Friday, June 07, 2013

Risky Business

If you only know me through my blog and my FaceBook page, you would think that my life consists of Hello Kitty, chocolate cake, and quilting (not necessarily in that order).  In fairness, a lot of my life is full of Hello Kitty, chocolate cake, and quilting, but there is so much more that I choose to keep to myself.

I have decided to take a risk today and share something more personal with you:

I am taking an online art class.

There, I said it. 

Some people look at my quilts and say, "Wow, you are an artist!" but in my heart I do not believe that.  I am a "skilled practitioner" in the art of quilting but when I meet a true artist, I am humbled.  They have something that I lack. So many of my friends in the quilt world are amazing artists.  I do not want to copy them, but I want to be able to think like they do (if that makes any sense at all).

When I took art class in school, the teachers tried to be encouraging, "Good effort.  Try Home-Ec."  I took an Art Quilting class as an adult but quit attending when the teacher informed me that I was "doing it wrong." 

Either this third try will be the charm, or I will be out with my third strike.  Time will tell.

The first assignment was to create something as an introduction.  I made Discovery:


I applied some of the things the teacher taught about: color, texture, and density.  It should surprise no one that I chose to use fabric and thread instead of paint and brush.

The lessons about artists so far have been interesting.  I am a museum junkie and divide paintings into "like" and "don't like" categories.  I love when I visit a new museum in another city and turn the corner to see an old friend hanging on the wall, "Well hello, Mr. LeWitt!  So good to see you here!"  Other artists I just don't get and don't think about too much.  I hope this class will help me to think about them in a different way.

I am taking a risk by taking the art class and trying new things, but I am also taking a risk by letting you know about it.

My heart is actually pounding as I consider hitting the "publish" button.  

Here goes.

6 comments:

Janice said...

Oh Debby, you will turn that art class on it's ear! You are such a talented artist now and furthering your education is always a good thing. I had an 8th grade art teacher who told me to never persue a career in art as i was talentless. I showed her! Good luck and HAVE FUN! As a teacher yourself, you know you never go away from a class without learning SOME thing.

The Calico Cat said...

Good for you. I completely understand. Not that I want to be an artist per se, but I choose to work with fabric & I work very scrappily, because of some of my doubts that probably are lodged in a similar portion of my brain as your wanting to be an artist. (If that made any sense.)

Diana Louie, The Village Fabric Shoppe said...

Self doubt is a demon that every creative person must battle and win at least some of the time. You won big time by facing yours and publishing. From what I have seen, you are indeed an artist, and this class can only benefit from having you in it. Keep fighting the good fight and that demon gets littler every time.

Robin said...

I'm going to have to disagree with you. You are an artist. It's not just skilled practice. I've seen you take a picture and then intrepret it in fabric art. No amount of practice will provide the results you achieve. Truly artistic results. Bravo to you for taking a risk, publishing and doing what you're doing! I wish you all the very best.

Kim said...

Love the new piece, get what you want out of the class, who cares what the teacher thinks :0).
I love your creative mind and think you are incredibly talented :0), okay so your are my dear friend but still....you know you rock in all you do!

Happy Sewing and learning something new about "art"

Katie M. said...

Congratulations! And no matter what the teacher (or anyone else) thinks, I'm sure you'll come away with something learned and apply it to 'your' art.