Art – Page 10 – Sidewalk Face

The Power of Artificial Constraints

June 3, 2021September 25, 2021by Sidewalk Face at Eagle-Crow-Owl12 Comments

Two short stories and a lesson.

Story One. I like to drink coffee in the morning, and I like it hot, hotter than the coffee maker makes it. So, I put my mug in the microwave for an additional 20 second blast and then I race to grab as much silverware as I can out of the dish drain and try to put it all away before the buzzer goes off. If I’m not holding it when I hear the sound I win and if I am still holding it, I lose. Despite the absence of stakes, I feel a little upset if I don’t get it done in time. Functional!

Story Two. Sometime before 3rd grade I lived in a very hilly neighborhood with winding roads. I liked to tell myself I could only use the breaks on my bike two times while coming home. This ultimately resulted in a total wipe out that ruined my bike and left me bloody and limping. Commitment!

Lesson. Create artificial restraints in your art practice. Make some rules. The thing about rules is they have to be clear as day and non-negotiable. They do not have to make sense or be good. Even if they make no sense they will work. The other thing about rules is they have to be fun. Fun to YOU! Not a rule you wanted or hoped would be fun. No, that’s Monopoly, a long and stupid game that you don’t want to play. The rules absolutely, positively have to be FUN! Make a piece of art, you win.

If you make up weird little rules for yourself, please share. I would love to know I am not the only weirdo.

Sidewalk Face 784

Art, Creative Process

There is no being an artist. There is doing art.

May 31, 2021by Sidewalk Face at Eagle-Crow-Owl9 Comments

What you want to be considered resides in the perception of others.

What you do is who you actually are.

You make art to find out about yourself, not to impress anonymous, imaginary people. You can always impress them in your fantasy, but they will never give you what you actually seek, your own approval. The best art is stamped authentic and good by its maker. Without that, it is imitation. The gift is to not die before witnessing your own creation, by meeting yourself in the mirror of art.

You know you have done it when it grows. The doing of more is the sign of approval. If it’s not currently growing, stop the part that stops you. Every path to good art begins in a tangled jungle of bad art. Bad art is not a sign you are a bad artist. The art we reject is just the metal shavings falling off the knife as it is sharpened.

Sidewalk Face 799

Art, Creative Process, Sidewalk Faces

The More Things Change, the More Faces I Make

May 27, 2021by Sidewalk Face at Eagle-Crow-OwlLeave a Comment

This stump used to be attached to the dead bush formerly known as Sidewalk Face 1004. I took his picture last year because it’s not that often a bush looks like a skull. The effect is aided by the random yellow rake handle which helps define the nose. Seeing him this way was mostly good luck. When I passed by at a different time of day, he didn’t seem so skull like. So many things are ephemeral and there is only one right moment.

Though the bush resides only a few streets away, for whatever reason it’s not a block I’ve been going by frequently, so I was startled to come upon him utterly decimated a few days ago. Considering that he was dead, I suppose I shouldn’t have been shocked at his removal a full year later, but it still made me sad. I hate loss. Even if I come to embrace it later, NO! is what I hear when change first penetrates my consciousness.

I quickly made a new face to commemorate the tragedy. His expression mirrors my own and sort of helped me get over it. Feather is still trying to decide. She’s known to take her time. Maybe after a few dogs have peed on him she’ll warm up.