I decided to take another "be brave!" step and post a photo (the same old one) of a piece of artwork to the web site of the magazine Cloth Paper Scissors. Well, actually I posted two - the photo of the pendant I created for the magazine's swap, and the photo of the art doll that I last made and love the most. As I cruise through other folks' work, I am reminded of images or items I want to avoid in my own so that my work doesn't start to look like that of so many other craftspersons and artists:
No birds
No bird cages
No bugs
No wings
No feathers (at least not on hats or as wings)
No party hats
No fairy anything
No crowns
There's nothing wrong with artists using these images, of course. It's just so hard for me to find my own style (other than my art dolls - that's easy to be unique there) that if I allow myself to use any of these things, I fear there won't be much unique to the work.
Today I'm struggling with having had a couple of rough days with my kids. Sometimes "home" feels more like just "house" or "address." It hasn't been a happy few days. How do I make art when I'm grumpy? Instead, I'm sitting at the computer at nearly 10:30 in the morning wearing a political t-shirt, my hair looking like a starched football helmet and yesterday's waterproof mascara the only thing keeping my face from looking like my husband's. I can't quite reach to kick myself in the behind and get moving. Perhaps I should just give myself a makeshift kick and back up into the wall real fast, THEN hose myself off, put on a decent shirt, fresh makeup, ignore the mess in the kitchen and just go make something.
I think I shall.
