A Wednesday Idea Crazy Or Otherwise.

Long Series #35. (?)

I’ve been finding it hard to find the time to work on my own Wednesday Idea projects, and I guess the simple excuse is that we are actually getting a spring season on Prince Edward Island this year. Usually what happens is that we have a very long winter and then one day in late June summer arrives. With spring comes many household chores, and also I find myself outdoors enjoying the warmth and sun.

So my idea this week is really something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile. I’m going to make a career list. Things I need, and want to do that concern my work as an artist. I’ll write up a list of ten things that I should do to advance the non-art making side of being an artist. I wonder where to start, and is there such a thing?

A Wednesday Idea. Crazy Or Otherwise.

A Wednesday Idea.

I’ve decided to change things up a bit. I’ve been doing a Wednesday List Of Ten Things I Like, but I feel it’s been getting a bit stale, and I’m running out of things I like. So my new idea for Wednesday is A Wednesday Idea. Crazy Or Otherwise. So here goes!

My idea is a bit crazy, and it’s been done. The artist Andre Cadere is the inspiration. My idea is that I will take a piece of wood 1-metre long, and turn it into an artwork. Paint it, carve it, cut it, wrap it, whatever I wish to do, and make it into something that could be considered art. After I create the piece of art I’ll take it for a walk and leave it somewhere it can be found. I’ll record the event and post it on my blog. There are some rules I have set for myself.

1. I will start with a piece of wood 1-metre long, and make it into art.

2. I will record the process of making it into art.

3. I will take it for a walk and leave it so it might be found.

4. I will post images of the artwork, the walk, and where it’s left.

5. I will hope someone finds it and realizes it’s art and takes it home.

Does anyone want to follow this idea as well and let me know about it?

A Wednesday List Of Ten Things I Like.

Studio.

This is not a top ten list, but rather a totally random list of things I like in no particular order.

1.  Artist Studios. One of my favourite places is my studio, and something I really enjoy about other artist’s blogs is getting the chance to see inside their studios. I find it reassuring to know that mine isn’t the only messy one.

2. Counting To Ten. Some days I find it great that I learned how to count to ten when I was a child. There are so many times when I have to stop take a deep breath and count to ten, and sometimes having learned to count to 20 comes in handy too.

3. Visualization. Sometimes I can sit and imagine how a painting will work if I do a certain thing to it. I can see how it might look if I put a certain colour in a certain place. I guess I know how I work, and what I will do. Now if I can only get my hand to know this.

4. Colour Samples. I was having a tough time getting started on a painting. I wanted to paint squares of colours on a canvas, and the colours I had to paint were very odd. So I went to the hardware store and selected a group of colour chart samples and brought them home. Rather than paint the squares I’m going to collage them on the canvas.

5. Post Cards. I’ve always enjoyed post cards, and recently I started work on a post card that I’m exchanging with a friend in England. He’s making me one, and I’m making him one. Soon it will be in the mail. Fun project.

6. The Backside Of February. Soon this hardest of winter months will be over. I know that March can be rough, but I know that sometime in March a day will come that reminds me of spring. Good-bye, February, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

7. Open Windows. On that spring-like day in March everyone on the Island will probably do the same thing. We will open every window in the house and happily breathe fresh air for the first time since November.

8. Digital Cameras. I love digital cameras. As an artist life has become almost too easy when it comes to recording images of my work and studio life. When I think back to the chore and expense taking slides used to be, it almost seems like a piece of Steampunk fiction.

9. Cardboard Boxes. I’m always struck by how beautiful a cardboard box is. They are works of art, and of course they have been explored by many artists. But it’s as a father that I’ve really come to appreciate cardboard boxes. When the kids are bored I just give them a box and let their imaginations run.

10. Curators. I’ve not worked with too many curators over the years, but my most recent experience working with a curator was so rewarding I now wish I had one on hand at all times. I’m not saying that I should keep one locked away in a cupboard…that would be wrong. But it would be nice to have access to a few more on Prince Edward Island. So if you are or know any curators who have ideas of what to do with over a thousand 12×12 inch paintings drop me an email!

A Wednesday List Of Ten Things I Like.

This is not a top ten list, but rather a totally random list of things I like in no particular order.

1. Misremembered Memories. I really think that most memories are really just patched together bits of many memories. The other day I had a vivid memory of trees that I used to play around when I was a kid. The trees are long gone, and though the memory was happy, I now think that the trees themselves had a gloomy, sad, and sinister quality to them. Of course this too could just be another misremembered memory. Or not.

2. Side Walk Plows. Sadly we have far too few of these in Charlottetown, but they do a great job cleaning our sidewalks…eventually. It’s been a few days since our last heavy snow and some parts of the sidewalks on our street are passable. For the rest we walk in the street with the cars and trucks.

3. Boots With Good Treads. I find that when I have to walk in the street because the sidewalks are covered in snow that it comes in handy to have heavy treads on my boots. They help keep me out from under the passing cars.

4. The Jack Frost Festival. This weekend we went to our 1st Jack Frost Festival in Charlottetown. Essentially it’s a winter carnival, and it was far better than I was expecting. My daughter loved it, and she burned off a lot of energy going down ice slides, skating, climbing through snow tunnels, and just running around. It was a great wintertime distraction.

5. Meatloaf. During the grinding last few months of winter I find that meatloaf is one of the great comfort foods. It’s sort of like eating a giant hamburger, which reminds me of summer, and it is filling. Which is a comforting fact as I head out into the snow. It also makes a great sandwich.

6. Sketching. I’ve always enjoyed sketching. I guess I enjoy sketches because I rarely show them, and they often end up being other things. Sketching is a form of limbering up, relaxing, and working things out. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that writing a list can be considered a form of sketching.

7. Planning. I’m always planning things. Sometimes the things I’m planning are years in the future and may never occur. Sometimes I’m planning things I meant to do yesterday and may never occur. But more often than not the stuff I plan is arts-related and sometimes occurs. I like plans, and if they don’t work out exactly like I planned that’s okay.

8. Ideas. Good ideas are hard to come by. Sometimes I think I have a new idea, but often I discover that someone thought of my idea first. Actually this really only applies to good ideas. Bad ideas are often very original, sometimes dangerous, and I seem to have an unlimited supply of bad ideas. But just because an idea has been done doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it and run with it.

9. Hope. I spend a lot of time hoping for things, and they are odd things at times. I find myself hoping that paint will dry faster, and sometimes I hope it will dry slower. I often hope paint stains will come out of my clothes, especially when they are new clothes. I often hope things will come in the mail, other than bills of course.

10. The First 10 Seconds Of A Song. I like when the first 10 seconds of a song are great. I find that it means the rest of the song is probably going to be good. I find that if the first 10 seconds of a song are bad then the rest of the song will probably be bad too.

A Wednesday List of Ten Things I Like.

Messy.

This is not a top ten list, but rather a totally random list of things I like in no particular order.

1. Super Bowl Sunday. I always enjoy Superbowl Sunday. I like knowing about the half time show, and I look forward to seeing the commercials. I’m interested in who the bookies are saying will win. I like the food and drink. I just never actually watched the game.

2. Happy accidents. Sometimes when I’m painting things can get a bit out of control. Sometimes paint will spill. Sometimes these accidents end up being incorporated into an artwork, and whenever someone comments on these happy accidents I say “I meant to do that.”

3. Sunlight reflecting. Slowly the sun is inching higher above the horizon, and when it’s sunny and there is snow on the ground the sunlight reflects in the most amazing ways, and makes even the darkest space seem bright.

4. Paying Bills. An odd one I know. No one really likes paying bills but if you’ve paid your bills then at least you are still able to, and the way the world is going it seems to be getting harder and harder for all but the top 1% to pay their bills.

5. Dripping Paint. I like dripping paint, and I like to watch it run across paper or canvas. I never know where the paint may go. Sometimes the results are bad, but every once in awhile the results are great.

6. Hats. I’m a big fan of hats. I like hats with ear flaps, brims, peaks, and sometimes logos. Now if only I looked good in hats.

7. Cows. There are so many things I like about cows. I like the look of them, but mostly I like how they taste. I like their milk. I like the butter and cheese that is made from their milk. I like the leather that is made from their skin, and there are some songs that are made better by the inclusion of their bells.

8. M&M’s. Pure pleasure in a candy form. Probably not very good for me. But did I mention they are pure pleasure in a candy form.

9. Simple Things. I like when things are simple. I like when the TV has only one remote. I like when I can go from point A to point B. I like when I can turn something on by pressing a button that says ON. Keep it simple, life is too complicated as it is.

10. Good Graffiti. I come from a town that has probably some of the least talented graffiti artists in the world. There is not a single piece of interesting graffiti in this town, and what there is, is simply bad, and lazy. There is always going to be graffiti, it’s in human nature to make marks on things, especially if those things are walls, fences, posts, buildings, signs, and garbage cans. So if you’re overcome by the urge to spray paint the fence across the street from me, can you at least give it some thought?