Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Peg's Challenge

If this is the Northern Pondering Season, as Lynne said, here's an interesting challenge handed to me by Peg, and I urge, (no, beg) you all to join me.

Valerie directed me, ergo us, to this list by painter Kay WalkingStick, as reported by Linda Womack on Serena Fenton's blog. (I hope I got all the acknowledgments right. If not, please let me know.)

What do you ask yourself, about your art practice? What do I ask me, about my art practice?

I have a bunch of questions I ponder from time to time, but believe it or not, I've never collated them into a list, never even thought to do it. (How "listless" of me.) So I was thinking of this yesterday, and mine turned out to be a convoluted, multi-layered, messy job at first mental glance, so I'm trying to simplify it.

The attraction of having a peek at someone else's list is to discover aspects and perspectives I hadn't thought of, and sometimes a different wording makes the question more attractive, or less harsh. And it does give an insight to that artist's outlook/interior landscape, too, a bit.

If you have a "Ask Yourself" list, an art practice check list as it were, and don't mind sharing, please do so, while I ponder about mine.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Meg, I just took up the gauntlet..."our" gauntlet?! Check out my latest post. I'm going out of town till Monday evening so will be away from computers. I look forward to seeing what other responses you get.

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  2. Wow, so quickly... I'm still thinking about them. Maybe I don't have to make it a complete list, but just a list I carry in my head.

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  3. Has anyone else got a list, so I can cheat a little?

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  4. I think the only one I have is from Dr. Seuss:

    "If you never did, you should:
    These things are fun, and fun is good."

    A great statement on the value of trying new things, and the central part of creation: it should (overall, among all the mistakes, frustration, and hard work) be FUN. If it isn't, you're either going stale or doing something that won't interest you in the long run.

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  5. Interesting idea. I'm going to have to think about this. Like you, I have something vaguely in mind, but I've never tried to put it all together. Perhaps if I could, it would help me begin to sort out the "who am I" as an artist. Somehow the journey to discovery is so overwhelming that I seldom know whether or not I'm finding my way.

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  6. Hello, Tien. I do live the way you live; so much gusto, so much joy. And you're right, if it's not fun, ammm.... it's not fun, is it. This one reflects in many aspects of your life, I think.

    Leigh, glad you're in my camp, too. I kind of envy people who can come out straight and say it - it's not that I don't think about it, but I seem to have a question (or two) of the month.

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  7. Hi Meg,

    I wrote a somewhat longer comment in . It's not precisely a list, though - more a thought that perhaps you're framing the question wrong. I think art is less about lists than about joy. (See blog post for details.)

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  8. Tien, I'm going to save reading your post until later - after I finish one more scarf. Meet you there tonight!

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