Establishing Your Own Art Rules as a Professional Artist or as a Grad student

Hello!!

This week our professor Adrian Rhodes, has challenged each of us to think about doing a series. To make a commitment to it and write it down and print it out. She has suggested to really think about what rules you want to have in each piece of the series and what the common thread will be. She tells us in order to do this we really need to be thinking about our own personal icons or iconography. She mentioned thinking about what we are attracted to at the beginning of the term, back in August (2018). After being here 4 1/2 years, this is my last semester as an undergrad at University of SC Columbia SC. If you have been in your last term ever, you know so I am right there with the reflections...and the serious considerations of where I am at; what I am attracted to, what has meaning for me and where I want to position my art and my life as an artist and possibly as a grad student. That too, requires I stop and look and listen and judge my work and make a stand on where I want to go.

You can check out the photos on this blog to see a vast array of work that I have completed over the past ten years. Granted, I have not posted no where near as much here as I did prior to deciding to go for an art degree.  Yes, I know more now and have been exposed to many more artists and art styles than I had known about previously. With this deep thinking, I have realized many of the same things my art said before, it still does. I have had to draw more being in school and know if I take the time I can literally draw anything. I work best without deadlines. It's actually very ironic, how I work... which is still pretty much the same. I am perhaps a tiny bit more disciplined in my work than I had been, but no one has ever noticed, so maybe I'm not really. IDK.

Before my art ed, I did several series, a Love series, a coffee series, a geometric series, a flower series, a mono-type print series, a heart series, graffiti guitar series, painting live painting series,  and a silk collage series and so on. These same symbols still hold appeal to me.  I have never been able to judge the quality of my own work. Even now, it seems I will have my work to a point where I don't care for it much and someone will tell me they like it. I am grateful, but if I don't feel like I like it myself, than that image they like probably will be gone within the week. Sorry to say. I know, I should listen to others more...maybe? It's hard to say. Last night, I looked at Art Forum magazine, Fiber Arts of Japan book, Printmaking Techniques book, a couple books about horses and my own websites and my many blogs to help me decide. Sometimes I feel like I am all over the place with my interests; yet I know they all have a connection.

 So, if I am forced to define what rules I can follow in my next series; what would they be?
 What image would I like to work with? I would like to work with images of horses.  Do I have at least 6 of the same exact image? Yes, I do. Images often seen in my art have been hearts, faces, flowers, leaves and triangles. I am sure some of them will be in this series as well, but they are not in the rules.

 

 

 The question this series aims to answer is:

If a horse could be an artist, how would he present his selfie?

New series of Mixed Media Collages with rules that I have set and defined:

1. Main image - at least 1 brown horse 
2. Medium - acrylic, inks, relief, collage, gel mediums, papers
3. Ground - canvas, all same size
4. Quantity -  at least 6 possibly more
5. Format - Each canvas will have at least 1 found or 1 recycled item.
The horse will be slightly off center in each image, but still be the focal point of each.

Colors... I have thought about color schemes and do not want to limit myself on this, so I am leaving this open. Style will be non-representational with the exception of the horse, which of course will be realistic.

Sounds like fun!! ...Anyone else want to join the challenge... make a comment here and you are in!!

Yours truly,

JeaneeB
artsails
10\3\18

All artwork shown by Jeanee Bourque (yours truly)
All copyrights belong to artist and writer c 2018.

Not sure who took this photo of me and Brandi in 2013.
Also not sure who took the photo of Mark Haygood and his horse.
But thanks to both photographers, just the same. The remaining photographs were either by myself or Keith Bates, photographer.

Just Write and Paint - Let it Flow

"Blue Secret" Painting copyright 2018 by Jean Bourque (H 16 inch x W 20 inch)
Acrylics, gesso and mediums.... This feels peaceful, to me.


Hello ya'll,

I know it's been a long time since I had blogged on this blog.  For a while I was posting on other blogs and then I got really busy with college classes and rarely had any spare time for writing or much else. The past few weeks my brain is saying write...and witty little clumps of words come pouring into my absent minded brain and I say oh yeah... I started this journey in the arts as a writer. Well, that writer is still here and she is demanding I write more. So what's a semi-depraved semi-educated life long learning artist, writer to do... but write. (I ask)

Perhaps it is because I found one of my writing files the other day and time is limited. I can squeeze but a few minutes of each day as my self care slash personal upkeep,  is much more time consuming, due to the losses caused by disease. Now I will rise above that. I will get my pace back... it has taken time, but... I am not always the last one... now and that is really good.  Of course, I am a long way from being the first one down like I was in high school or in my previous college years (prior to this century).

Don't know what I would write about, but the fingers fastly flow over the keyboard and words do come...Just write, just do It! A strange day, a strange weak, (just noticed the typo and am leaving it as I think this may mean something) a strange month and even a strange year. I'm not sure if it's because I am further off the beaten path or if it's all the illnesses I have had that dragged me away. Now my brain wants to be back in charge. Okay... I say...

I didn't know how I did it, but I had my baby laughing last night.  The me that was me intellectually or perhaps just comedian may be back. I don't know after years of chemo brain... its sooo hard to say. At any rate, I'm not promising anything as I have learned, its best not to... when it comes to my writing that I do for fun. If there is a promise, it makes it a job and that is not a good way to write or to stimulate creative thinking. Much more creative when freedom rings.

It's actually my birthday and at one time, I didn't think I would have anymore of them... So now, I find I really do not care about birthdays anymore. I really would like the time to not race past me and then make me play catch up.So please.... Slow down please.... (me telling time to slow down) I know that will not alter time, but perhaps there is something to the idea of thinking time could slow down. If it went slower, I would not have to catch up so much. I think.

So this is my monologue for today a happy birthday girl day. May the year ahead be better and better. May you all feel joy!!

Yours truly.... Jeanee

 All artwork by me...this one is a fabric based one with hearts. c 2018.