Secret Sunday 7

Do you want to know a secret?


Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals.


Over 150 (!) artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. And the first continues right now!

Join the The Altered Page every Sunday for "Secret Sunday." Here the secrets of all your favorite artists will be revealed. It could be a technique, a product, a secret source, a little-known website, a hidden shop, an inspiration, just about anything! If you missed any, no worries. You can find links to all the secrets on the sidebar of my blog.

Today's secret.......The Essence of Art!
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Carol Slade
Website: C.W. Slade
Cafe Press: CW Slade Gifts

My secret is to meditate everyday because it centers me and helps me fight distraction.

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Sarah Fishburn
Website: Sarah Fishburn
Etsy: Sarah Fishburn: Designs & Ragtags
Blog: Ragtags Studio Central
Lulu: Cartwright and Fishburn

Shhhhh...

I know way too many people who aren't making art because they have to, or even want to, for its own sake. They aren't attempting to say something important, necessary, heartbreaking, or funny. They don't even simply want to make the world a more beautiful place. Rather, they are so teeth-clenchingly determined to get something PUBLISHED that the true nature and meaning of Art, and why we as artists are compelled to make it, becomes lost...

Don't misunderstand, I believe in artists' work being discovered, being seen, being appreciated, even being copied (by someone who is trying to learn process and technique - it's an age old teaching method employed by masters from time immemorial), and certainly to those ends, being published. But I think we do ourselves a disservice if we let that end guide our artistic visions, choices, and finally, the art we make.
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Rhomany
Website: Rhomany's Realm
Ning: Willowing and Artist Friends
Etsy: Rhomany's Realm
You Tube: Rhomany's Realm

No one has to see your art journal. Ever.

Remembering this will help you to free yourself from trying to be like others, from trying to be perfect and from feeling that you can't just be yourself in your art journal. By all means share if you really want to. Just don't ever think that you have to, because there is nothing wrong in keeping something for yourself.
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Jacquelyn Berl
Blog: Ascender Rises Above
Linked In: Jacquelyn Berl
Squidoo: Ascender Rises Above
Art Bistro: Ascender Rises Above
Facebook Fan Page: Asender Rises Above
General Facebook account: search "Ascender Rises Above"
Twitter: Ascender Rises

Do bad art on purpose; place pen/pastel/paint to paper and just mix
colors around. Have no idea in mind when you do this. Stand back and
see what has popped out and use it to continue the image. Do negative
art to get it out of your system. When you don't you will find it
surfacing in a fine art piece. Don't criticize it, don't share it.
Keep an eye and see where it progresses as you go through your days.
You will find it bringing you answers to questions.
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Patti Sandham
Blog: Jazzgoil Ink

My fearlessness to experiment and play especially in my journals. Once I get motivated and jazzed up from working in my journals anything that comes to hand can get painted or collaged upon. This is how the Jelliglian came into being.

And notice his rich colours, it is obviously in breeding season! LOL! I experimented with using a paper towel for a background texture and “saw” the creature appear before my eyes and just accentuated it so everyone else would see what I “saw”. This is not my usual colour palette or type of image that I am drawn to, but I just went with it and I am happy with the results.
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Marion Bockelmann
Blog: Bockel 24
Flickr: Bockel 24
You Tube: Bockel 24

I think art should contain some secrets itself to be interesting.

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Jennifer Lorton
Website: Jennifer Lorton
Blog: Jennifer Lorton

For me, the biggest secret is the willingness to do something scary - Make the call to that gallery, submit a photo to a juried show, contact a publisher, write to that person that you admire, etc., you'll be amazed what can happen. The second part of this is not to allow rejection to derail you, just keep doing scary stuff and see all that you will accomplish.

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Kelly Kilmer
Blog: Kelly Kilmer

Don't give up. Push yourself. Keep an art journal. Play in it. Play more. Work hard. Learn everything there is to know about your subject. Just when you think you've learned it all, you'll discover something new. Ask yourself "what if?". Learn the rules and then learn how to break them. Give yourself permission. Don't EVER compare your work to anyone else's. Make work that looks like you made it. It's okay to copy to learn, but at some point you need to start making art that looks like you made it and art that you are most happiest with.

Make art for you, not to sell or to profit from but for you. If you make art from the heart, it will shine in its honesty and trueness. If someone asks why you made something or what you're going to do with it, or if you're going to sell it, move on. Stay true to yourself and do what you love.
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Jude Berman
Blog: Jude's Art Blog
Website: Jude Berman

I've noticed that most artists follow one of two processes. Either they observe the world around, select something of beauty or of interest, and attempt to enhance or reproduce it. Or they have an inner vision and try to replicate that, often with the use of symbols. I find it more satisfying to do neither of these. My secret, it there is one, is simply to be alert in the moment and watch as the art in essence creates itself.

As in the case of this detail from a watercolor, where I discovered the face already there, hidden in a larger swatch of color that had been applied at "random" to the page, just waiting for a small "touch up."
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