Coffee And Paint Drips Blog - Page 73 of 79

Willy the Whale for the Weekend

On Friday nights I teach little kids how to dance traditional Greek line dancing at my church. This is my second year. I’ve been director for the program for a number of years and my oldest son has been teaching since he was 15 years old. He’s too humble to say it, but he really knows his stuff as far as Greek music and dance. My two sons, my sister and I, have been dancing with a performing group since about 1995 so I know a few things. But dancing a dance and teaching a dance are very different. It’s not easy to break down a dance into steps with words, right/left/left/right, slow, quick quick.

When I needed a teacher for the Friday night class and couldn’t find someone, I took the class myself. I live nearby, the kids are beginners, I figured I could handle ten kids. It’s been alot of fun and hard work. I like it because it keeps me out of my head!

Doesn’t George look proud of Willy?

This past Friday was particularly fun for me. One student, George, brought a stuffed whale to the dance class. It seems the whale comes from the student’s second grade classroom and each child has the chance to bring home “Willy for the weekend”.

I remember the time my youngest son brought home a gerbil and kept it in his bedroom. He wanted to watch it and play with it during the day, but the rodent was asleep. At night the thing was awake playing on it’s wheel, eating, rummaging through the wood chips, and keeping my son awake with it’s little noises. And it smelled. So congratulations to that smart teacher who had the idea for kids to bring home a stuffed animal to entertain! George has to write about the activities he does with the whale for school on Monday.

Willy leads the dance line

George’s mom asked if it was okay to allow the whale to participate in the dance class. I think she might have been apprehensive of how I would react. Well, I was all up for that! I immediately gave “Willy” a name tag and put him in the line-up. The mom and I took photos while the kids held its flippers. We made “Willy” lead the dance line, too. Mom took a picture of “Willy” checking out my CD choices.

When class was over they put “Willy” back in his carry-case/shopping bag to have the rest of his weekend adventure at George’s house!

I think I had a better time with “Willy” than George and the other kids had! I was so excited that I couldn’t wait to come home from the class to write this post and share.

George takes Willy home

Photos for Friday

Fifth Ave and 57th Street, NYC

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and Skating Rink

A huge tree all lit up

Waiting for the Zamboni so they could skate

The figure of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center Rink

Thought for Thursday

“Any time three New Yorkers get into a cab without an argument, a bank has just been robbed.”

Phyllis Diller, comedian

The Non-Resolution

Yesterday I said I’m not much into making new year resolutions, but a rather long to-do list. While browsing around various artist’s facebook fan pages, blogs, etc. I came across an artist who feels the same way as I do. However, her philosophy toward resolutions is quite different than most people. I wish I had bookmarked her blog post to give her credit, but I didn’t and I can’t remember who she was now. Rats!

This artist said she was making a non-resolution! I thought that was interesting take so I read on. Her non-resolution was to not apologize for her art. She decided that she would not apologize for the time she spends, or the colors she will use, and not for the size or shape of the surface, or the medium, or the style in which she feels like expressing herself in any work.

I get that. How many times do we finish a work, to later say: But it’s too small, it’s too big, it could’ve had more blue here, green there, I should have worked more realistically, or more abstract? And then other people chime in with their ideas, comments, and criticisms about our art.

Someone once told me, “No judgement, no criticism”, about things I did that I thought were stupid. Ok, so I thought this or that about a thing I did or didn’t do. It’s done, it couldn’t be helped, just move on. Seems to be a good idea aimed at our art making. We have an idea and try it out on paper or canvas. We work on it until we think we’re done. Then we step back and take a look. Sometimes we’re pleased and other times we’re disgusted! Well then, do we rip ourselves to shreads or give pats on the back? It shouldn’t matter what the outcome is, but rather we were in the moment creating, working on the process, in the “doing”.

So commend yourself for just showing up and don’t apologize for any of it. I like that idea.

1/7/10 Note: Since writing this post I found the blog post that inspired me:
http://betsylewis.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-not-to-do-in-new-year-for-artists.html

To-Do in the New Year

I’m so thankful the holiday season is over. Now it’s time to get back in business. Every weekend I look forward to Monday so I can start my week. Each time I said that this week, the people around me kept groaning. OK, so they have to go to a job on Monday, but so do I. So my job is at home, so what? It’s still a job. I still wake up at 6A.M. to get the day started. There’s alot to do, and I’m a morning person so that’s the time when I feel my best. By two in the afternoon I start to poop out.

I’m not big on resolutions, but I have a to-do list that needs attention. The one big thing I need to do is show up in the studio every day. To show up and be present with no agenda other than to play at being creative. By working with The Artist’s Way I learned to just do something, one action, towards artful activity. Even clearing the desk in my studio is “doing”. Writing the Morning Pages every day is “doing”. Inspiration seems to come with “doing” the smallest things.

Another item on my list is to plan the weekly artist’s date, as well as a daily artist’s time-out. The time-out phrase is my idea. The Artist’s Way suggests a weekly date out alone as well as small daily pockets of time for a little artist’s moment, but I’m going to call it a time-out. I can barely get myself on a full blown date once a week, but scheduling a small fun thing during a break in the day would work. I’ll see how it goes. I’m planning a visit to NYC this week. There’s an exhibition, The Origins of El Greco: Icon Painting in Venetian Crete at the Onassis Foundation in midtown Manhattan and I may go take a look as my first artist’s date in the new year. The visit alone is an artist’s date even if I don’t get to the exhibit.

I want to do the tasks I didn’t get to in The Artist’s Way course. One task was to put music on and doodle in a sketchbook, but I never did it. During my shopping travels I picked up a mini sketchpad . I’ll have it in my handbag for doodling when I find myself somewhere with nothing to do. I filled my rapidograph with ink and I’ll pop it in my bag along with the pad! I love pen and ink so I’m just going to have it ready to go.

I’m looking forward to a productive year and my mantra will be: It’s the process, stupid.

For more info on the exhibit of painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos, El Greco see:
The Origins of El Greco

Photos for Friday

Thought for Thursday- Happy New Year!

DECIDE that each day will be a good day and that you’ll be in a good mood. That’s right: You can decide.
DECIDE that you’ll sing, smile, laugh, and dance more often.
DECIDE to make this a rewarding year filled with things and people you love.

~Alyson Stanfield, The ArtBiz Blog

This blog effort has been a fun and rewarding experience. Thank you all for reading and commenting. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and productive 2010!

Whining About Time

“Decide to make the most of the time you have and to stop whining about the time you don’t have.” Alyson B. Stanfield, Art Biz Blog

I received an email update from a wonderful site I found a little while back. Ms. Stanfield is the author of I’d Rather Be in the Studio,(http://www.idratherbeinthestudio.com/), book/blog that helps artists in marketing their art, social networking, and such. It’s very informative and inspiring.

For the new year Stanfield sent out an article and podcast titled, Decide What Your Year Will Look Like. All the to-do’s in this article are noteworthy, but this particular one jumped out at me. I’m always complaining about how much time I don’t have to do what I really want to do, but is it true? Do I really have the time, but allow other things to just drop in my way? In The Artist’s Way course I became aware of doing such a thing by working my way through the twelve weeks. (I’ve suspended finishing Week 12 for the holidays. Convenient? Hmmm…)

Seeing these directives in print makes an impression. I’ve printed the list and plan to post it in a place that I can read it every day. It’s good inspiration for a new start to the year.

The Studio Spot

While waiting for the new year to come and running around trying to get things done, I’ve had to avoid the studio. Last night I did some knitting on one pair of socks, so at least I’m still slightly in the game. But painting is going to have to wait. I thought I’d give you a little glimpse at my studio space while I’m waiting to get back in it.

For a long time I didn’t have any space except the kitchen table. My father had a nice studio in his basement in our house and I used that space when I was young and living at home. When I got married it was the kitchen table or even the floor of our living room. In my house part of our basement was finished, but it wasn’t really friendly for art so I used the kitchen table for quick things. I would do pastels and clean up before the kids came home from school. When they were babies I didn’t want them around the oils and just left it. Pastels are easier to do with kids around.

Now that I’ve finished the other side of our basement I took over a little corner. One of my sons is a musician on the side and we carved out the bigger area for all his instruments and other stuff. He’s married now, but some stuff is still here. Don’t tell him I said this, but I may creep myself in that space little by little.

I have my drawing table in the corner and I’ve been hanging posters and things that make me feel good around it. I kept the old kitchen table from our apartment, which came from our house when I was little. It’s on the opposite wall from the desk and I love to sit at it. I’ve moved my jewelry stuff there and plan to set up still life arrangements. It’s really cozy to me.

The closet needs to be organized for flat storage and I need a small bookcase for odd tools, books, and other things. IKEA may be the destination for that. Once these holidays are over I’ll be back in that space that’s all mine.

It’s Not Over Yet

I never get the chance to just relax and enjoy the festive season until it’s over and this year was no exception. By the time I’m able to be in the moment, that anticipation has passed and so is the moment!

We put our tree in the house just before Christmas Eve and it doesn’t come down until the Epiphany on January 6. I’m always surprised when I see a discarded Christmas tree out in the street on December 26 with bits of tinsel clinging to the branches. Who takes down the tree on Christmas night for the garbage early the next day? I like having the tree and decorations around to usher in the new year and to celebrate Christ’s baptism on the Epiphany.

There’s no way I’m getting any where near the art studio this week either. I don’t even have the energy to knit at night on any of my many socks-in-progress. There’s gatherings to attend. New Year’s Eve and my daughter-in-law’s birthday are the same day. New Year’s Day we visit my mom. The weekend will be a short respite until January 6 and another round of parties. There’s more celebrating to do and people are already pooped!

For a great blogpost on Christmas, New Year’s, and Epiphany customs in Greece see: http://livingingreece.gr/2007/12/31/new-years-greece/