Changing colors

As you can tell from my Blog back ground I am attracted to blues and purples of all shades, but just lately I find myself more grabbed by yellow.
Not dull butterscotch orangish yellows or pale buttercreme yellows, but rather those bright vibrant wake your eyeballs up yellows. The kind that are not quite safety/highlighter yellow but rather those super saturated lemon and marigold yellows.
I find this odd. I had a favorite dress when I was about 5-6 that was yellow. and a few year later I had some bright yellow patent leather shoes. But at some point somebody told me yellow was not my color at all. I should never wear it as it made me look vaguely ill. greenish and such.
So Maybe this just means I come to a place in my life where I no longer care what something makes me look like when I wear it. It just has to be comfortable and make me happy.

Why do we create?

I think I create because I can not not create. I do not create for the pleasure of others, though I do get pleasure when others appreciate what I create. I do not create for money, but I do sell many of my creations. I am not an ephemeral artist, that my art and crafts have an endurance beyond a few moments or even years is important to me.
Today for the first time I entered my art in a gallery show. It is not a juried show, but it is an honest to goodness gallery. I find myself with mixed feelings about it. Like I have abandoned my children. Like I am feeling a little egotistic as why my work is worthy. Like I am proud of my work because the reception I got from those setting up the show was very positive.
Still the motivation is internal.
I want to create because creating is part of who I am and what I do.
That other people enjoy it as well is just a bonus.

Selling Innovation

Sometimes I get ideas that are rather outside the mainstream. Either its something no one locally has done or something no one has done and either case leads to a dilemma. How do you sell something that is different? Most people want something they are familiar with. They can look at and know what it does and where it fits into their lives. But something new has to be explained.
Over and over and over again. Each time selling it with as much or more enthusiasm than the last 49,000 times.

One of the problems is that if I fail to make a sale I feel like I am not communicating as clearly or as detailed as I should. But others I know take a different approach. Give it a catchy name and hot slogan and eye catching packaging.

But I want people to buy my things because they do understand the thing they are buying. It just takes more time and energy and enthusiasm to make that happen. It also makes it difficult for my partner to make a sale when I have to take a quick break.

Elements of chaos and elements of entropy

I have found when creating things there is a point in which I give up control and let things happen. Marbling, splatter painting, anything really where the application of form or color is loose, and the results might be unexpected.
Then the artist eye has to decide if it works or doesn't and keep or reject or maybe deconstruct and reuse that which was being created.

There are also time like firing clay or maybe other times when entropy may gain the upper hand and your work is destroyed. Other external forces like flood, earthquake or fire can destroy all our efforts as well. Or the accidental destruction when something merely falls and destroys that which was below it.
These are things to be accepted as part of life and moving forward to new and great works is the solution.

Some art forms are ephemeral and are expected to be washed away in the tide or to fall apart with rust and decay. Working with entropy as part of the process.

A tribute

I recently had the opportunity to learn something new from a friend. We spent hours together as she patiently showed me how to set up the tools and materials to do fabric marbling.
In exchange I had helped her get set up for her to get more of her beautiful silk scarves made and promised to spend another day helping her.
Almost incredibly only 5 days later she had passed away suddenly.
Since then I have shed many tears for her loss. On the most personal level I lost a friend and a mentor on the broader level our entire art community has lost a dynamic and vital part of our lives.
I was so excited about the process and result that I had plans to create an art piece to enter into an art show as a way of showing off what I had learned. Now I will make the piece as a tribute to this wonderful lady.
Rest in peace Sue Cole.