Most artists hate structure? Weekly Art Practice – Week 27.
Apologies for sending two test emails last night. I was invited to test a beta version of the new Substack app by the amazing – I didn’t realise my test posts would send out to you all. Soz!
On to today’s Weekly Art Practice!
Author’s Note: Every Saturday, I share my art practice over the past 7 days. I’m fascinated by artistic practice – it’s not just about creating art but the entire process. From influences and ideas to materials and skills, each artist’s unique approach shapes their work, making it more than a finished piece. Just imagine having a weekly update from your favourite living artist. How cool would that be? (I’m not saying I’m your favourite living artist, but if Jean Dubuffet had a weekly blog, I’d read it! Or if Karla Knight had a Substack, I’d pay to read it.)
If this piece is too long for email, you can read it here in Substack. Or download the app.
“Fuck ’em all” Maurice Monroe
Before we start: I love this quote from the character played by Don Cheadle in the comedy series, Black Friday. The polite way I see it is, ‘Let’s have a bit of self-care, don’t worry about anyone else for now’. That’s how I feel this week. I’m putting a stop to trying to get anywhere, it is time to reflect. You know why as you read on…
This week…
I got the rejection reply I wanted needed
But I’m none the wiser…
I had to ask her…
Thank you for your reply,
No problem at all, I’m just trying to learn how to improve.
When you said “we felt as though as a body of work it was not quite the right fit for our exhibition space” what did you mean by that? What kind of work do you normally show, can you give me examples?
Thank you
Steve
9th July – The ‘Day Job’ bloodbath
For obvious reasons, I can’t say too much about it. But I can share my experience. Roughly 3rd of the company’s UK staff (circa 1000) were made redundant and had to leave immediately. Fortunately, my job is safe but I didn’t get to say goodbye to many friends and long-time colleagues. So it’s been a bit of a downer of a week in that, I’m very grateful to have a job still, despite my whole Substack being based on transitioning from my day job to full-time professional artist.
Silly Note
I thought that creating a fake Tweet and Substack Note that says Elon Musk is buying Substack would be funny. But no one saw it, so it poses the question, if no one sees a ‘funny’ note, does it even exist? ( would never sell to Elon BTW).
I thought it was all quite Meta.
Structuring time, it’s time to structure my time
Back to the wonderful duo, Tony Smith and …
I’ve been imbibing a lot of Beth’s work over the past couple of weeks, it’s nice to save up to read a load of her posts at once. About a year ago, I completed her site 😃 I’m feeling the pull to create more structure in my life. Part of that is applying to Beth’s year-long coaching group which starts in September. As an artist I hate structure and planning, I find it frustrating, suffocating even. Beth’s words about creating structure are fun, she opens your eyes to how structure can look like whatever you want it to look like, it’s not about some guru telling you the best routines. It’s all about creating what works for you, and changing it as often as you like.
Something Beth said, something so obvious, but it stood out like a sore thumb. “If artists don’t plan when to paint, they don’t paint” something along those lines. Structure is your friend, is something Beth often repeats, it’s a beautiful phrase, as I saw it as the enemy of freedom and creativity.
This reminds me of Stefan Sagmeister, a famous designer. He once took a sabbatical and came to the conclusion that he needed to structure his time off, as he’d feel lost, end up doing random things and not have any kind of direction in his work.
It also reminds me of this quote by Orson Welles: “The absence of limitations is the enemy of art.”, Artists can paint anything they can imagine, and that can be overwhelming, so when you drill down and have a structure around that, magic happens. Of course, there are exceptions, but I find all of this very useful. I look forward to implementing more structure into my artistic practice and life! Watch this space.
Check out her podcast episode around structuring time below, and buy her amazing ebook on the subject too: It’s a short, magical, practical read!
Meet moi in le comments…
Am I overacting by wanting specific feedback about the exhibition, or is it ok to ask? Should I let it go, let it goooo?
What are your thoughts on creative proposal rejection?
How do you feel about structure and planning?