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gabbysartclass · 9 months

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1) Hi everyone!, my name is Gabriela but I go by Gabby. I’m currently at scf for my associates degree in Dental Hygiene. I’ve always wanted to go into a field to help/educate people. I was born in Bradenton, Florida.However, when I was little I went to my parents home country called Honduras. I stayed there for 5 years then came back. It was a great experience and definitely a culture shock.

This artwork is by: Frank Lloyd Wright 1936 “falling water”.

-when I first saw this artwork, I couldn’t help but to notice the integration of architecture with nature with its unique design.

2) Five facts

1. Fallingwater is located in Bear Run, Pennsylvania, nestled within the beautiful Allegheny Mountains.

2. The design of Fallingwater was inspired by Japanese architecture, specifically the concept of "organic architecture."

3. The house is known for its unique cantilevered construction, with large, horizontal concrete slabs extending out over the waterfall.

4. Fallingwater was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, recognizing its architectural significance.

5. The interior of Fallingwater features an open floor plan, with interconnected spaces that flow seamlessly together.

3) The way I thought about the art before still remains the same. I can only imagine waking up first thing in the morning and waking up to the sound of the water flowing with an amazing view. However, there’s some details that do go unnoticed at first glance.The way the natural light goes into the interior spaces, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.Also, the way the windows frame specific views on the forest, almost like living paintings. The way the house also seems to emerge from the landscape and become one with the environment is also very unique. I also love how the house is structured differently from typical houses. It has layers that fit with each other making it seem like it’s just a huge rock with windows. I would definitely move in there.

2)ART&WRITTING

I chose this art piece that I have in my room. I don't really own any well known paintings or art. However, This breathtaking artwork, created with acrylic, oil, or watercolors, transports me to the serene shores of the ocean. As I gaze upon the vibrant hues and intricate brushstrokes, I can almost feel the salty breeze and hear the rhythmic crashing of the waves. It serves as a captivating centerpiece in my space, evoking a sense of tranquility and connection to the beauty of nature. The interplay of colors, from the soothing blues to the vibrant oranges, creates a mesmerizing visual experience that never fails to captivate me. It truly is a masterpiece that brings the majesty of the ocean right into my home. Specially since live in Florida. 🌊☀️

3) WRITING A SELF-PORTRAIT

When Took at art, I bring along my own personal experiences, emotions, and perspectives. It's like carrying a backpack full of memories, feelings, and thoughts.These"baggage" pieces shape how I interpret and connect with artwork. I'm an 18 year old girl. I'm from Bradenton, Florida. My ethnicity isHispanic. What I like to do for fun is, going to the beach, watching Netflix reality tv shows, cleaning, cooking, hanging out with my boyfriend and my family. I'm not involved in any clubs or groups but I hope be next year. I currently do not work anywhere. was a sterile tech at a dental office but school was very overwhelming so, I stopped. Finally, whatMakes me unique is how I care for other people, how l'm always trying to see the good in others, I'm always present if anyone needs help. I'm very kind, sweet and genuine person.

4) ART PROJECT(SELF-PORTRAIT) I did a collage

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omgnsfwisnsfw-blog · 5 years

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NSFW #12: Oil and Water

On paper, Hardcore Revolution had been a success. NSFW had walked in as Tag Team champions and even after the challengers fought with everything they had, NSFW had walked out as Tag Team champions. Mike and Bishop shared stoic, defiant expressions as they backed up the entrance ramp - making a hasty exit from the public eye. They retreated to the recesses of the Rupp Arena, witnessed wordlessly the chaos of the following match, dressed into their street clothes, and departed. Ace Heart and an accompanying cameraman caught them for a website exclusive before their departure midshow. Church had just slung both of their bags into Alundra’s trunk as Mike sat in the driver’s seat with the powerful engine idling. The experienced interviewer tried his luck - hoping that months of radio silence between them had mended previously bad exchanges. “NSFW.” Church closed the trunk and looked up blankly at him - then strode over to the passenger’s side. “A word about your successful title defense.” He opened the door. “What’s next?” The big man dipped down under the frame of the door as he stepped into the car. He slammed the car door shut emphatically. Ace moved to the driver’s side and tapped on the glass. “Lots of speculation on your change of behavior as of late. Any comment?” The window came down. Not a lot. Just a little bit. Ace was met with an emerald death glare that he was probably incredibly familiar with by now. “It’d be obvious to anybody who didn’t eat fucking paint chips as a child. If I ran you over right now, you’d probably be pretty goddamn leery around cars for a while after, wouldn’t you? … Nevermind, fucking metaphorical shit is probably lost on you. As for tonight? We told them. We told them not to goof off. We told them to take us seriously and they didn’t fucking do it. Excuse us for being a tad insulted.” John interjected. “Not to say that our opponents didn’t put on a valiant effort. I commend them. And maybe...” He paused. “This is an ugly business.” His gaze was direct at this man. A fellow employee who he could never get on the same page with despite being amicable with most everyone else. “And maybe beyond all of this...” Another pause. “Mike. Let’s just go.” “Before you go. There are some that say that you two have changed for the worse since winning those titles. Anything to say to that?” Mike’s return glare somehow grew icier, harsher. Her voice sounded not only annoyed, but exhausted. “Heart. I don’t know if you’ve been watching the fucking news, but there’s more important things going on than continuing to lose fucking brain cells talking to you. Church’s right. We’re going home.” The window was rolled back up, and Ace Heart gave a startled jump backwards as Alundra sped off without any further warning. Their community had been grievously wounded that weekend. That with the rampant speculation about the two’s temperament had waned interest in the business and everything that encompassed it. They drove back home and that Tuesday morning - they stood with their neighbors in a vigil to mourn the losses of eleven innocent souls. But after that, there was Japan. Sixteen hours - cross country and then across the Pacific ocean. International travel had not been uncommon for them but with what was slated for them in Tokyo the following Monday, there was a trepidation for just what they were walking into. They would be visiting the island country for two weeks and there was plenty to do, and Mike had amassed quite a list of extracurriculars- cute and sugary and fun things, but also, and perhaps a little out of character for them, quiet and spiritual sorts of things as well. To that end, they decided when looking over places to stay to choose a beautiful ryokan, or hot spring inn, about an hour and a half outside of the city of Tokyo proper. The ryokan was just as stunning as advertised- their room was a very appealing blend of modern and traditional Japanese decorating, and there was a private balcony with a table, two chairs, and their own private onsen- a traditional open air hot spring bath that steamed invitingly in the cool evening air. Beyond the balcony was a view of Mt. Fuji that they both found absolutely breathtaking. Their trusty camera clicked on to the sight of two of them standing out on that balcony, leaning with their backs against the wooden railing, the awe-inspiring mountain clearly visible behind them. They appeared well rested, having slept off any jet lag, and perhaps a bit more at ease than in past weeks. Their title belts rested comfortably in their rightful places over their shoulders. “Context.” John stepped aside - allowing the camera to take in more of the long dormant volcano. “In World War II, this mountain was used as a symbol to evoke nationalism for the Japanese war effort. Meanwhile, the United States used the very same mountain to demoralize those very same soldiers via propaganda. The mountain never changed. It has always stood just behind us. A symbol of this country’s spiritualism. Mike and I. We are that mountain. People will use and twist who we are into whatever they wish. Always ignoring the context. Never asking why. Forgetting that we've never changed.” “Some of the old folklore around here even paints the mountain as a god. Are we gods? Nah. Not far’s I know anyway. We ain’t gods or devils or any other extreme fuckin’ stereotype. What we are is something way more… nuanced?” She glanced up at her partner, who gave her a smile and a nod. Mike held back the urge to give herself a congratulatory small fistpump. “Nuanced. Or in another word, human. I said what feels like a billion fuckin’ years ago, we don’t fit into anybody’s boxes. So if people think we should be acting one way, and we act another, is the problem ours? Or theirs?” John shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to us. Let’s pick up an old thread. We successfully defended our tag team championships against two people that we do consider to be our friends. However. We’ve considered a lot of people to be our friends lately. Including one of our upcoming opponents. Mike and I spoke a lot about it. I think there are some misunderstandings. And maybe we read into things that just weren’t there. But we saw what we saw. And even with that, we fought with honor. And so did they. One day, those two will come back and be ready for another try and maybe they’ll think back to all of this as a learning experience.” “I hope so. They could really be something awesome if they just took some shit seriously. But that was Monday. And now we get to fight a great foe and a rotten fucking friend. Now, we’re not gonna spend a lot of time crying over the obvious. Everybody who wasn’t hiding under a goddamn rock knows what Sanders did. Shouldn't take a Psych major to guess how we feel about it. As for Garcia, this isn’t the first time we’ve gone around the rosey with him.” Mike leaned forward, one brow raising in what could almost be some minute degree of concern. “Hey Cherrypie, you sure you wanna trust this guy? I’d advise against it if I were you, because shit, even you are a better fucking caliber of person than he is. I mean he’s flopping in the raw sewage with the likes of the blonde walking fungus, you sure you want that splattered all over your nice fucking suit? You’ll never get the stench out.” “Why bother?” He looked at Mike and shook his head. “Why bother to rationalize with someone who has closed their eyes to the world? Incapable of grasping any sense of reality. These are the sort of people that Dominic Sanders surrounds himself with. Because except for that shining accomplishment in New York, Dominic’s time here has been wrought with …” John steadied his hand in front of him and tipped it back and forth as if it balanced on a fulcrum. “Inconsistencies. For every accomplishment, there were two pitfalls. For every defining victory over long time rivals or championship boons, there were stunning defeats. Falling to Griffin Hawkins shouldn’t have been the catalyst to orchestrate some charade to manipulate his way into his greatest opportunity. And instead of embracing that chance as a way to finally shine, he shows his true face. Callous. Apathetic towards the people who have supported him through his farce. Surrounding himself with like individuals. However - Dominic should ask himself what it means when he and five other people can’t defeat one, albeit very strong, man.” Mike tisked a bit. “Six guys against one biker. Now, I’ve seen some weird shit circling around Happy lately, and I have to come to the conclusion that either Happy is a magical biker- which would be DC Comics level of badass- or your little makeshift militia really fucking sucks. Or maybe it’s a little from column A and a lot from column B. I mean granted one of those guys was Jeff Noon, but still. Come on. If you were trying to make a meaningful impact it went over like a wet fart.” John raised an eyebrow at that statement but continued nonetheless. “But if you really think about it - it makes complete sense. Dominic Sanders surrounds himself with people that share his ideology. The Limit. A tag team that professes that they do not care about winning. Skirting around the fact that their only victories come from cheapshots against opponents who win less than they do. A team that since trying to use NSFW as a statement - has been violently mediocre until they decided to go to the well once more. Didn’t work the first time - so why try again?” Rhetorical. “Draco Lazarus - a wrestling prodigy so consumed with himself that his proclamations of greatness would be funny if he wasn’t dead serious. Used to be a leader of his own gang of misfits until even they had enough and moved on. Now he’s a follower. And despite these new alliances, he failed to live up to his namesake once again.” He looked to Mike. “And what about Rob Garcia?” “What to say about sweet Cherrypie that we haven’t already said? I know. He somehow stumbled into the tag team championships while being the worst tag partner in the whole wide world. I mean, he was kind of the low man in the entire ReVenant outfit, and once they all skipped town without him he wasn’t able to keep a consistent tag partner after everyone realized what a spoiled, stupid goober he was.” “To be fair, Morgan Darkwater wasn’t the paragon of virtue that we all thought he was.” “Disappointing. But what do you expect from a fucking… pirate? Mercenary? Eh, I think you call that a privateer. Either way, it don’t matter, cuz he’s fucking gone-zo. Sailed off into the sunset, left Garcia all alone yet again, without any titles, real or imagined, to keep his poor sad self company.” “Dominic has assembled this motley crew with designs of molding this company into his image. And in their first cumulative outing - they fail. Typical. And now he, mere weeks away from what he hopes to be the greatest night of his career, looks to use us as an example of his mettle. With Rob Garcia as his charge. What could go wrong?” “Dumbinic Sanders…” John stifled a chuckle. “Dominic, you mean.” “Not if this is his fuckin’ plan I don’t. This is like one of those movies that opens in a shocking manner and gets you all on edge and then just drizzles a promising plot down its own leg like baby diarrhea. Still… even though he’s proven really fucking incompetent as a squad leader and is coming at us with a dude who not only has never pinned us but has all the mental sharpness of cream cheese left out on the counter overnight, we’re not going to make the mistake of underestimating you two. After all, one of you is a Rumble winner and the other is actually really decent if and when he gets a fire under his rich-boy ass.” John affirmed that with a slight nod. “But you two are facing the standard bearer of this company’s tag team division. And that doesn’t mean we are infallible. It means that we faced adversity head on and learned from our shortcomings. After NSFW was defeated by two world class competitors representing the Trinity, what did we do? We came back and captured a victory against the tag team champions at the time. Putting the world on notice. And by the way, where is the Trinity now to forsake our claim?” Mike gave a very exaggerated sorrowful look, wiping away an imaginary tear. “Looks like poor Xavier’s become a doorstop baby.” “And when Mucho Grande went through us to claim a shot at these titles, what did we do? We fought through every team we could until we rectified that wrong. And where is Mucho Grande to dispute our credibility?” The redhead stood up ramrod straight, crossing her arms across her chest like a coffin-bound corpse. “Mucho Muerte.” “That’s right. Despite all of that grandstanding, when push came to shove, they didn’t have the fortitude to backup all of that machismo. NSFW is the constant and Dominic Sanders and Rob Garcia are oil and water. Their only commonality is that they neither of them can get it done as a tag team. Rob Garcia’s last venture went belly up after never winning a match. Dominic Sanders idea of partnership is throwing a fit and attacking Kendrick Kross. After losing to Rob Garcia ironically.” “...what a weiner. What did we ever see in that guy?” John stared at Mike blankly. The cog wheels were turning to find one, single, solitary reason. “Gil.” Mike grinned fondly in spite of herself. “Yeah, yeah you’re probably right.” “But it was always there. Just under the surface. That charming smile a mask concealing his sinister motives. My first exposure to Dominic Sanders was him slamming a steel chair into my back repeatedly. Much like our meeting with Rob Garcia. So understand that Mike and I have not forgotten that.” “Everything you’ve done is gonna boomerang right back in your stupid smug face. You’ve hurt a lot of people in a lot of different ways, Dom. The bill’s coming due and it’s payable in blood, bruises, and busted teeth. Now, we aren’t stupid. We know this won’t be a fair fight- the moment things start getting hairy, you’re gonna call in the gilded turd and your rabid animals. And maybe Jeff Noon for some reason. Maybe we’ll have backup if that happens. Maybe…” Mike let a puff of a sigh out. “...maybe we won’t, and if we don’t, I guess that’s alright.” “We’ll deal with what comes. Together. They’ll bring ugliness and hatred. They’ll try to tear us down and Mike? They’ll fail. Afterwards, Rob Garcia can go back to his clueless world of luxury. Dominic Sanders after the realization that he isn’t as good as he thinks he is can go lapse back into his grizzly misogyny - demeaning a woman who has achieved more than he could ever hope to do. Tired tropes. Little girl. Whore.” His eyes narrowed. And for the only time in this video, he addressed Sanders directly. “I only see one of those. You. A man who has debased himself in utter desperation. Relevance fleeting, you turned to cruelty and malice to get what you want. And on that night. That very special night, you’ll fall short. Re-evaluate your expectations. Monday will be a preview of that very outcome.” “You’re not gonna win, cuz we ain’t like the others. We ain’t going away. No Skipping, Faltering, or Washing out. I hope you realize the fucking hornet’s nest you just kicked. Till Monday. Sayonara, chumps.” They both gave a brief wave. Stepping forward, Mike turned the camera off.

#archive

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survivingart · 5 years

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ARTIST STATEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS

Taking the time to create a great artist statement will help you clarify your wording, so you can give a short and captivating presentation anytime you find yourself in front of an interested buyer, are giving an interview or just get asked by a random person at a party somewhere about what you do.

The worst thing to do when casually asked what kind of art you make, is to go rambling on about your art for half an hour and spewing random artist’s names and isms with no head or tail. Again, the goal is to start with small bite-sized pieces of information that are easy to consume and intrigue the listener to want to know more, not your subconsciousness going full monty.

A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

Be genuine and sincere. This is the most important one of all. Never feel like you need to defend your right to make art; regardless if you only paint pretty flowers because you like pretty flowers or if you are composing some conceptual piece that will explain the meaning of life itself, what you do is your choice, so tell it how it really is. There is absolutely no need for big words and fake concepts.

Short and sweet; 3 – 5 sentences is ideal. It can be longer if you really want to, though I couldn’t recommend it. The important thing to keep in mind is not to write half a page.

Clear and simple language. Regardless of who your target audience is and what you do, make your artist statement understandable to even the people that don’t know anything about art. Especially if your work focuses on being beautiful, rather than conceptual. Truth be told, nobody likes to feel dumber than the person they are speaking to and if your goal is to get them even close to as excited about what you do as you are yourself, it might be better to talk to them like you would to a curious friend rather than a judging professor.

Base your language on evoking emotions, not just intellectual concepts. Easy for anyone focusing on beauty or any other emotion-evoking art, but even conceptual artists can present their ideas by building on emotions. Think about it; your artist statement should intrigue the reader to become curious about your work and give them some sort of key to be able to understand it better. And curiosity is an emotion, not a mental state — nobody thinks they’re curious, they feel curious.

No comparisons to other artists, living or dead. The fact that you’re trying to make your work more understandable by comparing it to someone else — usually a more popular and successful artist — is a bad move. Not only are you passively implying unoriginality, but unless you’re comparing your work to Picasso (and you shouldn’t), there’s a big probability that people just won’t know the artists you’re mentioning.

Nobody cares about technicalities or tools. If you’re a landscape painter, talk about why you’re drawn to nature, not about the fact that you use oils instead of acrylics because they blend better. But you can always use materials to strengthen your narrative: oils are an old, slow drying medium and can allow for a much more mediative and relaxed workflow, thus complementing nature’s unhurried pace, compared to our fast-paced lives. But only if this is really why you chose to start painting landscapes in oil, don’t make things up because they sound nice.

Review your statement as you progress in your work. Be it quarterly or yearly or some other period of time, the point is not to write your artist statement once and then leave it be for 20 years. It’s also a nice reality check to sit down and think about what your work is about and if anything has changed since the last time you wrote it.

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#artist life #contemporary art #surviving art #make art everyday #blog

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highlight1219 · 6 years

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SeoulBeats | Yong Junhyung's "Goodbye 20's" is an Autobiographical Masterpiece on Leaving Youth Behind

Highlight’s Yong Junhyung has been known as a prolific producer, responsible for his group’s albums as well as composing songs for numerous other artists. Yet his solo songs are few, and fans have been on the edge of their seats waiting for his own releases. With only a mini-album, Flower, released in 2013 and a handful of singles, he finally delivers a full-length album. Goodbye 20’s is an apt title as the idol-producer turns 30 this year (following the Korean age system).

The album is best described as a chic and matured collection of songs, tracing both heartbreak and falling in love. As hinted by the album’s title, this particular set of tunes carry with it a sense of poignancy evoked from looking back at various experiences. Lyrics about turning back time or wanting to return to a different moment pervade these songs. The title track kicks off the album with a sense of resignation, already acknowledging an unsalvageable relationship:

There was a time when everything about you looked beautiful Only if I could go back in time I wanna go back But never go back, face the reality We’re too old to ignore the reality

Setting the tone for the rest of the album, “Go Away” is hard-hitting in the way it deals with love. Junhyung does not paint idealistic portraits of puppy love. Rather, he chooses to narrate it as a form of growing up and moving on. Realistic about relationships, “Go Away” is swift and direct about breaking up.

The MV itself is an interesting combination of vibrant colours matched with boredom, elements that never mix, like oil and water. Coupled together, they evoke a sense of whirling aimlessness and the desire to quickly be rid of an emotional weight. The darker lighting paints the image of a drawn-out relationship, dampening the supposedly bright colour palette. Junhyung’s restrained and calm rapping, attached to a pulsing beat expresses the very lack of affection reflected in the MV.

Turning away from the placidity in the first few tracks of the album, “Sudden Shower,” a pre-release track in collaboration with 10cm offers a different emotional experience for listeners. Unlike “Go Away,” this ballad takes on a melancholic strain as it paints regret at losing a lover:

Memories wet with regret are getting heavier It’s too much to carry alone, I’ve gotten weak I’m singing about you like throwing up after forcefully swallowing you Then I fall asleep, exhausted, on top of your memories

Balancing poeticism with a raw confession of despair, Junhyung manages to convey the feeling of being choked with emotion. Even standing alone, “Sudden Shower” makes for a good listen on a rainy day.

However, Junhyung offers more than just gloomy songs in his album. “Collection” is particularly interesting with its metaphor of wanting to be part of a lover’s item collection. Baek A Yeon’s vocals adds a touch of sweetness to Junhyung’s rapping, without which the song would have been rather bland.

Dealing with a diversity of experiences, from heartache to yearning for love, the album remains consistent with its theme of moving into maturity. Wrapping with two charismatic songs, “I Can Bear It” and “Goodbye 20’s” articulate the mellowing of an individual who has gotten used to harsh reality.

“I Can Bear It” is heartbreaking not because it deals with the aftermath of a breakup, but in the manner it represents the passive swallowing of pain. Unlike the melodramatic despair that typical songs about lost love tend to run with, Junhyung relates the resignation that seems to have come with age. The words are brutally honest, reflecting a reality of having to get used to remembering an irretrievable love. From speaking of swallowing pills during sleepless nights and drinking more as he grows older, Junhyung’s willingness to engage with such descriptions is revealing of the idol’s own movement away from purely commercial and catchy songs.

Having “Goodbye 20’s” at the end reinforces the album as a milestone for Junhyung, as he has no other choice but to accept the passage of time and enter his thirties. This track conveys his uncertainties about leaving youth behind. Unsure about the future, he ends the song with a plea not to grow up, and a wish never to become a disappointment.

Having watched Junhyung from his early days with Beast, eventually turning into Highlight, Goodbye 20’s is a beautiful masterpiece, possible only after his years of musical growth. It has a tone of collected coolness to it, telling of an individual who has packed away the recklessness that comes with youth. Perhaps not having produced many songs for himself has turned out to his advantage, and this album marks a point of closure for his twenties. As he embarks on a new journey, this album will likely be worth looking back to even after another decade has passed.

#yong junhyung #junhyung #highlight #hi5hli5ht #b2st #goodbye 20's

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art-now-india · 4 years

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ETERNAL CIRCLE-SWEET DREAMS, Baljit Chadha

LEARNT BASICS OF ART IN JAPANFROM RENOUNED ARTIST MS OHTA MIYOKO.The Eternal Circle .Circle is an old symbol. The earliest humans looked up the sky and found the orb of fire giving them light and warmth. Sun for them was a mystical power, a god. They saw its movement from morning in the east and to the west in the evening. Next day again it came up in the sky. They regarded it as an omnipresent power that repeated its emergence with cyclical regularity. There was no beginning or end to the sun for them. It was the sun that allowed their imagination to look in the circular form endlessness, infinity. Thus quite early circle became a symbol of completeness, eternity and also rejuvenation. Circle also denoted the Nature. They found seasons changing and then again re-emerging with regularity. The seasons became the circle of Nature. In winter all greenery vanished and then when Spring came life stated flourishing once again. The great Mohenjo daro-Harrappan civilization had a script as yet un-deciphered. They often had a symbol of a circle with six spokes inset. What it represented is not known. From prehistory to history circle gained greater importance and came to symbolise the cycle of birth and death and also the soul�s eternity. In the rainbow spectrum of Indian philosophy, religion and culture, circle has been used as a varied symbol. The cycle of birth and rebirth is broken only through moksha. King Ashok propagated Buddha�s path to enlightenment through Dharm Chakra�a wheel with eight spokes of a chariot. I feel the wheel was invented with inspiration from sun or moon. Hindu philosophy talks about chakras. It is believed that there are seven chakras or source of light located within the subtle body. The Tantra cult uses the concept of chakras for awakening kundalini. The chakras were illustrated with images and this lead to the development of tantric art. Ajit Mukherjee in his seminal book The Art of Tantra helped to create in early sixties a movement of tantric art in India. But it did not last very long being bound by a strict and regulated expression as per dictates of Tantra iconography. Baljit Chadha is an artist with deep roots in Asian cultural traditions which includes India and especially Japan. Long years spent in Japan drew his creative interest to Japanese style painting. With great felicity he paints Nature and flowers. That is but only one aspect of his creative forays. Here I am concerned with his spiritual focus on the circle as a means of artistic expression. To paint with spiritual symbolism requires an inner search, equanimity, and a feel for the timeless. Paintings without this kind of attitude will not carry the dynamics of the spiritual; they will be like empty shells. Baljit paints with the inner dynamics. His present works are an effort to capture the metaphysical. His creativity unfolds through the circle in a kind of inner automatism. You have to understand his oeuvre in the context of his personal search for righteousness. I wish to bring to your notice the spiritual umbilical of his personal search. It is pertinent to know the Indian philosophy of life and Beyond. In Sikhism karma or kirat is seen as the vehicle to free us from the cycle of birth and death and to have mukti. One has to free oneself from pride, lust, anger, greed, self-centricity, maya and moh (attachment) and to devote life to sewa�service to mankind. Bhagavad Gita 2.27 also says, "One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament." Thus cycle of life, death and rebirth are essential parts of thought process in India. Baljit�s paintings have varied moments of inspiration. In some works the circle is a serene quiet peaceful disc emitting soft tones and leading you to a feeling of inner joy. This you find in his work 2380. This work has a churning of the inner space and a rotation suggesting the cycle of the world or universe. The core of the painting appears to be a mystical kernel beyond human mind and intellect. In yet another work there are concentric circles and the core is a black bindu. Here the circles appear to symbolise the simultaneous working of different cycles of worldly activities and attachments. You get out of one circle and you are caught in another and so on ad infintum. (2486). You must notice the use of free moody lines that cross the circles and daubs of congealed colour. Baljit use this inner automatism where he does not seem to guide his hand or brush consciously. A lurking desire to be free of the material, bodily, intellectual and to allow the magic of anhad to take over is what I see in his use of these Zen like child�s scribbles. Baljit has used these idiosyncratic free floating lines in most of his works. These lines seem at times to �obstruct� your view of the pure circle. The eternal spiritual that the circle represents is often made hazy by our infatuation with the maya. At other times he uses tumbling interacting images in embellished gold reminding of the drama of life that has its own breathtaking charm. In yet another painting there is a linear window-like overlay through which you see the circle of the infinite. Here you become aware of the beauty of the spiritual that shines in cosmic blue colour (2376). Spiral is another important symbol that is our journey to a higher reality of being. Sometimes the luminescent circle has a spiral running over it�the desire to reach the ananata through our soaring spirit (2471, 2476). The subconscious doodles that are used sometimes have a rhythm that seems to evoke the universe and the movement of stellar constellations. Many painting have a centre or a kernel of the circle that seems to enter infinity and mystical Beyond. Observe that the centre of the circles is always full of light to make you think of the spiritual aura and awe of unknown. Baljit has his spiritual awakening in the world and in the flowers that he so lovingly paints. On an art related visit to Singapore I found the overflowing joy that he felt while visiting the botanical garden with different exotic flowers in bloom. This you see in the beautiful painting of an ethereal blooming blue flower. He paints the golden yellow stigma of the plant reminding you of the mystical centre in the circle. The flower opens with immense energy straight in your face, it mesmerizes you, holds you in its clasp and if you focus long on its centre you are drawn in it. In a different way his painting reminds me of Van Gogh�s intense sunflowers that emit a spiritual intensity. You find in the world what you want to see in it and not what it has. Baljit finds what he is looking for in the circular forms�be it a round flower, sun, or the eternal soul or the cycle of life death and rebirth or the planets and stars in the universe. Baljit looks at the eternal drama of the universe through his symbolic circle. I may here quote from a poem from the great Indian saint and poet Kabir that is also apt for Baljit�s art� I have known in my body the sport of the universe: I have escaped from the error of this world. The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite and the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this All! This Light of Thine fulfils the universe: the lamp of love that burns on the salver of knowledge. Kab�r says: "There error cannot enter, and the conflict of life and death is felt no more." Viktor Vijay KumarI LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY. I TAKEPHOTOGRAPHS OF FLOWERS AND CONVERT THEM IN TO MY PAINTINGS I have created a new technique called (FLOAT ON COLORS) .Using mix media on paper. I evolved a style of art that has minimal gap in feeling and expression. Rapidity and quickness of expression in my art comes from the well of inner spirituality. My art is not planned, thought-out and cerebral it is based on spontaneity. Abstract Expressionism is a wider term and my art follows it in variegated dimensions. My journey in art continued and I experiment with different painting instruments and techniques. My dependence on brushwork is rather limited. I frequently and freely use spatulas, wooden sticks, masking, and sand-mix, push bottles and what comes handy in the moment. I use acrylic with mix media. I have developed acrylic based glazes that were possible earlier only with oil paints. The glazes impart a charm similar to enamel glazes. My art journey finds depth and width in continuous experimentation, forays into the unknown and choosing challenging metaphors of expression. Where my art journey will take me next I leave to higher forces . I did an installation (Wall of Divine flowers) with 12000 painting on 12-12-12-12hrs-12mnts-12sec at Zorba in New Delhi and CREATED A WORLD RECORD The exhibition with the most paintings of flowers in the world www.baljit-chadha.artistwebsites.com http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&video_id=fCTt1B51fJA http://www.1wra.org/index.php/Worldrecord/detail/id/1241 This certificate is given by WORLD RECORD ASSOCIATION on 12-12-12-12hrs-12mnts-12sec at Zorba in New Delhi and donated entire collection to Smile Foundation New Delhi, for a girl child education. This certificate is given by WORLD RECORD ASSOCIATION COLORS MAY VARY

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-ETERNAL-CIRCLE-SWEET-DREAMS/392880/2561144/view

#abstractexpressionism #baljitchadha

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q-phaikhoon-blog · 5 years

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Too Cute! Sweet is about to get Sinister

Visit: Too Cute! Exhibition Date: 4th Feb 2019

Today me and Ji went down to Birmingham Art Museum to check out the Too Cute! Exhibition by Rachel Maclean. And my oh my, it was too cute it was actually horrifying. The works that were displayed had the intention of showing how cute things or adorable looking visuals could have an appealing, cute look but also appear to be sinister... which I absolutely agree.

While at first glance, dolls and some of the figurines look warm and fuzzy, staring at it long enough just morphs another image in my mind to make them appear... not so cute-like.

Below is part of a statement taken from the Birmingham Art Museum website.

In Too Cute! Rachel Maclean has made an exhibition where cuteness is taken seriously. She is fascinated by its ability to captivate and placate us and through her investigations into the collections she has explored both what it has meant to us historically and why contemporary society is so fixated on the sharing and reproduction of cute objects and images.

Too Cute! presents a range of artworks showing different takes on ‘cuteness’. The works in the exhibition range from contemporary works to 19th-century oil paintings. Maclean’s fascination is with the elusive moment where cute objects slip into the sinister and instead of endearing, instil fear and disgust.

Birmingham art museum, B.A.M. [no date]. What's On | Museum & Art Gallery | Birmingham Museums. [Online]. [5 February 2019]. Available from: http://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/whats-on/too-cute

I found myself listening to the introduction by Rachel Maclean herself and understood what she meant by seeing cute objects that you would want to squish to pieces and how they could have a sinister look to them the longer you stared at it. It’s a weird phenomenon and I remembered the feeling throughout the whole exhibition while I walked through it was having both an unsettling feeling yet a lighthearted one? I don’t quite know how to explain it.

I managed to spot a mother bringing her child to this because everything is ‘Too Cute’ so possibly, a four year old (Ji argues she’s at least two years old), would like it... right?

The child was in tears and wanted to leave. Initially she was all smiles looking at the displays but more than five minutes in, she was crying and wanted to leave. (I blurred out the faces for privacy reasons but the little girl’s face showed she didn’t think any of it was ‘Too Cute’ for her).

I think that somehow captures the intention of this exhibition? To create something that looks cute and lighthearted at first glance but the deeper you go into it... it evokes something else?

All in all, it was an interesting exhibition to look at and definitely gave me the creeps after. Some of the artworks were inspiring, and some... I don’t think I was smart enough to understand. But! Everything was lovely... and too cute that I had to get out of there.

Fun day!

#visit: exhibition #visit: too cute exhibition #too cute exhibition #rachel maclean

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joannechocolat · 7 years

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Scent and memory

(And here’s the piece...)

My earliest memories are of scent. The corner shop in which I was born, with its atmosphere of fresh cardboard and old newspapers, and the coal fire that smoked, and the cellar in which my grandfather kept potatoes and pickles and home-brewed wine. The scent of the Mustela baby lotion that my mother used on my skin, and which she always brought home from France. The blue-green reek of the tidal flats on the island of Noirmoutier, where my family had a house; and which to me was the smell of the sea, so that every other coast seemed to me to be missing some essential ingredient.

Scent awakens memory; it speaks to the other senses; it seems to exist outside of time; it sometimes even awakens the dead. My grandfather’s pipe tobacco, Clan, has such a sweet and distinctive scent that, twenty years after his death, it still evokes his presence. And its colour is a faded red, like the fisherman’s smock he used to wear when we went sailing together, and the colour still smells of sunshine, and wind, and a hundred happy memories.

To me, most scents have colours. It’s a form of synaesthesia, in which the brain confuses stimuli, converting sounds to shapes, or sounds, or tastes, giving colours to days of the week, or in my case, converting colours to scent, so that sometimes I find it difficult to separate one from the other. Perhaps this is why, in my house, there are so many brightly-coloured things; and why I always like to keep my favourite perfumes close by, alongside my books and my paintings.

Perfume is my greatest indulgence. Not chocolate, not shoes, but bottles of scent; dozens - no, hundreds - of bottles, each one containing a genie that, when uncorked, can work everyday miracles of memory and mood. Some perfumes are little capsules of time; like the Ô de Lancôme I wore the year I first met my husband – I was sixteen, at sixth-form college - and its colour is the same bright-green as the pullover I used to wear, a fresh and vibrant citrus scent that still brings back those happy days more clearly than a photograph. Or Guerlain’s Chamade, with its dark chypre base, which I wore at university – being an impoverished student then, I couldn’t afford the eau de parfum, but used the bath oil as perfume instead and thought myself very sophisticated. Or Yves Rocher’s Ispahan, which somehow smells of our first home, a rather run-down terrace house, with colourful murals on the walls and a perpetual fog of patchouli and frankincense.

Our sense of smell is the first of our senses to develop. As infants, it is the sense of smell that first connects us to the world. I remember, in the maternity ward, when my daughter was born, holding her – just a few hours old – up to a vase of freesias standing by the bedside. Her reaction was immediate; her little head turned; her mouth opened in an immediate and instinctive desire to explore and to experience.

As adults, we can too often become jaded by the multitude of sense–impressions coming at us all the time. Traffic, televisions, radios, billboards, mobile phones, the constant comings and goings of other people – all can contribute to a sensory overload that can lead to stress and confusion.

But close your eyes, relax, and the sense of smell comes back into its own. Scent speaks directly to the subconscious, sometimes evoking whole scenes that even photographs cannot convey. It has strong emotional associations, too; often linked with memory. Nothing brings back the past like a scent; nothing speaks so clearly and directly to the heart.

I once held a writing seminar in a women’s prison near my home. The women were all different ages and from wildly different backgrounds; at first I struggled to find a way to engage their creativity. Then I asked: “What smells do you miss?” Each reply was a story. By the end of the day, I had poetry; short fiction; essays; letters to the dead. The next time I came, I brought perfume samples. In that sterile and utilitarian environment, each one was like an oasis.

Another time, a friend of mine suffered a stroke that left her completely paralysed, unable to speak or to swallow. I knew she dreamed of food and drink, so I brought her the closest things I could find; fruit-scented lip salves from the Body Shop; pomegranate bath bombs from Lush; chocolate-scented lotions to rub into her hands and feet. On her birthday, I made her a virtual birthday cake – a cocktail of scents in a bottle. I used dark chocolate, Kahlua, cinnamon and black pepper. It was inedible, but smelt divine. She kept it by her bed for six months, until she was be able to eat again – in spite of her doctor’s prediction that this might never happen. Such is the positive power of scent and the energy it can harness.

I first became aware of perfumes through my great-Aunt Marie, an elegant old Parisienne, who had once known Chagall and Edith Piaf, and who until the day she died, always dressed in pink and white, and never wore any perfume other than Chanel Number 5. I remember the glass-stoppered bottle that stood on her dressing-room table, and the scent of impossible flowers, like something out of a distant dream. She was the one who taught me that scent is the oldest magic there is; a scent can change your identity; can bring back the ghosts of long-lost loves; like a fairy godmother, transform the most timid of wallflowers into a heroine, just for one night. Chanel Number 5 still brings her back, and she was the one who encouraged me to haunt perfume departments, to collect samples and bath oils, to discover the scents that would help me express my personality.

Nowadays, I tend to use scent much as I would my wardrobe. I have so many bottles that my husband bought me a cabinet as a gift, in which I keep all my perfume bottles, neatly categorized and ready to use. The top shelf is for gourmand fragrances, with their notes of gingerbread; vanilla; honey and chocolate. Muegler’s Angel; Rochas’ Tocade; Kurkadjian’s Absolue du Soir. The second is for florals; Chanel no. 19; Fracas; Trésor; Paris. The third, for herbal and citrus scents; Jo Malone’s Lime Basil; Acqua de Parma; Guerlain’s Mitsouko. The bottom shelf is for orientals: Habit Rouge; Coromandel; L’Autre; the lovely creamy sandalwood of Chanel’s Bois des Iles.

Every morning I choose a scent according to my mood. Wistful; exuberant; romantic; brave. Some days I look for an old friend; on other days I need a breath of fresh air. When I’m writing a new book, I often choose a scent on behalf of my protagonist. I wear it much in the same way that method actors sometimes use scent to get into character. Vianne Rocher was Aqua de Parma; Blueeyedboy was l’Heure Bleue; the seductive Zozie de l’Alba was scented with Guerlain’s Habit Rouge. The book I’m writing right now smells of a new Chanel perfume, Boy: a light and lovely unisex blend of lavender and vanilla, with which I’ve recently become more than a little obsessed.

For me, the most important aspect of attraction has always been about feeling good. There is a tangible radiance to well-being that no cosmetic can duplicate. That’s why I tend to give more thought to the scent I wear than to clothes or makeup, or even shoes. My wardrobe is made up of bottles, neatly lined up in my scent cabinet. Some are old friends; some, new discoveries. Each one fits me perfectly, tailored to my changing moods.

My little black dress is Coromandel; I wear it with heels and attitude. My sexy number is Bois des Iles, with its creamy sandalwood scent. Francis Kurkadjian’s Acqua Universalis is my favourite pair of jeans; almost, but not quite unisex, fresh and informal and effortless. I wear Fracas when I want to turn heads; with its blast of tuberose, it’s my strapless Oscar frock. Yves Rocher’s Ispahan is the hippy dress I can’t bear to throw out; I still have half a bottle (it’s now sadly discontinued) that I wear on special occasions. Houbigant’s Chantilly is there in the mornings for when I want to feel sixteen again. I wore it throughout my teenage years, and it always takes me back.

Besides, at 52, whatever I wear, it’s getting less and less likely that people will say in all honesty: “You look fabulous.” But very often, people do say (as did a grumpy Head Porter on a recent trip to my old college, startled out of his apathy by a passing whiff of Guerlain’s Samsara); “You smell fabulous.” Because beauty isn’t about how you look, but how you make other people feel. And whatever can make a Head Porter smile, on a dull autumn day in Cambridge, is surely a power to conjure with.

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biofunmy · 5 years

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Why Does Everything Smell, So Peacefully, of Lavender?

Not long ago Erin Wexstten, the 35-year-old founder of Oxalis Apothecary, a plant-based skin care brand, ticked off all the ways she uses lavender in her life.

“I personally have lavender everywhere,” she said. “Hand soap, dish soap. I have sachets you stick in the drawer. It makes the underwear smell nice. Dried bunches. They make for a beautiful piece in a vase.”

Ms. Wexstten has spread the lavender love through her products, including Feel Good Potion, containing essential oil of lavender, and Reverie body oil, deodorant and a wildflower clay mask, which contains lavender in powder form as a gentle exfoliant.

“I call lavender the quiet queen — she’s purple majesty,” Ms. Wexstten said. “It’s an abundant plant. It isn’t a precious, exotic plant. It’s used everywhere.”

Indeed, these days there’s hardly a household, grooming or wellness product that hasn’t been infused with lavender’s sweet, antiseptic-clean aroma: candles, diffusers, shower gels, liquid hand sanitizer, face mists, eye masks. It’s even in food and — shudder — cocktails.

To feed the demand, hundreds of lavender farms have sprouted up in recent years far from their well-known location of Provence, France: in places like Maine, Kansas and West Virginia, where growing lavender on coal-stripped mountains is being explored as a land reclamation project.

The lavender selfie, typically a young woman wearing a prairie dress and a straw hat posing amid rows of purple blooms arcing to the horizon, has become an image ubiquitous on Instagram every June and July during harvest season.

The lavender field has become such a visual cliché on social media that Simon Porte Jacquemus, the French fashion designer, decided to subvert it by holding his spring 2020 fashion show in an actual field in Provence. “I wanted a place that looked like a postcard — almost too much like a postcard, even,” he told WWD.

Even when you’re not seeking it out, lavender has become hard to escape. A look around my own apartment revealed three bars of lavender bath soap; a lavender “relax” aromatherapy bar by Treestar; a vial of Ms. Wexstten’s Feel Good Potion; Sleep Well Therapy Balm by Scentered; Dr. Kerklaan Natural Sleep Cream with CBD extract and calming sensation citrus and lavender; a lavender-scented candle; a bouquet of dried lavender in a vase in the bathroom; and a small pillow stuffed with lavender to be placed under one’s nose at bedtime.

Many of these items are my wife’s. But lavender has entered the men’s grooming world too, in products like Jack Black post-shave cooling gel and overnight balm from the Art of Shaving. (And the bath soap was mine.)

Nature’s Chill Pill

If not a precious plant in modern times, lavender once carried the whiff of semi-luxury. If you stayed in a nice European hotel, your room had crisp linens scented with lavender. That bath soap would have been a special imported treat costing $15 a bar, not something I might have gotten at the corner CVS.

Lavender was a key ingredient in the bougie domestic fantasy sold by retailers like Williams Sonoma and L’Occitane en Provence. It wafted gently over the entire oeuvre of Peter Mayle, the author of “A Year in Provence,” among other books.

Now you can buy Downy Infusions Lavender Serenity fabric softener.

Linda G. Levy, the president of the Fragrance Foundation, an organization that promotes and supports the perfume industry, has noticed lavender as a highlighted ingredient in luxury fragrances like Libre, new from YSL, as well as popular perfumes like Ariana Grande’s Cloud, which features a top note of lavender and won the foundation’s fragrance of the year award this past June.

“Lavender is easy for consumers to translate,” Ms. Levy said. “It’s something they can understand without having to do a lot of research.”

Unlike ylang-ylang or vetiver, two other frequently used botanicals, “you hear ‘lavender’ and a visual comes to mind,” she added.

For Ms. Levy, it conjures a trip she took to Fayence, in the south of France. “Litter on the street there is lavender,” she said. For someone else, lavender may bring to mind a grandmother who used a sachet to freshen a dresser drawer.

Jeannie Ralston, a New York journalist turned Texas lavender farmer who wrote a memoir about her experience, “The Unlikely Lavender Queen,” believes lavender’s popularity comes, in part, from the way it activates all the senses, especially when standing amid rows of it.

“You’ve got the smell, but to look at it, it’s almost like a pointillist painting,” Ms. Ralston said. “It’s a beautiful, sensual experience to be in a lavender field.”

Dahlias planted tightly to the horizon can be beautiful, too. And roses also evoke grandmotherly nostalgia. But lavender promises something those plants don’t, something very much desired in this age of fractious politics, climate dread and unceasing demands on our time: escape.

Though the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans believed in its benefits, as both a cosmetic and a medicinal plant, lavender’s true time has come in the stressed-out early 21st century.

Clinical studies in both animals and humans have shown the plant to have calming effects, reducing anxiety and helping to bring on sleep. The key ingredient is linalool, an alcohol component of lavender odor. Sniffing it has been likened to popping a Valium.

Dr. Andrew Weil, the integrative medicine guru, hangs dry bundles of lavender in his bedroom as a sleep aid and cooks with the herb. In yoga studios, it’s a common practice for the instructor to end class by daubing essential oil of lavender on spent students’ temples. And the oil has long been used in aromatherapy.

Now, artisanal wellness brands and billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies alike have packaged and marketed lavender to a freaked-out populace. No longer is it just a nice way to freshen your linen drawer. It’s become a magic ingredient: a plant-based Prozac put into therapy balms, sleep creams and stress-relief moisturizing lotions, like the one from Aveeno, a division of Johnson & Johnson, which claims on the purply bottle that it “calms & relaxes.”

For consumers, especially millennials fluent in Goop-speak and hungry for ways to unplug from 24-7 work and digital lives, lavender has come to mean calm.

Anit Hora, 39, the founder of M.S Skincare, a vegan skin care line made in Brooklyn, sprays lavender mist around her office when things get hectic, and has hung dried bunches in her bathroom, pressing them to scent her shower. She also named the brand’s restorative lavender body oil Aum, after the yoga chant more commonly spelled “ohm.”

“It’s very calming to chant ‘ohm,’” Ms. Hora said. “And that’s the effect I wanted this to have.”

Ms. Wexstten’s Feel Good Potion is “there to reduce stress and anxiety in a world full of chaos,” she said. (The label instructs users to “apply to temples, third eye and wrists. Breathe deeply.”)

While Ms. Wexstten doesn’t think there’s a lavender boom, she said, “I think people are paying attention more, handling their self-care. In an old-world apothecary, lavender is not a new thing.”

Barbara Close, 59, grew up going to such apothecaries with her aunt, who lived outside Paris, and became familiar with the European tradition of using lavender and other herbs for grooming and health purposes.

“She loved to take me to these little herboristeries,” or herb shops, Ms. Close said. “They’d make her passion flower tincture.”

In 1995, Ms. Close founded Naturopathica, which operates day spas in Manhattan and East Hampton and sells skin care products and herbal remedies. It began as an herb shop like the ones she had known in France. “We had tinctures and teas, essential oils,” she said. “Back then, it was a strange concept for most people.”

Twenty-five years later, once-obscure herbs like echinacea are sold at CVS, adaptogens like Siberian ginseng and reishi are being touted as answers to any number of problems, and don’t get us started on turmeric. “Lavender,” Ms. Close said, “has gone along with that growth.”

According to the alternative medicine guides and lavender farmer websites, the herb is a cure-all for many, many ailments: anxiety, insomnia, migraines, depression, flatulence, hair loss and more.

“Some books have two, three pages of attributes that lavender possesses, and a lot of it seems far-fetched,” said Charley Opper, 68, an owner of Cache Creek Lavender Farm in Rumsey, Calif.

Mr. Opper makes body mist, bath soap and 21 other products from the lavender he grows, and he sticks with the folkloric wisdom that dates back to Pliny the Elder. “What I tell people is it’s a sleep aid, a relaxant and it does have anti-bacterial properties to it,” he said.

In all his years, Mr. Opper said, “I’ve only run into one or two people that said they did not like” the scent of lavender. And he has found a receptive audience for both his products and his message by driving three hours south each weekend, where a demographic of plugged-in, maxed-out tech workers are eager to buy nature’s chill pill.

“I go to Silicon Valley, and I market my products in Palo Alto and Menlo Park,” Mr. Opper said. “The essential oil that I sell at my stand is well sought after at this point.”

Crop This

But where does the most special, elite lavender come from? The royal purple fields of Valensole, France? Partly, yes. But also: Bulgaria.

Though the country has been slow to catch on as an Instagram destination, its temperate climate is ideal for growing lavender. To some noses, the Bulgarian strains are preferred over the French.

“It has a more distinct, exotic scent,” said Ms. Wexstten, who sources Bulgarian lavender for her products. “It doesn’t have that candy-like scent that a lot of lavender can have.”

The largest seller of essential oils in the world, the Utah-based doTerra, operates a distillery in Bulgaria, and production has increased exponentially to match demand, said Dr. Russell Osguthorpe, the company’s chief medical officer. The company sold about 38 kilograms of lavender oil in 2008, and sourced 152,000 kilograms to support sales in 2018.

“We have spent a long time optimizing our lavenders for their aroma because we use them in aromatherapy. You might even call it a pharmaceutical standard. Not all species of lavender are created equal.”

(Not all lavender is even grown in a field: It’s likely that the $3 bottle of lavender oil at the chain drugstore, or the liquid hand sanitizer at the supermarket, derives its lavender scent from synthetic perfume made in a laboratory.)

If the small and medium-size lavender farms stretching from the Sequim Valley in Washington State to the East End of Long Island don’t significantly contribute to industrial-scale production, they perform another role. No longer do Americans have to go to France to stand in a lavender field or picturesquely fill a straw basket with all-natural products.

When Ms. Ralston and her husband, Robb Kendrick, a photographer, started their commercial lavender farm in Texas, back in 2000, the couple had little experience with lavender. But the herb proved easy to grow and easier still to monetize.

“We ended up with 97 different lavender products,” Ms. Ralston said, ticking off a list that included bath balms, bath salts, bath oils, essential oils, eye creams, sachets and “lavender smokes,” or dried and bundled stalks to put on a fire. “We actually sold lavender-scented pencils at one point. And my husband said, ‘That’s enough.’”

One year, at the annual lavender festival the couple started, 17,000 people tramped through their fields in the Texas Hill Country.

“Lavender seems to be crack cocaine for a certain set of the population,” Mr. Kendrick said to Ms. Ralston at the time.

Thy sold the lavender farm to an employee in 2006 because they wanted to live for a time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and raise their sons to be bilingual. But Ms. Ralston, a founder of the digital magazine NextTribe, said there are times she wishes they had held on, watching how the American lavender craze has, yes, blossomed.

Aimee Crane, who four years ago started Bee Loved Lavender farm, has brought culinary lavender to northeast Ohio. Jim Morford has brought homemade soaps, lotions, creams and infused teas to Kansas (“You really have to want to grow it in our hot climate,” Mr. Morford said). And Kaia Nustad has brought the joy of lavender to the Carmel Valley in California (and to Etsy).

Last year, Ms. Nustad hosted 54 weddings on her eight-acre plot, and has sold thousands of lavender bouquets to brides. “Millennials love it for weddings,” she said. “It’s the new boho thing.”

Ms. Nustad discovered lavender’s popularity by accident, in 2014, when she visited a farm near the “lavender trail” in Washington. And two years after planting her own farm, she still asks herself what it is about lavender that makes people respond the way they do.

But, she reasoned, “I’ve never had a sad person on my farm. When you look out over the fields, it’s calming. It’s that serene calming feeling, like when you stare over the ocean.”

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survivingart · 5 years

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POLISHING YOUR STORY (THE ARTIST STATEMENT)

Artist statements, even though they might appear like a load of pretentious art-talk (which many of them sadly are), serve a very important purpose: presenting your passion in a bite-sized package, to be easily consumed and understood by the reader or listener (you can, and should know how to pitch them too).

But what many of us present as an artist statement is usually exactly the opposite of what it should be; we focus on intellectually sounding words and sentences like this: “As wavering phenomena become rediscovered through subversive personal practices, the observer is left with an awareness of the boundaries of our era.”, rather than actually trying to communicate clearly.

And taking the time to create a great artist statement will also help you clarify your wording, so you can give a short and captivating presentation anytime you find yourself in front of an interested buyer, are giving an interview or just get asked by a random person at a party somewhere about what you do.

The worst thing to do when casually asked about what kind of art you make, is to go rambling on about your work for half an hour and spewing random artist’s names and isms with no head or tail. Again, the goal is to start with small bite-sized pieces of information that are easy to consume and intrigue the listener to want to know more, not your subconsciousness going full monty.

A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

Be genuine and sincere.

This is the most important one of all. Never feel like you need to defend your right to make art; regardless if you only paint pretty flowers because you like pretty flowers or if you are composing some conceptual piece that will explain the meaning of life itself, what you do is your choice so tell it how it really is. There is absolutely no need for big words and fake concepts.

Short and sweet; 3 – 5 sentences is ideal.

It can be longer if you really want to, though I couldn’t recommend it. The important thing to keep in mind is not to write half a page.

Clear and simple language.

Regardless of who your target audience is and what you do, make your artist statement understandable to even the people that don’t know anything about art. Especially if your work focuses on being beautiful, rather than conceptual. Truth be told, nobody likes to feel dumber than the person they are speaking to and if your goal is to get them even close to as excited about what you do as you are yourself, it might be better to talk to them like you would to a curious friend rather than a judging professor.

Base your language on evoking emotions, not just intellectual concepts.

Easy for anyone focusing on beauty or any other emotion-evoking art, but even conceptual artists can present their ideas by building on emotions. Think about it; your artist statement should intrigue the reader to become curious about your work and give them some sort of key to be able to understand it better. And curiosity is an emotion, not a mental state — nobody thinks they’re curious, they feel curious.

No comparisons to other artists, living or dead.

The fact that you’re trying to make your work more understandable by comparing it to someone else — usually a more popular and successful artist — is a bad move. Not only are you passively implying unoriginality, but unless you’re comparing your work to Picasso (and you shouldn’t), there’s a big probability that people just won’t know the artists you’re mentioning.

Note that comparing your work to other artists is a wonderful and necessary tool when figuring out your style and creative toolkit, but as such, comparisons should be done in the studio and while doing research, not as part of a presentation or sales pitch.

Nobody cares about technicalities or tools.

If you’re a landscape painter, talk about why you’re drawn to nature, not about the fact that you use oils instead of acrylics because they blend better. But you can always use materials to strengthen your narrative: oils are an old, slow drying medium and can allow for a much more mediative and relaxed workflow, thus complementing nature’s unhurried pace, compared to our fast-paced lives. But only if this is really why you chose to start painting landscapes in oil, don’t make things up because they sound nice.

Maybe the only time it actually is appropriate to talk about the tools is when you are using a rare, obscure or otherwise exciting process or material. It could be cutting edge stuff like Virtual Reality or blockchain tech or wet plate collodion photography (an almost alchemistic process that is quite hard to do and regarded highly by hipsters around the world).

Review your statement as you progress in your work.

Be it quarterly or yearly or some other period of time, the point is not to write your artist statement once and then leave it be for 20 years. It’s also a nice reality check to sit down and think about what your work is about and if anything has changed since the last time you wrote it.

And for all the times you really want to go hot-air-ballooning with words, you can visit my Artist Statement Generator and experience the magic of semi-randomness in action.

HINT: A good way to tell if your artist statement is OK or not; if it looks like the one you can generate in the link above, it probably shouldn’t be on your CV or portfolio.

GETTING YOUR STORY STRAIGHT (YOUR PERSONAL BRAND)

Since the beginning of human creation, art has been evolving in a more or less linear fashion. This is especially obvious in the era of isms; starting with the old impressionists, evolved by Henri Matisse and the other fauvists, and the expanded freedom of colour and form that eventually lead to cubism, futurism and abstraction.

Due to a great lack of functional means of communication, artists all over the world took much longer to evolve their styles and to find new inspirations for their work. Picasso had no other means to come in contact with a totally foreign culture than by visiting a museum exhibit. And it took him a long time to get his imagination juices flowing enough to be able to produce his masterpiece The Young Ladies of Avignon, that eventually lead to a revolution in art.

But now, with the power of the internet our playing field has been broadened from a straight line into a worldwide area of everything goes.

If one wishes to decorate his or her home with some fine art — from bio art to classical realism — today one can find almost anything online. And with such an abundance of art, it does bring up the question of how to stand out from the crowd?

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

IF YOU WANT TO GET EXHIBITED:

The art market is a volatile place for investors, and these are the people gallerists cater to, so there are certain check boxes your work has to tick in order for them to decide to sign and represent you and your work.

Having a regular production is the best sign for a curator to know that you’re serious about your work.

If you only create one work a quarter, your chances of being perceived as a viable candidate are much smaller than if you have a regular output of work. It doesn’t have to be one work a day — unless that’s your thing of course — but having a history of regularity is one of the most important traits an artist can have for a collector or gallerist.

Curators tend to look at the whole oeuvre — the whole body of work any particular artist has produced over the years.

Today, it isn’t as much about one work, or even one exhibition — what matters in the long run is the totality of our production. Rather than focusing on the importance of each piece we make, it’s much better to take a step back and observe it in the context of everything we have ever done.

Questions you could ask yourself that could help you create a coherent body of work:

Does it brings anything to the story of who you are and what you’re are about? Does it complement or juxtapose the works that came before it? Does it maybe break a certain “tradition” of motifs you had previously been using in your work? Are you becoming more serious, more cynical or more playful in the way you tell your stories? …

A brand is only as strong as its presence in the lives of its customers.

Regardless how much competition we face as creatives, how many applications, CVs and portfolios the galleries we all are trying to get in receive in a day (usually a lot), the decision of who gets signed and who is left on the applications pile of the gallerist’s desk is mostly decided by a simple question: “Do they know us?”

If we want to get into a gallery, it is imperative to be present at their exhibition openings and talks, to mingle with the people in charge and slowly become part of their circle. This is probably incredibly obvious, but a lot of us are guilty of not showing up in person, when this is actually what matters the most.

Build relationships with people, regardless if they’re the owner, head curator or just answer the phone.

When just starting out, our chances of just popping up at an opening of a gallery that we have been eyeing for a while and getting friendly with the curator or owner aren’t really great. There’s a social divide between freshly baked art students and prominent art world figures, and to say it takes courage to just get up to one and start talking is an understatement.

But we can start out by getting to know the people working there; maybe we know somebody who is now working the reception or handling their social media. They of course won’t be able to arrange a meeting, but could share some valuable information about what is going on inside the gallery.

There’s really no better insider than an intern on coffee duty — they might not be in charge, but they do hear and see a lot about what is going on inside the institution. Also, having friends in the field is always a wonderful thing to have, so build sincere relationships, not just means to an end.

KEEP IN MIND: Public institutions, unlike private galleries, do not have to be profitable to stay afloat, so if you are living in an area where the art market isn’t as strong as in New York or London and most of the galleries are publicly funded, getting exhibited there requires a different tactical approach.

If for example you create more conceptual pieces, that aren’t as focused on being aesthetically pleasing but rather propagate a message — like political and other critical art — public institutions tend to be a better target as they won’t judge your work by the merit of how well it could sell, but rather on the power and importance of your message.

Be it public or private, before applying to any institution for an exhibition, the best thing is to first asses what their goal is; is it making more profit than last year, is it fighting some social injustice or just showing beautiful work. If you can find their basic intention, you will have a much easier time aligning your story and your work with theirs and finding the common ground from which to build your arguments and getting their attention.

IF YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR WORK:

Similar to getting a show in a gallery, getting a sale requires us to be regular producers. But unlike gallerists, that care a lot about our work’s future worth, followers and collectors usually don’t buy our art because of investment reasons, but because they like it. So regularity here is merely a means to show up and build public presence. The more we create, the more we are able to be present on social media for example, and our chances to be seen by potential buyers greatly increase.

The same goes for having a coherent body of work. Here the emphasis isn’t on showing a maturely developed personal style that is important for being taken seriously by gallerists of any medium or large institution, but the mere fact that only by being consistent and coherent in our work are we able to create a personal brand for our customers.

You don’t buy the new Stephen King novel because you are expecting a romantic comedy and you don’t read J. K. Rowling because of her knowledge of biochemistry. Each creator has their own body of work, distinct from everybody else and thus people learn to expect a certain kind of art from any one of them. This is really important, because it’s the cornerstone of any great personal brand.

And there are other things to keep in mind:

Personal brands are almost as important as the products we produce.

It’s important to hone your skills, but working too hard on figuring out your style and technical skill without giving your audience the chance to also get to know you might not be the best tactic.

Each of us has a unique story to tell, a unique background of why we do what we do. Why not focus on that, rather than being just another still life painter or just another one using resin to make his or her work. In today’s oversaturated world it shouldn’t be the materials or the singular creations we make that define us and our personal creative brand, but the amalgamation of everything we stand for, everything we are.

The main point of any product, even an art piece, is to fulfil a need and satisfy a certain want that people might have.

Either to make their lives easier, richer or to give them the ability to express themselves even if their own skills don’t allow them to, art should satisfy a certain want.

This doesn’t mean that you should stop doing what you like and focus exclusively on impressionist portraits, just because they’re in vogue right now, but that you need to focus your attention on the people that would like what you do.

HINT: Facebook Ads is wonderful, because it lets you target a specific audience — even to the level of “somebody that works at a particular company” — so you can really focus on only the people that you believe share your love towards a specific style of art.

Regardless of whether you wish to get signed by a gallery or attack the market directly via online stores and social media, don’t think too much about how your work looks compared to all the other similar creators, focus instead on your message and personal story.

The issue of uniqueness could once be resolved merely through personal style; Renoir was different from Matisse, Gauguin nothing like Cézanne … The number of artists an average collector or gallery visitor knew, was more in the hundreds and differentiation amongst them wasn’t as hard back then as it is today.

Now you can open Saatchi Online and find millions of artists, many of them producing quite similar works, so style doesn’t really help as much as it once did. The only real differentiator between two similarly looking artworks is the story behind them and the artist who created them.

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