It's time to Register for the 13th Annual San Diego Women's Caucus for Art Retreat! Mark your calendars for September 10-12, 2010 in Julian, CA

 Jaime Lyerly showing how to scrape back encaustic wax © 2009 Jaime Lyerly

IT’S TIME TO REGISTER for the 13th ANNUAL 2010 WCA/SD RETREAT

The retreat offers a special time to make art, make new friends and reconnect with old friends.

Note: This event is for women, only. Sorry guys! Most of our events are co-ed, but this is for women only because of the sleeping arrangements.

WORKSHOPS INCLUDE

PLEIN AIR PAINTING with Jen Bottoms

JOURNALING, BLIND DRAWING & MAKING YOUR OWN JOY

with Suzana Norberg

YOGA FOR BEGINNERS with Midge Hyde

ENCAUSTIC COLLAGE with Jaime Lyerly

(more details about the workshops below)

_______________________________________

WHEN

September 10th, 11th and 12th, 2010

WHERE

Camp Stevens, Julian, 1108 Highway 78,

Julian, California 92036 (760) 765-0028

We will be staying in the Wolterstorff Lodge

FEE

$150 Retreat only WCA SD members

$175 Retreat & 1 year basic 2011 membership for WCA

members

$190 Retreat & 1 year basic 2011 WCA Membership for

non-members.

All include 3 days, 2 nights and 5 meals (organically grown

and prepared by Camp Stevens ), and all workshop fees

DIRECTIONS

From San Diego : Take Highway 67 to Ramona, then

Highway 78 east to Julian. Camp Stevens is located 2

miles east of Julian on State Highway 78. There is a

“ Camp Stevens ” entrance sign on the left side of the

highway exactly 2 miles from Julian.

REGISTER EARLY

Your $50 Non-refundable deposit due by August 1, 2010

(check or PayPal) secures your reservation. Balance

due by September 1st, by check or PayPal. Upon final

payment you will receive a detailed map, packing list,

materials list, materials to bring and schedule, via

e-mail.


NOTE: There is limited cell phone service.


Women’s Caucus for Art, San Diego

13th Annual Retreat

at Camp Stevens

Julian, California

September 10th, 11th and 12th, 2010

QUESTIONS AND INFO:

Jen Bottoms, (619) 892-3429

9500 Harritt Road, #75

Lakeside, CA 92040

jenniebottoms@gmail.com



WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

JOURNALING, BLIND DRAWING and MAKING YOUR OWN JOY with Suzana Norberg

As an advertising copywriter, Sue discovered the joy of art late in life. Inspired by “Harriett The Spy,” her favorite book as a child, Sue always kept a notebook of observations and snippets of overheard conversations.

But it wasn’t until the accidental discovery of three fabulous and freeing books that Sue began incorporating drawing into her work. See the three books that changed Sue’s creative life, page through her journals, and be prepared to draw with your eyes closed. Then apply it all to recording your weekend in a sketchbook that will be provided.


PLEIN AIR PAINTING with Jen Bottoms

Plein Air Painting is painting outdoors. Using oils, acrylics or watercolors whatever is your medium of choice, you will learn simple pallet color and placement while exploring the great outdoors and your personal emotions with the intent of taking out the intimidation factor. Realistic and non-realistic painters alike will love this enabling workshop that will set your spirit free and help you create
flowing, eye appealing works of art. Just let yourself go!


YOGA FOR BEGINNERS with Midge Hyde

Midge has done yoga for over 10 years. She plans to do light yoga exercises, first a warm up, practicing shallow and deep breathing. She reccomends everyone who has a yoga mat to bring it along. We will do mostly standing poses in case there are not enough mats for seated poses. The poses she likes are good stretches and parts of sun salutations, nothing too strenuous, just good stretching and deep breathing....a good way to end or start a day.


ENCAUSTIC COLLAGE with Jaime Lyerly

Encaustic is beeswax, damar resin and pigment applied to a surface hot and fused using heat. We will not be using pigment but instead, be learning the basic techniques of of encaustic collage in this workshop. We will explore layering, collage, incising, embedding and transfers. There will be plenty of time for hands on experimentation. Bring your own collage elements and get ready to try this “hot” way of painting.

ABOUT CAMP STEVENS and WCA/SD RETREAT

We will stay in the Wolterstorff Lodge, which was built from the ashes of the Bishop’s Lodge, destroyed in the “Angel Fire” of September 2007. The lodge has 24 beds; 4 six person rooms with 2 shared baths, and a meeting room with a fireplace. The OUTDOOR FACILITIES include tree house, outdoor chapel and other outdoor meeting and gathering spaces. Visitors can also enjoy a swim in the pool (seasonal), a stroll in the botanical garden, games on the lawns, basketball and volleyball, or an evening campfire.
  
I hope you can join us! You can check out pictures from last year's retreat on my Facebook page ~ Jaime Lyerly 

Blog Triage - HW #3 - "About me" Revamped

Where does your path lead?

Like any slacker student, I am choosing to do the homework I like first before the others. Therefore, for my Blog Triage homework, I am skipping #2 for the moment. Don't tell the teachers!

Blog Triage Homework #3 is about revamping our "About Me" page.

Hooray! I have had roughly the same "About Me" page on Blogger since I started the blog in January 2009. Adding a few sentences over the last few months does not count as revamping, so it is time.

How could my "About Me" be the same if the "ME" part of it is not? Haven't I grown in over a year? Haven't you grown?

So rather than fix up the "About me" page and secretly hope that you never see the previous one, I decided to make a blog post to tell you where I was, and where I am NOW.

"About Me" Before:

I am a mixed media artist trying to bridge the gap between personal narrative and art made for the public eye. My works speak of the ambiguity of our future and our connection to the natural world. As a mother, I try to make the best out of what has been given to me and my art reflects that never-ending effort. It is messy, layered, personal and uncertain – just like everyday living. Found objects, discarded materials and branches from nature blend together with beeswax and hand-knitted yarn to create art that is familiar yet hauntingly distant from its original function. My current work is in exploring the limits and versatility of encaustic (molten beeswax applied hot, resin and pigments) in two dimensional and three-dimensional forms. My explorations include traditional encaustic paneling on panel, but also working three dimensionally with the wax to find out how far it can be removed from its' support. I manipulate the wax using heat, and combine it materials that are not used in traditional encaustic painting. I then examine how it is affected by light, motion, and heat. I love to share my process with others.

This "About Me" is basically my artist statement (which also needs lots of help).

To re-write this, here is a little free-writing...

What's the same:

• Working in encaustic wax and beeswax
• Sharing my process
• Still a mother, artist and blogger
• Being a nerdy, scholarship-winning honor society art undergraduate student
• Tattooed, opinionated, talkative and easily distracted
• Playful and full of enthusiasm
  
• Son calls me "Visser One" and say "yes, my evil master..." when I assign extra chores
  
• Interested in Conceptualism, Art History and Psychology
• Love to read
  
• Experimentation and process art
• Creating something everyday
• Love to support other artists
• Being a procrastinator
  

What is different:

• My son is starting high school next year (that statement makes me feel old...)
• My purple hair
  
• Seeking more of a spiritual connection and balance in my life
  
• Fiber becoming more important to my work
  
• Working more in 3-D encaustic sculpture
• Scientific exploration and research more important
  
• Blogging/documenting a larger part of my creative process
• Started teaching workshops in Encaustic Painting

So let's combine these together...

See my new (and improved?) About me page.

Updated my fancy purple hair picture too in case that natural color was throwing you off.

"Going outside to work!" I holler to my family as I tie up my purple hair and don my wax-covered apron. With encaustic wax melting on a palette in my studio/balcony space, I juggle birch panels, fiber creations and my digital camera as I head outside. Why? Because you need to see an enthusiastic mixed media and encaustic artist at work. And that is why I am here - to share my process with you.

Encaustic (molten beeswax, damar resin and pigment) is an ancient medium that has grown in popularity in contemporary art. It can be combined with mixed media, collage, wood, fiber, and be transformed into paintings and three-dimensional objects with a luminosity that any medium would envy.

Want to know more? Follow, subscribe to my blog, or my newsletter for all the waxy details. I occasionally teach encaustic workshops in San Diego, so do not miss your chance to fling some wax with me.

Fair warning: my blog is not ALL about waxy bliss. I share tips about social networking, art marketing, San Diego events and unique Calls for Artists. I blog about spiritual growth, community involvement and balance seeking. I write tutorials on art techniques and share my own and other artists' artwork and creative processes. I even blog about blogging and make stuff everyday... anything that gets the creative juices following. However, I cannot do all this without YOU!

So join me on this inspirational path as we find out why "Art making is a Journey."

Whew! Let's hope it is not another year before I update that again.

What do you think? ~ Jaime Lyerly

The Psychology of Collaboration

Collaboration.

Working together with another artist(s) to produce something that is part of you both (all).

Sounds like a good thing, right?

Maybe; but I am not sure it is for me. Here is why:

Last year, I tried to be a part of a collaborative mail art group. I failed miserably at this collaboration.

The idea :
Start a small art work that can be shipped in a 8X5 padded envelope. You could have up to 5 pieces and then send them out to members your group. They would have one week to work on it and pass it along to another artist. You would eventually get it back when it has gone through about 4 people. You also work on whatever comes in the mail for you, and send it on to the next person. Simple enough, right?

Well, not for me. I started three pieces and sent them out. I never received anything in the mail until a month later when I was in the apex of the semester and getting ready to go in May on a two-week study tour to China and Japan.

But it isn't the fact that I received the pieces later that made me fail at this. It was that I never thought about the psychology of collaboration. Here is my definition:

The psychology of collaboration is all the questions and inner struggles that you face when you are working a piece of art was started and belongs to another artist.

I'll admit, I procrastinated a bit on getting my own pieces started. I wanted them to be perfect - but that will never happen.

Finally, I sent them off into the world to be worked on by other artists that I didn't know well. It was just when I received other artists' work that became a procrastination nightmare.

These thoughts went through my head when I received the mail art:

Wow, these are so cool.
I could do this, this, and this...
Maybe I can add this to the piece and take this out...
Wait, what if I do this, and she hates it...
Maybe I shouldn't be doing this...
I wish this was my piece...
What if I "ruin" it?
What if I make bad art...
These are professional artists - what the heck am I doing with them...
Maybe this is a bad idea...
How could I have thought that I could do this...
I have so little time now, I will work on this later when I have more time...
I cannot "deal" with this now...

Then the piece gets put aside until I can "deal with it," which is never.

Then the embarrassment and self-consciousness of holding onto the pieces too long (and not working on them at all because of fear) becomes so great that I start making myself less available. The pieces never get sent back either. I "lose" them in my other mail for months.

Collaboration falls apart and I have let everyone down - including myself.

At the time, I never thought that this would be the end result of my first attempt at collaboration. Everyone looked like they were having so much fun!

For someone who is obsessed with process, the idea of documenting a piece of art work at each stage of development is very exciting. I loved seeing what everyone else in the mail art groups (there were 2 others) was posting up on Facebook. It was amazing to see the transformations.

Yet, I hesitated and do what is very familiar to me now, "choosing by not choosing."

If you wait long enough, your choices of what can happen are limited. Wait too long on a scholarship/grant deadline, you will miss it. Forget to pay your bills, you get a late fee. Decide not to enter an art completion, you will never get in.

I know all these things, but I still do them.

And this time, my procrastination and self-doubt robbed me of an opportunity to participate in something special. I was not only hurting myself by procrastinating, but letting my group down.

So, through this mail art experience, I realized that I was not ready for collaboration.

Almost a year has gone by since that experience. And I am taking a small step into the realm of collaboration - this time with new rules and new eyes.

An artist friend from my advanced sculpture class, Sunshine, mentioned on the first day of the semester that she was looking to do an art collaboration with someone. She said that she wanted to exchange a piece with an artist, and we both work with the pieces for two weeks then exchange back again.

Sunshine is an amazing artist who has a BA in metalsmithing. She attends my advanced sculpture class for the critiques and to continue her mentee relationship with the instructor Richard Keely.

I am a great admirer of her work and her dedication to exploring her own process. So when she mentioned collaboration, my first instinct was "YES, I want to do this!"

But then my self-doubt compelled me to admit my hesitancy. I explained to her my previous failure at collaboration. She was understanding and still interested in working with me.

Here is what makes this collaboration different (and I hope more likely to succeed):
I know the artist that I am working with
I know her current work
She knows my current work
I see her every Friday, therefore cannot "avoid her" as easily
She is very friendly, and understanding
We are peers
She is interested in process
She has a similar aesthetic interest as myself

We started our collaboration three weeks ago. She brought me this amazing rubber and fiber piece to work on. Sunshine said that it was a piece that she had been working on for a while and still wasn't happy with it. She wanted to see if I could work on it, which would let her look at it again with fresh eyes. I loved the piece from the start, which is a good and bad thing. I also had ideas right away of what I wanted to do with it.

I hesitated to start, though. And I hesitated even more to bring her something of my own to have her work on. Nothing I had seemed "worthy" of her time.

Finally, I started heating up my beeswax to give the tufts a thin coat of wax. This would change it into something that I could understand - fiber and wax.

Here is what was going on in my head again, while working on Sunshine's piece:
This piece is so cool...
I wish it was mine...
I am going to give it a coat of wax and see how that looks.
But what if she hates it?
What if I ruin it?
Maybe I can take the rubber apart and shape it.
But then it would never go back to its' shape.
What if that is what she liked about the piece.
I wish this piece was mine so that I wouldn't have this pressure.
Okay, lets put it in the wax.
Hmm, that looks interesting. How about the red wax.
Oh no! I am not sure about that one. Why didn't I test it out first?
Is it ruined now?
I am confident that Sunshine is improving my piece, and what am I doing here...
Maybe this was a bad idea.
Maybe I am just not meant to collaborate.
How can I be so bold with my own experimentation and so timid with this piece?
I wish this piece was mine.
I will let it dry and then see how that looks.
Looks cool, now for some embroidery on it.
Oh, the needle puts a hole in the fabric that cannot be hidden!
Did I just ruin it?
Just finish this embroidery, Jaime, and stop thinking about this so much.

Even more questions than before! I knew I needed to work out some of these issues, so it was time for the journal. I wrote in my journal about ten pages about how I didn't expect this collaboration to be such a thought-provoking process. I thought it would be more about working with new materials and making it a part of me.

Instead it has been a process of not only making art, but also examining my own artistic self-doubt and worthiness as an artist. Powerful work, to say the least.

This collaboration is not done. Sunshine was not in class last Friday so that I could give her the piece. So my doubts are still crackling in the air.

But I am now aware of the psychology of collaboration. And will continue to explore these mental processes while working with the physical materials.

My hope is that this collaboration with Sunshine will help me redeem myself as someone who is able to collaborate.

I will continue to explore my own inner landscape of doubt, while pushing forward to create.

Your Turn:

Collaboration: Friend or Foe? Have you collaborated with other artists? Was your inner critic on high volume while working on the piece? Anyone else have more struggles with your own inner voice more than the material before you? I would love to hear your stories.

Thanks for letting me share my process with you! ~ Jaime Lyerly

"Our World through Andy Goldsworthy's Lens" - an (gushing) essay by Jaime Lyerly

All works in the post are from artist Andy Goldsworthy
Images from Morning Earth.org

In my attempt to put some "quality" content on my blog, I am going to share with you an essay that I just completed for my "Contemporary Issues for Studio Artists" class.

My essay is about the land art work of Andy Goldsworthy. I think he is an amazing artist and have to admit that I gushed a little (or a lot) in this essay. His work is jaw-droppingly beautiful and he is one of those artists that when I discovered him a few years ago, I couldn't imagine how I got along without knowing him before. So a little gushing may be in order.

To break up the monotony of the essay format, I am interspersing YouTube clips of Rivers and Tides, which is documentary about Andy Goldsworthy that I base my essay on, and photographs of his work that I captured from Morning Earth.org. The DVD is available on Netflix's Instant view, if you have that or seek it out through your local library.

I hope you are as moved by his work as I am. Enjoy! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Our world through Andy Goldsworthy’s lens
© 2010 Jaime Lyerly

Andy Goldsworthy’s (b. 1956) contemplative sculptures made of natural materials connect to the viewer on a visual and visceral level. Goldsworthy’s artwork is usually simplified into the term of “Land Art.” To use the term “Land Art” puts Goldsworthy in the same category as Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer, which is rightly deserved yet completely wrong at the same time. Smithson and Heizer did work in the land, but they used large machines to make monuments that engulf and almost intimidate the viewer. Their work is about the largeness and spaciousness of the structures. Goldsworthy’s work is more personal in scale and use of ephemeral materials and thus his appeal is unmistakable. In the documentary film Rivers and Tides, viewers get to share in Andy Goldsworthy’s work with nature and see how this quiet man makes sculptures in the land that draw our attention to the beauty that was always there but we have never seen it. That is the power of Goldsworthy’s art and Rivers and Tides gives us a rare glimpse into his magical world.




Andy Goldsworthy’s states that he began doing art in the land while being in art college, where everyone was forced to create in little cubicles. One day he went down to work on the beach and found that the beach had an “energy, breathlessness and uncertainty” which was missing when he was working inside. He states in an interview in Wall Street Journal that “when I went outside and realized art is also a way of feeling, of being nourished, of understanding, of looking and being aware of things” . It is this energy is what has brought him out into nature ever since. In the spirit of Goldsworthy statement “words can do their job, but what I am doing says a lot more,” his actions are what defines him as an artist. In the film Rivers and Tides, Goldsworthy is speaking of his work while he is piling flat stones into a round shape. He is building a cairn right where the where the tide is going to come in. According to Encarta Dictionary, a cairn is “a pile of stones set on a hill or mountain to mark a spot for walkers and climbers, or as a memorial to somebody who died there.” There is no explanation about why the cairn is built there.

Rivers and Tides - Cairn




Goldsworthy and his assistant gather flat shale-like stones and he is carefully placing them into a stone circle, stacked on each other. Goldsworthy puts on a large stone, and the sculpture wobbles. He tries to steady it with his hand, but it crumbled from beneath him. The frustration is apparent on his face. He starts building again. Later the piece falls again, and again. He says that each time it falls, there is an “immense disappointment,” but that each time he “understands the stone better” and it gets closer to completion . It takes him four attempts for the cairn to be built, all while the tide is rising higher and higher, threatening to flood the area before the work is complete. Goldsworthy takes photographs of the cairn as it is engulfed by the high tide and remains standing when the tide rushes out. When the cairn is taken by the sea, Goldsworthy states that it is not like destruction; “the sea makes more of the work than I can.”



The seed like shape of the cairn is an image that Goldsworthy likes, and states that its connection with the seed is “full and ripe, ” which seems in contrast to the stone from which it is made. However, the stones are from the land surrounding the area, and there is still life in the stone, which makes it have energy of its own. Goldsworthy has made cairns all over the world, as place-markers for where he has been. They are present in museums, sculpture parks and most importantly, in the village he has made his home for the last fifteen years – Penpoint, Scotland.

Icicle Star, joined with saliva, Andy Goldsworthy

Goldsworthy was born in England, but he has made his home and family in Penpont, Scotland, which is a picture of rural life. Growing up in England, he belonged to a farming family, and was raised tending to the land. According to an article in The Observer, Goldsworthy was working at 13 and that he “rather he liked the repetitive quality of farm tasks, which he likens to the grind of making sculpture 'A lot of my work is like picking potatoes,' he says. 'You have to get into the rhythm of it.' This sense of rhythm and a seemingly inherit design talent is obvious in every sculpture made by Goldsworthy. To know a place, according to Goldsworthy, you have to live in it long time - long enough to see births and deaths. By living in his village at Penpont for the last fifteen years, with all of his children born there, and him working in the woods surrounding it, there is a sense of connectedness between Goldsworthy and his home. In Rivers and Tides, there is a scene with Goldsworthy sitting at the breakfast table with his wife cooking, his children in a frenzy of activity and him slowly eating a bowl of cereal – thoughts obviously not in the room. However, when he steps outside with a bowl in his hand, gathering bright yellow daisies from all over the town, his connection to the natural world and this town is apparent.

Andy Goldsworthy with Arch

He is sought out to do commissions all over the world, and when he comes home from that, he has to connect to his land again. He has built cairns in his village, which he documents via photographs to show the changing of the seasons. This kind of documentation would be difficult to do with a sculpture that is not connected with his home. For Goldsworthy, time is the most important aspect of his work. He states in Rivers and Tides that he is “fascinated by those processes that are apparent in nature over time – the sun, the light, the time; growth... The real work is in the change” . It is his thoughtful work in nature and his careful documenting through photographs, video, sketches and journaling, which are expressed through his books, brings the viewer into his miraculous world where natural processes are explored.

Rivers and Tides - Nova Scotia


Andy Goldsworthy’s work with ephemeral materials found on site and in nature is what makes him unique. He is a landscape artist, a land artist and an ecological artist, but he is so much more than that. According to the Smithsonian, “by using the landscape as his material, he can illustrate aspects of the natural world – its color, mutability, energy – without resorting to mimicry” . It is not just taking branches and leaves from the natural world and sticking them into a museum. It is not decorating natural objects with art supplies, since he only uses what can be found in nature. It is not painting a two dimensional surface to replicate the natural world. It is a personal exploration of time’s natural processes documented for viewers to see and form their own connections. Goldsworthy’s does not believe that he is making the landscape better by adding his signature touch. He is making work in a place he calls home and sharing the processes with us through a multitude of books and the documentary, Rivers and Tides. Goldsworthy states, “I don’t think the landscape needs me at all. But I do need it. ” This humbleness is as appealing to our jaded times as the natural materials Goldsworthy uses to express himself.

Oak Leaves and Holes by Andy Goldsworthy

Wall Street Journal writer Jason Edward Kaufman sums up Andy Goldsworthy’s appeal:
Mr. Goldsworthy’s low-tech, down-to-earth individualism is a retrograde reaction to the tenor of the times. His gentale [sic] interventions into nature – many of them destined to fade away soon after the artist photographs them – provide an appealing antidote to the glitz pervading so much of the modern society, including the art world.


As many of us have never even been to a place like Penpont, Scotland, let alone are able to make artwork in the land there, Goldsworthy provides a glimpse into a world that natural time touches, but man does not. His work with the ephemeral connects the viewer to a world that is more than beauty, but is always in a sense of decay. Goldsworthy “knows that nothing can or should last forever. Once a piece has been illuminated by the perfect light or been borne away by the serendipitous wave, he gratefully bids it a fond farewell” . Luckily, for us, the pieces will live on in photographs to be marveled at for generations.


Andy Goldsworthy is a compelling artist for many reasons and deserves to be given a better category than just Land Art. His connection with nature is sound and it appeals to me on a visual and visceral level. My stomach clenches when I see his work in his books, especially Passage in all its vibrant color. Below most of the pictures in Passage there is writing taken from Goldsworthy’s journals or a poem about the moment. Goldsworthy has found a way to connect deeply with nature and relay that connection to the viewer in a powerful way. Rivers and Tides is a wonderful way to experience the world of Andy Goldsworthy, and see it as he builds each piece. As he reminded us that words do not matter as much as actions, the ability to see this artist at work is a more compelling way to experience Goldsworthy’s work than a simple interview. Rivers and Tides is a quiet film, with breathtaking imagery that I had to restrain myself from stopping the film several times in my desire to get outside and experience nature. Working with nature’s time has become Andy Goldsworthy’s life work, and has inspired myself and many other artists to seek out a way to explore our world in a new light. The object is dematerialized into a measure of nature’s time, and “the real work is in the change. ” To experience our world through the lens of Andy Goldsworthy is to moving experience that one should not miss.

Biography
Adams, Tim. “Natural Talent." The Observer, March 11 2007, Art and Design section.
Goldsworthy, Andy. Passage. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, 2004.
Kaufman, Jason Edward. “Following Inspiration Across Hill and Dale,” Wall Street
Journal, July 18, 2000, Leisure & Arts section, Eastern edition.
Lubow, Arthur. “Andy Goldsworthy.” Smithsonian, Vol. 36, Issue 8. Nov 2005
Riedelsheime, Thomas, Director, DVD. Rivers and Tides, 2003.

Lessons from Failure

I start this new college semester with a better understanding of myself.

After whining for the last few days (okay weeks....maybe a month....) about not wanting to start classes again because it will cut into my creative time, I am actually excited to start today.

This semester will be a focus on what is important to me, which is a big change from my attempt at learning the Japanese language last semester so that I could study abroad in Japan. I ended up failing Japanese I, because of many reasons which included no time to study, a difficult studio class, illness and my memory not being as good as it was 10 years ago. Since I identify myself as an overachiever (and yes it is very true) this was a hard blow to my ego. I still have a difficult time to identify myself as more than just an academic, so failing a class is a heavy burden to bear. As I was clearing out my Japanese binder last night, I heard each paper yell "FAILURE!" as I shuffled them into the recycle bin. However this failure has taught me more about who I am now than all the scholarships and honor society awards that I won within the last year.

What I learned from failing:

1. Learning a language at 32 is harder than at 22.
2. My self worth should not be judged by my grades or GPA.
3. The world will not end if I fail a class.
4. Stress makes you sick. Sickness makes you miss class. Missing class makes you stressed. Cycle repeats and repeats.

and most importantly:
5. BALANCE is the more important than anything.

So this semester, I am going to seek BALANCE more than academic achievement. As the semester starts today, I vow to keep this sense of balance by taking time to exercise my body, eat healthy foods, write and enjoy life and make time for my family and myself.

Even though I have no choice but to take full time classes (12 units) or work part time to pay my bills, I can chose my classes carefully, and budget my time better. I am going to say NO more often for things that don't serve me, and carefully evaluate the wonderful opportunities that present themselves to see they fit into the time I have now.

Therefore, I hope that my readers will kindly understand if there is less content on this blog, and know that while I am silent here, I am creating somewhere else. I still plan to document my process and share art and art marketing tips I find, but there may be less. And as the newness and excitement of my classes turns to work and stress, I plan to come here to blog about my failures in addition to my successes. Viewed as a whole, this will show the real me - flaws and perfection at the same time.

If you are starting classes now (teaching or learning), I applaud you and hope you will help me on my journey towards balance. And in turn, I wish share my world of creativity and artistic expression with you. We will both win. If you are not starting classes, I still hope you will seek out balance and share with me your lessons from an unapologetically creative life.

Forever seeking Balance! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Redefining Craft - My Essay on a Lecture by Janet Koplos

Pablo Picasso, found object assemblage

As I finish up the last hectic weeks of the semester, I am trying to find some time and energy to blog, make art and relax. Since none of that has happened recently, guess what, I got a cold. When you are running at full force for as long as I have, it is hard to remember that my immune system cannot keep up. Nevertheless, I am here and ready to share what is the most creative non-fiction that I have written in a while - an essay based on a lecture.

In October 26, 2009, Janet Koplos, Guest Editor at American Craft magazine and Contributing Editor at Art in America was a brought in by the San Diego State Art: Applied Design Department as a guest lecturer. It was wonderful, and I hoped to write about it right afterword. However, life gets in the way of my best intentions, but as luck would have it, I needed to do a write up of one of the lectures that I attended this semester for my Woodworking class. So better late than never!

I believe that this essay can stand on its own without seeing the slide show or hearing the lecture. The topic of CRAFT vs. ART is fascinating and one that every artist will face many times in their life. I hope this essay will stimulate you to comment or just contemplate how this battle of words affects you as an artist.

Redefining Craft by Jaime Lyerly, 2009

Craft. The word by itself brings up images of Styrofoam balls covered in sequins, pompoms and lots of glitter. There are Michaels’ stores, which have “arts and crafts” listed in their title. If you go to there craft section, the above materials will be found, along with colored foam, fuzzy pipe cleaners, googley eyes and assorted other little trinkets that had no where else to be stored. It is a sad day for the word, craft, when its definition is limited to what can be found on the aisle of Michaels. Janet Koplos, Guest Editor at American Craft magazine, Contributing Editor at Art in America, and co-author of upcoming book Makers: A History of American Studio Craft, written with Bruce Metcalf, wants you to look past the initial response to the word, craft, and see that it is no different than the word art. Koplos’ has a unique position as the editor of two different magazines and her role is to help redefine craft. Also by authoring a book specifically on crafts, her role becomes one not just of editor but also one of the defining voices in an area where there appears to be lacking a solid and academic representation. In her SDSU Visiting Artist Lecture on October 26, 2009 entitled "A View of the Maelstrom," Koplos showed a history of art and craft via slides, and defined three main points: questioning our need to separate craft from art; the need for a visual vocabulary specified to the craft being critiqued, and a shift in mentality from craft-exclusive to “craft-proud.”

Through slide examples, Koplos shows how the histories of art and craft have not always been separated as they are today. From the ancient Etruscan pottery to Picasso’s work in clay, found objects and metals, craft has been a part of art making since its inception. Craft is now defined by the art community as use of particular materials such as fiber, wood, jewelry, clay, book and paper-making. However, in these days of mixed media, how can craft be separated from art? Is it function that makes it craft instead of art? It is the intent of the creator? Is it manufacturing techniques? Is it material use only? Is it concept? When does a work stop being craft and become art? When does it go the opposite direction and start as art but then become craft? These questions were not answered by the Koplos, but they loom overhead during the lecture for the listener to answer themselves. By showing art that can be defined as art or craft, Koplos asks us to question why we need to categorize it all. This separation makes the artist have to choose one category to stand firmly in, instead of letting the art establish its own genre and intention.

Another key point of Koplos’ lecture was the need for critics and people reviewing craft-related objects to have their own visual vocabulary to describe the work. For example, according to Koplos, tapestries need address a different set of questions than a painting. Although both a tapestry and a painting may be wall hanging and relatively two-dimensional, they need to be critiqued by a reviewer who is familiar with the materials being used. Someone who is familiar with the applications and limitations of acrylic paint may not have the same qualifications when faced with a tapestry. Each material has its own benefits and limitations which cannot be ignored when critiquing the artist’s work. Koplos advised that we need critics who are willing to educate themselves on craft related materials, so that they can best describe the materials in front of them. By placing painting expectations on a tapestry, we are limiting how the creator can interact with their audience, and ignoring the history of fibers from which this tapestry can ultimately be judged. Taking down the walls between art and craft does not mean ignoring the history of the materials used and the objects relationships with those materials. We need a shift in mentality about art identified as craft, which leads final point in the lecture.

Koplos described in her lecture an artist who was advised by a gallery to delete all references to craft in her Curriculum Vitae. She continues on that this artist was able to project a craft-free image and therefore to get into more exclusive art galleries. Koplos believe that this cleansing of the Curriculum Vitae to remove all traces of the word craft is harming to artists who do not see fit to do so. She finished the lecture by showing some screenshots of the newest movement in the craft world – the DIY or Do-it-Yourself crafters. Websites such as Etsy.com gives people a way to make handmade, one of a kind items and sell them to others over the web. It is the eBay of crafts. Koplos said that the people selling on Etsy.com are “craft-proud” and that is the attitude that fine artists working in craft related mediums should adopt. She does point out that the quality on Etsy.com varies tremendously, since anyone can post and sell items without any formal training or quality control. However the attitude of proudly proclaiming your craft is one of inclusiveness, and is a welcome change from the exclusivity of the art world.

In conclusion, Koplos’ lecture was a fascinating look into a world in which I was only barely familiar. Her slides included many works that I would categorize as craft, such as functional ceramic bowls and works that I would never even consider in that category such as Kiki Smith’s figures or Tara Donovan's swell of white cups. To question what is art and what is craft is inviting exclusivity that is neither necessary nor wanted. Magazines such as American Craft and Niche provide a place for artists to show items that proudly pronounce their craft materials to the world. Can they be art too? Of course, if the creator so deems it. Koplos’ point about needing critics who are willing to look past the word craft and actually learn about the specific materials that are included in that broad title rang true to me. Since I love writing about are as much as I love looking at it, I see this as a call to action. I believe that there is a niche that can be filled by a new generation of art critics who will be inclusive with their writing and they will help redefine the word, craft - one article at a time.

Feel moved to comment? Please do! I am not sure how the format of a typical 5 paragraph essay works for blog readers, but I am trying out something new here. Academic writing is part of my life as a student, so I thought it was time to share. Maybe next time you will only get an excerpt. Now back to my regular scheduled hectic life!

Happy Art (or Craft) Making. Be Craft Proud!

Jaime Lyerly

April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month and I almost forgot!

When I was an English major, poetry, especially American poetry, was my specialty. I wrote it, studied it, memorized it, listened to recordings of it and talked about it. Now poetry is not a huge part of my life. I miss it. I still have many poems trapped in my brain, but now they are snips and clips of there former selves.

So to honor the National Poetry Month and my , I give you former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Ironically, his poem "Forgetfulness" is one of the only poems that I can still quote by heart. He is by far the most accessible contemporary poet. With his causal and non-elitist voice, he brings poetry to the masses. There are many recordings of him reading his poetry which you can access on his website. He also uses the ordinary to access the extraordinary which I think is the goal of most poetry.

Enjoy this poem and find others to connect with!

Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusions, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a small fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watch the quadratic equation packs its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever you are trying to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up a date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

Your Turn: What poems can you not live without? Are you celebrating National Poetry Month with reading or writing of poetry? Can poetry be made necessary in everyday life?

Substance over quantity?

I love blogging. I can honestly admit it now. Writing about art and life. Having interested (and interested) readers responding to what I write. Wonderful!

But I still question how long it takes me to write a post. I have tons of ideas and want each one of them to substance and relevance to my readers. (The fact that I actually have readers makes me want to jump up and down, yelling "YIPEE!") As being a visual person, I also need to have pictures on each of my post. Yet I cram all this into an already jammed tight schedule, shoving out other worthy activities to satisfy my craving for some blogging. Something has to give, and I am not sure what it is going to be.

Do I give in and just post "fillers" like this to keep my blog active? Is there room in my life for all of the above? These questions linger in my mind as I watch the time gallop towards the eight P.M. hour.

Your Turn: My question to you, my beloved reader, do you want substance or quanitity? Personally, I want them both, but I am usually happy to get substance once a week over fast food every day. But what do you want? Please share your thoughts with me as I work out how to go further with my blog.

Preparing for the Creative Journey - Haiku

Forbidden Palace, pic from Wikipedia

My big news that I have been bubbling to write about....

My partner Chris and I are going on a two-week cultural study tour to Japan and China!!!

It is through San Diego State University's Art Department, led by Associate Art History Professor Dr. Johnson. The focus is the traditional culture of Japan and China. We will be going to four different Art colleges, two in each country and interacting with former SDSU international students who live in these countries. We will also be hitting a few of the major tourist highlights such as the Great Wall and The Forbidden Palace.

We are so excited to start this journey, which begins at the end of May. It will be jam packed with learning and a condensed adventure.

I have been waiting to blog about it until I had some real exciting way of putting it, but gave up. So this is what you get. Words and exclamation points!!

In addition to studying the language and culture, I am working on how to get the most creativity out of this adventure. I found an e-book online today through the Art Biz Coach called "Creative Toolkit for the Traveler" by Cynthia Morris. Cynthia's blog is very inspirational for those of us looking to explore creativity where ever it goes. She writes a blog called "Journey Juju" about her creative travels. I am in love and envious of all her adventures. But since my blog is also focused on the JOURNEY of making art, I can explore that journey even when I stay close to home.

Through Cynthia's Toolkit, I was reminded of ways to express creativity even while I am stuck in my hometown. So for the next week, I am going to post some very Americanized Haiku to gear me up for my creative journey.

Here are today's Haiku
1.
Stuck at my work desk
Body's here, but Mind is not
Need an Adventure!

2.
Computers all day
Type, print, daydream & know that
Art won't wait till 5

3.
Buddha on my desk
Blessing me in hopes I will
Take him to Japan

Creativity won't wait! Get started on the journey now!

Your Turn: Do you have some adventures planned for the summer or near future? What are you doing to get the creative juices flowing so you can be (as from the Toolkit) "transformed from ordinary tourist to traveling artist?" I would love to hear about your creative journeys!

Creatively yours! ~ Jaime