the pink stuff

Art is the demonstration that the ordinary

is extraordinary.

-Amedee Ozenfant

So, here it is. Gumshoe II. Completed and shipped. I sincerely hope it survived the journey and didn't melt or break. I overcame some technical difficulties faced in the first gumshoe and definately improved the design process. Hope it's new owner appreciates the "pinkness" to it.

I know that all through art school, professors nagged and nagged at us about how important it was to simply produce work; the importance of making the time and absorbing ourselves into the art world. Well, I guess I finally understand. Two years out of school, and I'm finally getting it. It took a year to switch from the education world to the real world and let my creative batteries re-juice a bit. Another year to find the drive to make art again and re-learn everything that my mind and hands had forgotten. I still can't draw a self-portrait without it looking like I drew it back in grade eight. So, I'm still dealing with basic drawing exercises. It will come with time and plenty of work.

And the difference in how I feel, from not doing any art to producing a small variety... it might just be the exposure to the sun, finally, but some of it has to do with getting my creative side going again. Seriously, it's like the difference between being depressed and, well, not be depressed. But hey, some of it's about the sun, so don't think I'm claiming that art is the ultimate healing power. Art just helps a bit.

I don't think you can really feel good mentally by just dipping your toe in the creative juices. Pretty sure you have to be at least ankle deep before you'll benefit from anything it has to offer. That said, however, get your ass off the couch and go to a gallery or museum. It's one small, but very good, step towards getting your art career back on track. The next step is committing to an on-going art project, even if it's just with yourself. Keep the idea small and the time committment even smaller, so you don't overwhelm yourself. Before you know it, you'll be wanting to do more and put more time aside to create. Seriously, it happens. After several months you'll probably even be prepared to make some larger project committments. Take a risk. Get involved in the greater art community. Boom. You've just got your art practice going again.

And hey, no, you can't slack at any point now or in the future. Slackers aren't artists. It's the worse myth/cultural stereotype there is. Artists are not slackers, slackers cannot be artists. If you think you can just sit around at home and draw and some big shot will just hand you an exhibition space and a couple thousand dollars to travel and study art, forget it. Find another career choice. Get the hell out of the way, because I've got art to make. And ya, art is a "career" and a "profession". I'm not gonna dump it in some secondary hole titled "interest" or "hobby". Forget it. I'm done with that. I'm not gonna feel shitty about a practice that has influenced civilizations and cultures just as much as science and medicine. I'm gonna put art on a pedestal, write it on the top of the "to do" list, and live and breathe it. People with excuses, can zip it. If you have time to make an excuse for not doing art, you have time to make art. Period.

Done.

That's my rant.

Go on working, freely and furiously,
and you will make progress.
-Paul Gauguin