5x5: Chapter 6

I may be the author of The Pulse of Mixed Media but the true, creative force behind my book is the group of artists who generously shared their secrets and passions and, of course, their art. It was important to me that this book be representative of our entire artistic community, but the total number of contributors I could include was limited by the number of pages in the book. Not wanting to be contained by page numbers, I decided that the Internet was the perfect vehicle to extend the book and be able to include more of the community. With this in mind, the 5x5 Pulse Project was born.

The Pulse of Mixed Media presented the results of a survey in which contributing artists were asked questions that they had to answer with words or provided with prompts that they had to respond to by creating art. These ideas were combined in the 5x5 Pulse Project. I put out an open call for artists to submit artwork created in response to one or more of the following questions that were part of the original book:

1. If your artwork could talk, what would it say?

2. Who has had the most impact on your creative life?

3. What is one thing you have never shared with the creative community?

Submitting artists could chose 1, 2, or all 3 of the questions and respond to each by creating artwork in any medium in the form of a 5" x 5" square. They were asked to include words as a part of their artwork as well. There was a tremendous response to this call and I will be posting each submission every Sunday throughout the months of November and December. 

The 5x5 project is also being featured in a ten-page spread in the November/December 2012 issue of Somerset Studio, now available in stores and online here.

---------------------------------

If your artwork could talk, what would it say?

Darlene K. Campbell

 "Go ahead and jump down the rabbit hole"

Wanda Hickman

 "It's all in the details"

Sarah Fishburn

 "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all" E.D.

Raylee Syrch

"You see me. Do you feel me?"

Bleubeard and Elizabeth

 "Get me out of the studio and into the real world"

Kathryn Dyche Dechairo

 "Touch me"

Terrie Purkey

 "I am worthy"

Barbara Kleinhans

"Come close and let your eyes wander"

Jane Royal

 "Capture the essence of the subject and move on. Don't get caught up in the details. In the case of portraits, my most common subject, I focus on the expression and personality of the subject more than the exact likeness. I do strive for recognizable but I don't get too upset if a feature is slightly 'off.' It would be safe to say that I'm not a perfectionist."

Arabella Grayson

 "My art work, my heart work, is beauty - love - peace from my heartspace"

Deborah Guthrie

 "The child in you lives on. Childhood is cherished now as a memory. It was lonely but cherished and the loneliness gave you permission to play and entertain yourself. The stage awaits every day. The lines to say, the costume to plan, make and wear. The delight of the day. Oh the drama of the day. The chances to do it again and again and again."

Loryn Spangler-Jones

 "If perchance he feels himself falling in love, come inside"

Beth Bynum

 "My artwork quotes American author, Joseph Chilton Pearce, To live a creative life, we must lose our fears of being wrong."

-----------------------

The next edition of 5x5 will be posted on Sunday, December 16th.