Thursday, April 15, 2010

Gift-Giving Weeks

"All art is a gift.  It is first of all a gift that the maker can do it.  It is then a gift to someone else, whether they pay for it or not."  Robert Genn, The Painter's Key

I have been in the process of making gifts for the past couple weeks.  One piece is for a dear friend celebrating his 80th birthday,  one is for dear friends who are getting married in a couple weeks and the third is a practically designed folder to hold letters to a congressman that a friend asked me to create.

The 80 year old I have known for about 40 years and about 10 years of friendship for the couple. I found the making of these gifts part of a celebration for their lives.  I find it extraordinary that I am able to gift them part of myself in the process of art-making and as I worked, there were memories of our friendships which make the work all the more enjoyable. 

While I am not always able to do this "gifting", this year's slowing down and stepping out of the traffic of constant events and initiating plans allowed me to indulge in this process.  Though I sometimes feel the world is going on without me, I am still convinced that at this season of my life it is "okay" to step back and enjoy some of these activities that have been put aside for some years. 

That doesn't mean I'm not doing any other work.  I am actively pursuing inspiration which is coming from all directions regarding the continued meditation about hours of the day as well as continuing practice in the new process of using acrylic paint. It is energizing to have so many ideas in process; some on the wall and some on the table in my studio.  I hope to share some photos soon so you can see some "in process" work.  Keep checking back!

I also am the new owner of two pieces of artwork I found online while reading blogs about other artists.  I bought one small piece from Whitney Johnson; another from Rachel Smith.  These are young emerging artists who recently completed their degrees in art.  I felt some personal message in each of these pieces and can't wait to get them framed so I can look at them each day, listening to what they will speak to me.  If you want to see their work go to their web blogs:
I love supporting the next generation of artists!

I'm off with my husband to California this weekend to celebrate the 80th Birthday for our friend. Then we travel to our other friends' Wedding a week later to celebrate a marriage.  I'll catch up later on the progress of all those inspirations beginning to happen in my studio.