Last week I learned a little something new, and slightly annoying, about myself: I have no idea how to write about my own artwork. When I started writing my offbeat anecdote last week, I thought I was going to gallantly shed some light and insight into the thought and process that went into creating one of my favorite and most popular collections. I believed that the heavens would shine and I would share some simple and dynamic sentences that would allow you to see the love and creativity that was put into each piece. Instead, I found myself curating a very cozy relationship with my computer's "backspace" button, a friendship that I would rather be on an acquaintance level rather than the bff stage. Each new attempt at brilliance was shattered by jarring and awkward sentences that seemed to stumble together like a baby deer learning to take its first steps. I found myself pairing an ogre's vocabulary with a troll's intellect (and for all you non-Harry Potter folks, that is an incredibly low score). In fact, I felt like I really had nothing at all to say about my artwork, except, perhaps, "I like how it look, I did that".
When I called on my writer's prowess, I found that the call was in fact screened and brutally ignored. It did not matter which day of the week it was, nor what time of the day it was. My mind, it seemed, had gone on an unplanned vacation, which I found rather rude. It left me with crickets and clouds to rope together ideas and words to fashion into a raft and voyage blindly out to sea without a paddle or a snack. No matter how many different rooms, sceneries, or coffees I tried I could not find my artist's voice. Instead, I found myself living in a groundhog day writing and repeating the same notion over and over.
I seemed to be obsessed with simply describing what it was that a person could very clearly see for themselves, "There are cocktails and shot glasses in the mountains of the après to make it look like they are on an actual planet of an après" or "I put the two skiers in retro outfits to match the vintage vibe of the movie poster"...wow, juicy stuff there. Instead of reiterating what is plain to the eye in my artwork, I want to be able to to evoke the excitement and joy that I feel when I am in the midst of cooking up the artistic recipe.
Unfortunately, it is unavoidable, I must learn what it is that I want to express about my pieces and how I would like to talk about it. I know learning this skill will also translate to boosting one of my other shortcomings, which as you know comes in the form of actual speech; conversing about my art in real time. As anyone that is unskilled in an area of their life, I am honestly not over the moon about the trek through the mud and thorny bramble but I am excited for the view. The moment when I can string together two cohesive and insightful sentences that allows another to see what exactly it is that I am trying to create. Until then I'll have to battle with the Trolls and Ogres!
As always,
Keep it offbeat