July 14, 2003
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The Artistic…
…WHAT?
I started to title this, “The Artistic Temperament.” I was thinking that this must have been a bit of what contributed to my irritation over PhuYuck’s comment on yesterday’s blog:
“…time goes by quickly when you enjoy a hobby.”
PhuYuck
Maybe it was partially that… I have been accused of having an “artistic temperament” at times. But this time, the subject wasn’t art, but rather “hobby” versus “work”. I must have been in a touchy mood, to take even mild offense at his assumption that this essential and substantial part of my livelihood is a, “pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in for relaxation.” He is, after all, a professional man, and might be expected to view work that doesn’t require a degree or carry a title or have to be performed on any set schedule, as a hobby. Who knows? Maybe I somehow inadvertently conveyed the impression that I find glue fumes relaxing, or I might have failed to express how time drags by and I have to keep dragging my mind back to the work.
Deevaa’s comment led me to consider titling this blog “The Artistic Imperative”:
“…someone mentioned that painting was a good hobby, when you work 40hrs a week, and then find the time to paint for another 15 – 20hrs it’s not because it’s a hobby.”
deevaa
She understands me, and I understand that drive to find time to force a little art in among the work. That’s why my camera is kept stored in the car so I can’t forget to take it with me, and why I force myself to pull off the highway and record the passing beauty. It is also why, as I sat there the last couple of days, gluing bell caps on bits of stone, hanging dangle after dangle on earwires, and putting pairs of earwires on display cards, my eyes and mind kept straying to the pile of new materials waiting to be turned into… whatever–anything but earrings.
“I have heard that artists have to be in the mood to do their thing.”
leone
Maybe it works that way for other artists. It’s probably true for me in some cases. I don’t necessarily have to be in any particular mood to snap a photo of a beautiful scene… or maybe the beauty puts me in the mood. What happens most often for me is that when the mood hits me, I HAVE TO “do my thing.” It’s one reason I choose not to have a job. A regular job would get in the way of my art.
“I love the way loose stones of the same type feel in your hands…cold and smooth.”
JennyG
Working with stones is the redeeming feature to the work on the earrings. I love rocks and gems. Minerals fascinate me. I get a thrill thinking about the way tiny crystal filaments of titanium dioxide form in underground cavities, and then silicon dioxide crystallizes over and around them to form rutilated quartz… and the way minute amounts of “impurities” make the difference between smoky quartz, rose quartz and amethyst… and how in the world do we get AMETRINE?! I wanna be there, I want intensely to SEE how it happens. Stones ROCK!
Greyfox told me about a magazine article he saw, about actor Robert Vaughn. In his dressing room, he had two photos of himself stuck in the frame of the mirror. The one of Vaughn playing Hamlet was labeled, “art”, and the one of him as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was labeled, “commerce”.
My documentary photography is art. Through it, I express my appreciation for God’s creation. Some of the shots I take of family and pets are just a hobby, I guess, just done for fun. None of it has been commercial yet, but I’ve won some amateur competitions, and have some vague, half-baked plans for a calendar someday. Dontcha think I could come up with 12 suitable scenic shots?
Most of my writing is art. I have some commercial hopes for the memoirs, but the important thing is documenting it, expressing myself, recording the path by which I came to be where and who I am. The “psychic” part of the readings I do is definitely art, although sometimes putting it into words for people to understand is pure drudgery, some of the most demanding work I do. I do it because it has to be done. What use would the readings be if I didn’t express those impressions I get? Art or commerce, none of my writing is a hobby.
My jewelry work is both art and commerce. The art is in my design work, the necklaces, bracelets and some of the beaded earrings, the altar pieces, wands, and such. Those blasted stone dangle earrings stop being relaxing as soon as I put away the piles of sorted, paired and unpaired stones. I spend many relaxed moments in wintertime, at the table, picking through the spread-out stones under a bright light, finding matching pairs, but if it were not part of the job, I wouldn’t be doing it, so it’s not a hobby.
Then in summer, when I can open a window and get a fan going to blow away the glue fumes, I turn the pretty stones into dangly adornments for tourists. That’s commerce: it helps support the family, it allows me to buy more stones to sort and more components for my artistic jewelry work.
BTW, thanks for the comments, everyone.
Comments (11)
I think it is no accident what we do to make money is usually called a “Job.” As I have aged I have learned to enjoy at some level all that I do, that keeps me happy in the moment and an artist with many skills to share. I am learning to pretend that everything is of equal value to me- and everything I do matters to someone. I hope today was restful.
Love and Light
Mara
You know, I can’t add anything to this. But I didn’t want to just read it and leave no comment. (I know it’s lame) Excellent discussion creative work.
Every housewife should try to find a creative outlet.
I really enjoyed reading this. I admire you.
an artist I admire (who earns enough painting on a few paintings a year to ONLY be an artist) once said, art (painting) is fun when you are learning, but after that, it becames hard work.
Ah, but Roadrunners are less sensitive to the words people use to describe things and feelings, knowing that we all only THINK we understand each other EXACTLY. That’s as it should be. But occasionally even we roadrunners can get artistically oversensitive, like when our choice of avocation is belittled, so I may, or may not, know what you mean. Still, I doff my runner’s cap to you and all the art practitioners on Xanga. Boy, I don’t know how that word ‘practitioners’ will go over with artistic temperaments, but we roadrunners live on the edge.
They do look gorgeous. Did you finish Harry Potter yet?
One of the things that I love about you, is your extraordinary ability to write exactly how you see things, with out spicing the words (or tainting them) with that ultra brown nose bs* that so many people tend to do.
You mean what you say, you say what you mean, and without cryptic blah blah.
God, I love you.
Of all the blogs that you’ve written, I think that I relate to this one the most.
Thank you much!
“Stones rock” ??? oh………susu……..you are SO bad. hahhaha!
and am laughing my ass off over the comment left by dingus…..and laughing harder at imagining your reaction to it…….
oh and yes, dear heart…….Lucky’s catching up today. You ready??