Originally written January 1, 2010
Although only a date on a calendar, starting a new year brings a fresh sense of possibilities, opportunities, and anxieties. With a new soundtrack of CD’s by Hey Rosetta and Amelia Curran to inspire me, I set forth to write my first ever Blog. My friends Kathryn and Joel are helping me remake my old and static website so I can update it and move stuff around by myself, and learn to use blogging and Twitter to reach a wider audience with my art and ideas. I hope you will join me on this adventure – and learn from or be inspired by my successes and mistakes, and share your inspirations, successes and mistakes, as I try to learn to balance the making of art that comes from my gut, with the necessary work of finding an audience for it – something I never learned how to do in art school. I hope through my artwork, my musings and rants, I may shed some light on this necessary process, while exploring themes I am passionate about – such as climate change, poverty, prejudice, power imbalance, and violence and how we as frail human beings find the strength, courage, and grace to stand up to these challenges.
Hammered and Welded Steel with Fired Clay – 18.5″ x 19.75″ x 4″ – 2004
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Jim: We are currently sitting in a hostel in Beppu Japan. During this trip we have learned that this country takes art and craftwork very seriously. You need to visit here and be inspired.
Thanks. I did have one piece in a group show of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador in Tokyo some years ago.
I think the art and the site look great, and I know that with Kathryn and Joel’s guidance you’re in good hands. I wish you success.
Thanks Ian. Contrary to the way we are conditioned to think in art school, being an artist is very much a business. I will keep up with your blog to see what I can learn.
Hi Jim
I love your first blog and want to hear more! When’s the next post coming? I was struck with your comment on struggling to find the balance between making art that comes from the gut and art that finds an audience. It is a reality for most artists today. But I also find it is the same struggle we all face. How can we find work that is meaningful to us but also pays the bills? I think it’s something we all aspire to, whether we admit it or not. Sometimes we are forced to give up, but it is sad when we do. Sad for all of us.
On another note, I wanted to say that I have always loved this particular sculpture of yours. I find it both humorous (having braced myself in that very same position manys the time here in NL!) and sympathetic. Often we think we are the only ones having a hard time, but this sculpture reminds me that it is the human condition and that we are never alone. That’s why I love it.
So, what’s next?
Thanks for your kind comments. This piece, Prevailing, for me (I think, as the images come to me and I am usually at the stage of coming up with a title before I start to figure out what they mean to me) relates also to our relative frailty in relation to the much larger forces of nature (even though we may delude ourselves into thinking we are in charge) but also to the amazing strength and resilience we as frail humans manage to find in the face of adversity.
Stay tuned for new posts soon.
Jim