BA Week 8

This week in the studio I worked on my large scale loom. I have had thoughts about leaving it and starting a new one, but I felt like i needed to take it further. I added a gray/blue color this week and its starting to create depth and form. I enjoy all the of the relationships that I am making through color, composition, and material. I hope to finish this loom up within the next few weeks, and start on another one. I have also been thinking of ways to create my looms into standing 3D objects, to act as a sculpture, possibly by leaving my tapestries on the actual loom. 

An artist i have been looking into is Jo Deeley. Jo creates sculptural objects out of textiles. She finds a lot of her content in her process as well as explores the use of traditional methods with contemporary mediums. 

The reading this week is extremely insightful. It begins by taking about balancing your time as an artist, which is really important to me. In my life, too much of anything gets frustrating to me, so i need to find the perfect amount of time to be working in the studio. I know it needs to be more than i may want to at times, but its all about getting into the groove for me, because once i am, thats when i don't want to leave. I have recently realized the importance of making more and being productive most of the time. I have also realized that when i need a break, its ok to take one every once in a while. I think some really good advice i took from the reading is that don't plan your studio time around your side job and social life, plan your social life and side job around your studio time. If being a working artist is the most important thing i want in life, than i need to make it a priority. For me, i love working in the comfort of my home, but then it becomes too comforting. I would love to have my own separate studio outside of the house that i can go to specifically to work, and to work only. Im also a large scale worker and i wouldn't want the size of my studio keeping me from that. I have definitely felt the lack of community i have as an artist, for some reason all of my friends are into other things. I think i really need this sense of community because its nice to just be able to ask your friends what they think of your work and be able to get actual feedback. I think sharing a studio space with someone, (the right person) could be really useful for me. I think as a day job, i want to enjoy it, and it be inspiring to me for sure, but not to have to drain my own energy on it and then not have energy for my own work. I want to be surrounded by artists, yet doing most of the art on my own. Its also nice to think of the fact that my day job doesn't dictate my identity, considering it may not be the brightest. Also everything this reading goes over, from how to live your life as an artist to organizing inventory and being in contact with people, it is probably the most insightful and helpful document i have read in regards to my career. Something interesting to me that stood out was the fact that you can state on your invoice that you as the artist have the right to borrow a piece from a collector for an exhibition or show. I had no idea that artists did that, thats actually really cool to know because sometimes i feel attached to a piece and can't imagine never seeing it again after putting in so many hours. I love its importance it stresses on the community in the art world, this is going to be my main focus after graduating school, cause having this can be a foundation to ones career.