Happy New Year! My Goal Ahead for 2009-

To lead the life of an Artist again!
I will not list my resolutions here, I know what they are - and what needs to be done! But I hope during this year they will shine through..
The following words got me really thinking towards the end of 2008; they are by Peggy McDowell, fellow Artist. Enjoy:-

Artists are an odd lot. I had a college professor that said it was a
curse. You just had to live with it. If you had it and you didn't do
art, you would go crazy, so you might as well do the best art you
possibly could. I think he was right.

To me, a good artist is one who can look at the ordinary and see
something extraordinary and then put that vision into a visual form so
that others can see it too. I think that this age of technology has put
tools in the hands of many people who look at the ordinary, do not see
anything extraordinary but figure they will reproduce the mundane simply
because they can. It has flooded our visual world with so much that is
not art. It is presented as art and promoted like art, but the
extraordinary isn't there.

I think there will always be a demand for the real artist. It doesn't
matter if you paint or draw or use a camera or a computer. If you are
seeing extraordinary things and have the skill to somehow recreate what
you see and feel, you will succeed. People do know the difference.
They might not know how to describe it, but they do recognize that
unique experience that takes your breath away for a moment when your
eyes are opened and you see. Aha! Artists bring the world the "Aha"
moment.

I am working on the oddest project right now. I was asked to do this
because the person who asked me knows I can give him the "Aha"
experience. He is giving holiday presents to the Bigwigs at Target
Dept. stores. He chose old Time magazines from the 60s and
70s...specific ones, each unique, 10 in all. The covers are a history
lesson...JFK, RFK, Howard Hughes, Bill Moyer, Ralph Nader, etc. Each
one chosen for a specific person. Then, he wrote a rhyming riddle of
clues for each one. I am supposed to wrap each magazine in brown paper
and print out the riddle and attach it to the front of the package.
Then, I am supposed to illustrate in a whimsical manner, images and
clues that go with what is inside. During what I am assuming is a very
extravagant drinking and dining party, each person will have to guess
who is on the cover before they are allowed to open their gift. I think
it is a pretty damned clever idea. It is certainly something that these
business people in their positions of power haven't gotten before. They
will have a bit of history, a piece of original artwork, and a chance to
be witty and interact with one another. An extraordinary way of looking
at the ordinary. And as a business move, something they will never forget.

When civilizations fall to ruin, the things that survive that tell us
who they were are the works of the artists. Like the crickets in the
grass, we will always be somewhere doing what we were born to do.

Hugs, Peggy


So full steam ahead for us all, Artist, Teacher, Business owner, Nurse, child. We are all part of the Human race!
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