5x5: Chapter 9

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.

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Who has had the most impact on your creative life?

Stephanie Hilvitz

"The women in my life. My artists tribe. My grandmothers. My mother."

Paula Bogdan

"Thank you dad for constantly reminding me that I have a brain in my head and that I can do anything I want to do. Thank you for putting that first camera in my hands and for showing me life's beauty."

Amy Duncan

"I owe my creative spirit to my mom...fostered at an early age"

Sarah Fishburn

"A child of the 1930s, she played with her sisters, the neighborhood children, and all the other little things that comprised her world. She grew up to be dizzyingly clever and dazzingly beautiful. She is never far from my thoughts."

Lelainia Lloyd

"For the last 15 months I've been taking online photography classes with the fabulous Vivienne McMaster. Taking on photography was a huge leap for me. Picking up a camera & learning to use it to make art was way outside my comfort zone. Vivienne has informed my creative practice & forever changed my artistic life."

Maggie Crawford

"Since discovering rubber stamping in 1996 I have taken many classes from a number of very talented teachers on the art retreat circuit - all of whom have influenced me and helped me to grow along the way. I have tried lots of different mixed media art forms but am happiest with art journaling, book making and collage. I create art just for myself, for my own enjoyment and fulfillment. I don't have a blog as I would rather be making art than writing about it, but I do get an incredible amount of inspiration from checking out other people's blogs. I cannot chose just one person. Everyone I have encountered has had some impact; large or small. I thank everyone who has inspired me on this incredible journey but most of all me. I discovered a passion and nurtured this creative life for myself."

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

Barbara Kleinhans

"I feel stuck in this repetitive landscape"

Chris Meissner

"Broken, disheartened, isolated, alone, outsider, misfit, disenchanted, disappointed, left out, forgotten, wounded, regret, broken."

Deborah Guthrie

"Meltdowns. Good old I'm a loser meltdowns. I can rage as hard as I delight. Thank goodness I delight most of the time as the rages steal so much. I work hard at walking the walk and talking the talk as an artist/instructor but sometimes the ground gives out and a storm blows in and rages. It passes and I believe once again."

Trudi Sissons

"I know all the words to Tiny Tim's Tip Toe Through the Tulips"

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This is the last edition of 5x5. Join me for a new Pulse question - the last in the 5th series of The Pulse - in the new year on Sunday, January 6th.