Identifying and Agreeing on an Arts Challenge
Art for me personally, is a means of expression. The book “A Wrinkle in time” discusses the idea of how our language is sometimes inadequate to express certain thoughts, feelings, and ideas. One of the characters sums it up by saying: “Explanations are not easy when they are about things for which your civilization still has no words.” This is where Art (Poetry, Music, Painting, cooking, and much more!) step in, providing a way for us to express our thoughts and emotions, in ways we are not able to by speaking. I also do Art because i find it relaxing, and restorative. There is a simple joy in creating. I love being able to just sit down, with an empty piece of paper and some paints and being able to create! Art is also a process for me, just getting to the point of beginning a piece means there has already been a process in my thoughts, of what I have in mind for that piece and what am i wanting to get out out of my artwork today. Of course it varies on the day, how I’m feeling and so on. Quite often i don’t even plan a piece, i just start creating and see where i end up. Art is also a means of exploration. Whether its exploring nature (something I love doing), or exploring colour, and emotions/ideas. Vincent Van Gogh, once said: “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” I love that! Art and beauty are things that should be shared, and delighted in. I want to find beauty in different surroundings, and I want to express it to others. Its my hope as I keep doing art, that people will be able to look at my pieces; and get a sense of what i was feeling and what i wanted to convey when i painted that. I also want to learn new things about art, and grow in my ability to do art.
My challenge ~
What i would like to challenge myself to do is: The overall aim is to – Create a “mini art gallery”. However in the process of doing this I would like to learn some new art forms. Firstly I would like to learn how to do Silk Painting. I have a little past experience of doing this, I was inspired to do it from my oldest sister, who took up silk painting when I was younger. Secondly I live between UK and the Africa, yet during my time in Africa I’ve have never learnt from the Artisans there about how they do their work. I am going to do two particular workshops, one on African Batik, and the other on Koko Donda (which is basically a type of tie dyeing.) And natural dyeing. I think challenging myself to make an “mini gallery” will be fun, and a learning experience. It will challenge me in my ability to produce art, as i am definitely not very good at keeping myself working regularly. With this goal in mind, I want to challenge myself to be creating at least one thing every day. I am excited to learn new art forms, as i do not have much experience with using different medians/textile art. I want to explore creatively with colour and techniques, using both of them to make my artwork more effective. Through all of this it is my goal to learn. experience new things, and enjoy art as i pursue the goal of growing as an Artist!
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