Saturday, March 29, 2008

Having fun

EDM#164-Draw a camera
graphite in small hand.book journal

Here is my latest Everyday Matters challenge, my camera. I received this camera as a Mother's Day gift last year and I have taken A LOT of photos with it since then. It's fun having a digital camera.

Today I have been having fun with my art setting up a CafePress store. You can see it here. My motivation was primarily that I wanted some of these items for gifts, but I'm not telling who they are for, so don't even ask! So, since all these cool items are set and ready I thought I'd share them with you all too. And I may change them out from time to time - it's just too much fun for me seeing my art on mugs and mousepads!

And speaking of having fun with art, this was in my thoughts while I was playing with images for printing on various 'useful' items. There was a time when I took my art work very seriously. Fresh out of grad school and then later back in a university setting it seemed a requirement of sorts that creating art carried some sort of responsibility for the sublime. Just making pictures wasn't enough, where is the 'content' ?(a favorite academic buzz word). Playing with color, shape and light failed to provide any 'meaning' or profound message necessary. Art needed a 'why', not just a 'how' or maybe a 'what'. Then life happened. Hard. (if you know me you know what I'm referring to here) And for a time I could care less about seeing meaning in art. Each day was so profound and over-filled with meaning that a mere painting couldn't even come close. Assigning any deeper meaning to an art work seemed ridiculous. It took some time but I eventually came back around into the art process. Only this time with a slightly different perspective. I have little concern for academia's lofty ideals. My goals feel more grounded. My intent is to enjoy the process. And here I am having fun because I now know better than to take my art work too seriously.

16 comments:

Alan said...

Thanks for your comment about the watercolor on my blog. Since I have never taken a lesson on how to paint, I am just going to enjoy.

I like your camera, and good luck with the CafePress store. Nice looking items.

Laurel Neustadter said...

Very nice!

Jennifer Rose said...

Good luck with your store :)

Margaret McCarthy Hunt said...

Excellent job....

Shelly McC said...

Fantastic sketch!

Sandy said...

Very nice, lively sketch

Ann said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and your kind comments!

Margaret McCarthy Hunt said...

Great job on the camera....

Dana S. Whitney said...

I love the tone of your invitation to look at Cafe Press. Great plan, pretty products.

Anetka said...

Great drawings!! and great idea with your store:)
Good luck:)

Anonymous said...

What a great little camera you sketched up! Lovely pencil work.

Ann said...

Thanks again you all for stopping by and your encouraging comments :)

Anonymous said...

Very nice drawings. I love the pear. They are all excellent. The fall and winter drawings in your etsy shop are lovely too. If you ever need help with photos for your shop just let me know. I would be happy to help.

Thank you for your comment on my blog.

Anonymous said...

hmmm....my link didn't work in the last post.

Genxster said...

Nice items in your shop Ann. Love those lily cards. I really like this post. When I was much younger I used to think that I could never be an artist, because I didn't care about things like "content." Now I just don't care. :)

Good luck with the shop.

Ann said...

Thanks Dawn. Yes, we need to get together!
And thank you too Mellanie! And look at what great work you do, you are an artist!

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