I don’t think either of us is boring. We will be ourselves, two arty girls having fun doing what we love to do. There will be some pretty creative swearing, silly stories, general goofiness, and it will be fun!
Now, as I said last week, this is still in the planning phase but we would like to begin recording in March and we want to have as many show ideas stacked up as we can. This my dear readers and friends, is where you come in! What do you want to learn about/hear about? It can be a product, a specific kind of art… whatever, as long as it falls under the giant umbrella of mixed media art. Are there any guests you would like to hear from? Let us know so we can provide an excellently entertaining podcast for you!
