Diana Trout's blog

Paper and a Book

Playing with the lovelies

An orchestra of pattern

Pulling you in on one path and out an unexpected route.

And these from the Paper Source

To make this

A photo of the lovebirds to be added on the cover

Craftsmanship in Art

Amazing set of comments on Wednesday's post. I hope you'll read through. Now here's the sticky question: how do you manage to improve your craft without freezing yourself with thoughts of "I'm not good enough and I'll never be good enough."? 

Boo writes that she is "accused" of being a perfectionist. Yeah, me too. I ignore those folks and see it as craftsmanship. (And btw, I've responded to all of your comments but they aren't showing up in the list - did you get my replies?)

If you can view other's artwork and craftsmanship as an inspiration to you, this is a good thing. It pushes you forward to make your work speak stronger. Alonquin notes that she's worked hard on her drawing skills over the years and used to confuse this skill with talent. I believe that talent is part of the human condition: it is a desire to communicate (in any artform). The craftsmanship (drawing, for instance) can be learned. Artists are often described as craftsmen in terms of their draftsmanship or drawing. 

I knew a little girl - all grown up now. She would sing at the top of her voice off-key. It may have been torturous for some but to me it was delightful. A big joyful sound. Someone finally told her that she sang off key and that was the end of that glorious song. She could have learned if someone had taken the time. It still breaks my heart.

I loved Jill's story as well. Beautiful Oops by Jamie Lee Curtis is her recommendation and she read it to her children. Beautiful. Karen makes the distinction between a critical eye and a judgemental eye. Read her comment! 

Jeannie has a fabulous story as well about her carpenter-father. Oh my. There is much more to be said. Sing it, sisters! 

Note: I'm devoting my art time on my embroidery craftsmanship. It hasn't stopped me from working on my new art pieces. I'm just slowing down, experimenting and learning 

Perfectionism and Craftsmanship

Perfectionism and Craftsmanship is a topic I've been wanting to bring up for awhile now. I've given this a lot of thought over the years. Shall we discuss? This will be posted in the Taming the Critic category.

From Anthem, by Leonard Cohen

A perfectionist, as I define it, constantly criticizes her work. The notion that the work is not perfect inhibits the individual's ability to show her work or take any pride in it. This harsh attitude brings the creative process to an abrupt halt, you can't progress in your craft. I'm not sure about this, but I think it's a confidence issue. 

A devotion to craftsmanship is the artist's ability to look critically at her work and and see what could be improved and how. I take great pride in my craftsmanship and deeply respect it in others. The craft in everything from writing, to dance, to music to painting inspires me to better my craftsmanship. Craftsmanship = practice.

Here is the link to the original post on Taming the Critic. If you click on Taming the Critic under Categories in the sidebar, you'll have all of the posts in this topic. 

This post just touches the surface of my thoughts on this. I have more posts planned delving a bit further. And I'm sure many of you will have lots to say :)

In the meantime, the chorus of Anthem by Leonard Cohen is quite thought-provoking

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in anything
That's how the light gets in

 

Art Journaling is a Verb

A Toni Morrison quote today for you. She's so wonderfully rich, isn't she? And the quote from this post is from Richard Iannelli. Feel free to use these quotes with abandon.

Because I Dream

I have fallen into the habit of making backgrounds in my journal while working on art projects and then - days or weeks later - pulling out all of the journaling supplies for a few days and just working through. This process is working for me right now. I need more time to moodle with things. 

little secrets/hidden under/dreaming then coaxed

And parallels ... I've been working on some papercloth pieces and finding, in the painted papers, bird shapes. The birds are already in the paper, I just need to find them - look carefully. 

Notes on materials: The top page background came while I was doing Gelli Prints recently. The stencil was goopy so I stuck it in the journal and made a print then some ink spray. Rub on letters, portfolios smeared, pen and collage. Because I Dream: the illustration was done awhile ago. Then some caran d'ache was smeared around. Marker, inktense pencils and the little black book with some gel pens.

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Immortal Bird Released in Trade Paperback

Critical Doodling

Another Taming the Critic post ... 

I don't know about you but December is a busy time of year round these parts. There are last minute deadlines and much distraction in the Red & Green form. Journaling gets a bit neglected.

So here's an idea. Pull out your colored pens and your notebook or journal and leave them out (high up, if necessary) and doodle when you have a spare 10 minutes.

{By the way ... there are loads of books on doodling and Zentangling as it is all the rage. There is no right or wrong with doodling: just take your pen for a walk. Just watch any 9 year old.

We're way past the notion that your journal pages need to be beautiful and accomplished and Art, right? Ha. Anyway, here's a beautiful gift to give yourself: doodle and don't care. I had an interesting conversation with myself last night:

M(e): I want to stitch on felt.

C(ritic): You have too many other things to do.

M: I wanna make some felt ornaments

C: How about those 3 artworks you need to finish before the end of the year and the afghan you are making? How about THAT?!

M: You know what Mr. C? Just don't ask. I'm not interested.

J(the husband): What are you doing now?

M: making felt ornaments

J: Cool. 

Have you had similar conversations with your critic? I'd love to hear them.

So yeah! ... make some felt ornaments or doodle or get out a bunch of stickers and stick 'em in your journal or paper scraps and make a bunch of tags in your journal. Keep it small, keep it do-able. Give yourself a gift. XO Diana

Tame Your Critic with Collage

Do you love paper a little too much? I adore the stuff. In any color, size, pattern; old and new, tattered and yellowing, crisp and fragrant; handmade, junk mail, envelopes, labels. My studio reflects this. How about yours?  There are boxes of paper stored everywhere in my house.

Let's do some 5 minute collage and use up some of that stash. 

I just keep a box of loose paper - intentionally disorganized because it is such fun to see what will happen. Dip in and grab what you want without thinking: look quickly and make instinctive choices. Then glue 'em down. Try to do this in 5 minutes. Set your timer! Yeah, not so easy, is it? Try it again. 

You may sometimes feel, as I do, reluctant to just use up your paper. I try to keep in mind that there is plenty out there. When you sit down to play with art supplies, it doesn't have to Become Art. I usually regard this sort of play in the same way as you would a sandcastle: impermanent, unprecious. And you can cut these up and use them in your journal, returning them to collage fodder. 

I've been painting over some of these collages to push them further. Using pencil and crayon to scribble. There may be another round of collage. Who knows? Just move forward. 

Taming the Muse

Teddy's Afghan

Remember when we were talking about being an Inspiration Addict, here? My chosen medication was to stitch up a big pile of granny squares and make an afghan. Plain old granny squares - not 15 different kinds. 

I used the same crochet hook, the same pattern.  My hand dipped into the basket of yarn and came out with random colors. And I used that color (most of the time, that was a bit hard). I didn't think about what I was doing but instead thought "What Am I Doing?" in a larger LIFE sense. So even though Teddy thinks I made that afghan  just for him, I know better. It was about intent. My intent was to make a blanket and to make some space for myself. A warm space without constantly re-inventing and designing and creating. Without massive amounts of thought and study and learning. Just dip in and keep going. And thinking. 

Do you ever feel like telling your muse to just go away? Too many ideas flooding your mind? Never a quiet moment or space between thoughts? 

I'm not 100% back yet but am getting there. Creating that new normal. Going to yoga and bellydancing. I was absolutely amazed to find myself balancing on one foot this week! My focus is returning. I'm finally getting to the physical therapist as my ankle is still giving me a lot of trouble. Beginning to learn to meditate. Resting each day. Sleeping 8-10 hours every night. 

Later this week - or possibly next week? (one eyebrow raised) - I will have a free video tutorial up on making fabric cloth as a prelude to my next online class which will be a Longstitch binding class. 

Inspiration Addict

I am a sucker for inspiration. OOOOOO! Isn't that cool, beautiful, clever, magical?! OOOO! I wanna do THAT! 

But wait a minute ... what about all of the ideas that I already have? Chopped liver? REALLY?

I sat down the other day with my journal, a pen and a pile of index-worthy scraps. I found loads of ideas right there and didn't need my computer or a book. 

The de-stash is going well. I've winnowed my fabrics down to about a third of what I had. Ruthless, I am. The rubber stamps that have been taking up a ton of space are outta here. I am down to my handcarved, a couple of sets of alphabets and a few miscellaneous. Just what I use for art journaling and classes. 

If you are in the Philadelphia area, come to the de-stash giveaway event, Sept 22. Let me know if you are interested. I will send you the info. Nothing for sale, bring what you want to give to someone else and we'll all get this stuff to anyone who wants or needs it. Not me, though :)

Doing more with less.

Creative Revolution {September '10}

My friend Karen says, "Art is natural to the human condition."
And furthermore ...
Creativity is natural to the human condition
Let's just say that. Out loud. Yep, right now.

You may not be quite ready yet to claim "I am creative." There is no sense in forcing yourself to say something that you don't believe. Yet.

Creativity is something you need to foster. You just really need to be brave. You are probably already being creative but not giving yourself credit.
Creativity is just like a muscle: use it and build it up.
Creativity has really nothing to do with talent. I'm not sure what the heck "talent" is. I think it may be desire. Here is a piece of an email I received from a new facebook friend:


"I have absolutely no experience in art. When I was about 8 or so I begged to go to an art day camp and it was disastrous. The teacher told me I'd never be an artist because I couldn't "get" perspective, ... etc. I was 8!  I've always been easily discouraged and painfully sensitive to criticism ... . I'm 59 years old now and finally jumping in. I've always felt as if I've been deprived of something very special--like I got all the desire to be creative, but none of the talent. But, now I do have a lot of confidence. I know that I can do it as long as I take things slowly and stop each day before I get frustrated."
Thank you Xylia for sharing this with me. 


Xylia's words spoke so triumphantly to me. How about you? My life path was not strewn with roses, I had to win back my innate creativity. This is why I blog and teach. To support your own quest to reclaim your creativity.

So right here, right now I'm startin' the 

Creative Revolution 

I'm not completely sure what kind of path this will take yet. For the moment, once a month, on or about the 15th, I will set out an idea. It could be anything: a simple journal entry (see below), a recipe prompt, a nudge to be more creative when you get dressed in the morning. These nudges will be simple, 5-minute (or more, if you'd like). They will be something that can very easily be incorporated into your day.

I'll set up a Flickr group for you to respond to these prompts (as soon as I can figure out a good name for the group, any ideas?).  

Here is the first Nudge: a journal prompt:  

Take a handful of fabric or paper scraps, a glue stick or double stick tape and your journal.

Play and arrange and then, here's the scary part: stick 'em down.

That's it. Go on! What are you waiting for? Stand up, walk away from the computer. If you 

are at work, take 5 and scoot around, look for paper scraps, paperclip them together and get 

them glued down when you get home. Skedaddle!

Your input, as always is welcome! Got an idea, leave a comment.