Begin Bold End Inspired

  • The Art of the Journey

    What do January and December have in common? The letter r, as in near or at the end of a journey. From January to December of this year, we have been on an artistic journey with the year-long Begin Bold End Inspired series focusing on the creative process. Each month offered an opportunity to explore… Continue reading

  • E(ART)H

    Humans have been making art of the earth and out of the earth for millennia. In the contemporary world these works are, variously, known as Earthworks, Land Art and Environmental Art. The inspiration found in nature is limitless. For some artists inspiration isn’t enough; they have to get their hands dirty! Stone, soil, water, sand,… Continue reading

  • Activist + Artist = Artivist

    Artists make things and make things happen. Activists stir the public pot and ignite social change. They agitate, demonstrate, boycott and protest. Artivists react and respond to current and historical events through acts of creation and have been doing so for a long, long time. See for yourself! A People’s Art History of the United… Continue reading

  • The Artist in Fiction or Creating Your Own Story

    Sometimes it is hard to separate the two, don’t you think? I mean the hard-baked idea of what an artist is or is not. The journey of an artist becoming an artist may be singular, but it is accompanied by a lot of noise! Do you chart your own path or are you casting about… Continue reading

  • You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover!

    By blind jury, fifty iconic books were selected for inclusion into the OPEN●SET exhibition now on view at the Central Library until October 28. This exhibit showcases finely crafted bookbinding. Unlike mass produced books, these handbound books will last for centuries! The title of the show is a clue to the kinds of covers that… Continue reading

  • What’s Your Type? The Art and Design of Text

    How can something so ordinary, so pedestrian and mundane be, at the same time, singular and iconic? Do you look at letters or are they just a means to an end? By ear and eye, we take them in–bite-sized, building block bold, every shape, look and length to behold. Text talks, draws us in, is… Continue reading

  • Eyes on Art: Art Exhibitions

    Take your own sweet time. Peruse. Investigate. Gaze, fully and deeply. There is no substitute for an unfiltered viewing of a work of art. The encounter between the viewer and the object is personal and unmatched. Does it grab your attention? Are you compelled to look and not, merely, glance? Excited, indifferent, pleased or repulsed… Continue reading

  • Here’s Looking at You!: Documentary Films about Artists

    An artist’s life can be as compelling as the work they produce. A documentary, at best, strives to render a portrait of the artist as honestly as possible. This, of course, is as close as any of us will get to being in the same room with a person whose life and work draws us… Continue reading

  • All’s Fair in Festival Air

    Summertime and the living is breezy. Warmed by a wondrous sun, the everywhere air urges us to partake of the season. Don’t you wish it would last! There are eye-catching, ear lapping sights and sounds the whole city round. Fairs, festivals and fests abound! Take to the streets! Come to the Fairs!  The city sports… Continue reading

  • Interview with an Artist: Ways of Working

    Have you ever wondered why the end product of an artistic endeavor is called a work of art or an artwork and not art play? Has anyone asked, “When are you going to get a real job?” Are you working in a real job, yet wonder when you’ll get enough money, time and the space… Continue reading

  •  Getting Down to Business: The Working Artist

    It counts! Effort given to artistic endeavors count. Long term benefits are derived from sustained focus, investment of time and the development of one’s craft. Allowing yourself time to grow and broaden your reach into work that no one else, but you, can do pays off in the long run. Compensation for your efforts can… Continue reading

  • Handling the Material: Art Techniques, Guides and Processes

    In the blink of an eye rubber hits a road, a hand hits the mat, grabs hold of brush or pen as the wrist turns into a twist. Arms do the heavy lifting, the torso pivots. If this were the theater (and it is) the director would shout, “Action!” The whole body is engaged. This… Continue reading

  • Working the Room: Making Space to Create

    A place to think, to spread out, to collect one’s thoughts and work through ideas.  An environment where inspirations are realized, this is necessary to the creative process.  It can be a dining table doing double duty, the corner of a room, space in an attic or basement, but make space.  However you have to… Continue reading

  • Begin Bold, End Inspired: Ideas and Inspiration for the Artistically Inclined

    Break open this beginning like the seed that it is! A New Year’s cold, hard exterior is full of all the necessary nutrients to carry you through to a nourishing end. Why not begin by cracking open a book, eyeing a DVD, lending your ear to a CD or eBook, anything to propel you towards… Continue reading