Amazing Art: Takashi Murakami Interview: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg (a shared video)

Art is Love

Art School Surprises

Art is Love

As you can see by my shirt; Art is Love. Photo by Junior Talbot. I am now in my 5th year of art school. This Fall I will start my 6th year and plan to graduate with my BFA in Dec. Obviously, I am a little bit older than most students. There are a few older than me at UofSC but they are in the Graduate school or a PhD program. 

As I contemplate the future and attending graduate school, I remain hopelessly optimistic that the art world may eventually be as well-liked and as well funded as football is in my school. (in my community, my state and nation) Granted most artists at least most visual artists (and musicians) are often portrayed as a bit eccentric, odd and somewhat strange. That may be true for some, but there are artists that are simply highly imaginative people. I like to think I am in that category. 

It's funny, looking back,  I had a big fear about going to art school. I was concerned that I would lose my style. Now I know I haven't lost my style, I have just enhanced it to be more in tune with the Elements of Design and with Albers Color Theory. I wish I could say perspective as well... but I do still have trouble with it as well as foreshortening. (which is like when a person has their tubular arm going straight out and then the arm and hand hanging down, like when someone has their arm being supported by the top of the bench (or chair)  then from the elbow have the arm going flat down or to have the arm extended straight out from the elbow. All very difficult.

Now, we have just a few days left in some classes and until May 1st and then two finals on May 3rd in other classes. to turn in all completed projects. I have a lot to get down in the next week or plus completing an in depth paper on Isa Genzken, putting it in a Powerpoint. I also have to have in progress work shots for the powerpoint, slide show or iMovie to present for ARTS519 final class Friday April 26. That is not much time for all I have to do. 

Time to get to work... post pics later!!

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.

Art by Jean Bourque Evolves to Enhanced Monotype Prints

So happy to share photographs of some of my latest work.

Eye See

Monotype Print

Bourque 2016

Half Way

Monotype Print

Bourque 2016

Heart Face

Monotype Print

Bourque 2016

Space Face

Monotype Print

Bourque 2016

Last fall I took a Printing class at USC with Mary Robinson. We did Screen Printing using silkscreens and printers ink. Besides this class Mary also taught those of us that wanted to learn other things, She taught us papermaking and book making and binding. 

The final project for this class, I wanted to do something different and Mary told me about using Watercolor Crayons and ScreenPrinting. These were done using watercolor crayons and then enhanced with paint, markers and other mediums to create unique one of a kind monotype prints.

Yours Truly,

Jeanee

USC's Got Talent

USC's Got Talent....     Applications LIVE!

Wed. Sept. 9 at www.sa.sc.edu/cp

More details: 803-777-3950





   

Poetry Night at USC

On Tuesday September 15th,
they will be holding a poetry night,
at Gamecock Park at 8PM at USC

.Follow them: @usccp
Russell House 318 @USC
Email @ sacp@mailbox.sc.edu
Phone 803-777-3950

Acoustic Cafe at USC

USC  Gamecock Park at 8PM Tuesday Evening

Sept. 8th & Sept 22 & Oct. 13th
Will host the Acoustic Cafe.

Follow them: @usccp
Russell House 318 @USC
Email @ sacp@mailbox.sc.edu

Hilma af Klint: Art and Spirituality (a lesson learned)

I just discovered while looking at Amazon.com a female artist I had never heard of. After reading everything I could find in my internet searches this morning, I realized I am not alone in never hearing of her. Because I was so amazed by what I just learned, I had to share! I wish I had pictures, to show.... but you can google. I do not want to steal anyone's pics and you can easily find them.

Hilma af Klint had been a trained artist and did naturalistic paintings which she showed in her life time. She passed away in 1944 and upon her death it was stipulated her artwork could not be shown for at least 20 years. To me that was partially the hook, she never showed her spiritual paintings during her lifetime. It was as if she knew she was ahead of her time. She was born in 1862 started creating her large spiritual paintings in 1890, at the age of 28. These paintings were what is now known as large abstract paintings ripe with symbolism, geometric and circular patterns in a wide variety of colors. Her works were like NONE seen at that time. This was before Kandinsky!

Part of my fascination is the Abstract and the other part is the Spiritual. They certainly go hand in hand in Hilma af Klint's work and in my own.  In fact I recently found a great book at my local city library "The Spiritual in Art; Abstract Painting 1890-1985" put out in collaboration with a variety of writers and artists, by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and published by Abbeville Press Publishers. I have it on loan right now. To my surprise, this artist Hilma af Klint is in this book.
Ten pages written by Ake Fant cover this Swedish artist.

It does amaze me, how everything does prove to be connected. I checked this book out 5 days ago and so far had just looked at the artworks and not really did any reading of what might be new information for me to gather and learn. All I can say is there truly is a destiny to learn certain things at certain times and some one other than me is guiding this learning. That is a spiritual realm. I have noticed several times throughout my life when I first learn of something I often discover something else within that day or week that shows me more information on the subject. And /or I discover this information was available to me earlier in a different format and I did not pay attention to it.

She worked in a variety of artistic mediums although typically the spiritual paintings were done as oils on canvas. Most of her abstract paintings were done while in a trance, meditation and under spiritual direction. In 1914 she started to work in watercolor and in a smaller scale. She kept many notebooks detailing her journey into unconsciousness, recording what was happening as she painted and how she was being led to paint and to enter the astral plane. Many critics say these paintings could be called automatic paintings. While others claim she really painted the first abstracts in the world.

It's a shame this artist didn't get the recognition she deserved in her life time. In some way I could connect because I remember paintings i did in the nineties where people told me I was ahead of my time. I don't think I will write a 20 year hold in my will though. However, I do hope that within a year or two of passing that my loved family and friends will hold retrospects of my life's work. However, no one can really know what will happen once they have left the earth.

If I am painting for myself and not a commission, gallery request or school assignment; I find I feel freer and have less judgement on it. I go with the spirits where ever they want to take me. Sometimes my grandfather, ( C. Talbot an oil painter from MA) will speak with me and say use this color, move your brush this way. Other times a dear friend that I painted with for 15 years; will say Jeanee you need to paint. Get a big canvas out; use big brushes.... and so on. I love the spiritual realm and the spirits that guide me, I do not always know who they are.

May the spirits be with you.
Jeanee

Dream Girls at Trustus in Columbia SC

Dreamgirls was a wonderful play held at Trustus from June 26 to Aug 1, 2015.
Terrance Henderson did a great job as director and choreographer. Larry Hembree
made several announcements and it was good to see him. He has a five year plan for
Trustus which will lead to much success. Dreamgirls had an amazingly talented staff with singers like Jasmine Ayers, Avery Bateman, Kendrick Marion and Mario McClean. (just to name a few of the very talented singers and dancers)

If they run it again next year.... go, it was a great play. It was better than the movie!