art is the making that has something to say

OK, let's think about this.

Craftsperson, maker, artisan - these are all within our comfort zone, so what is it about the word artist that makes our palms itch.

(and yes, I realize I am using the word "we" while having no idea how you, dear reader, feel about this, but I have a suspicion you might feel like I do .. plus I shook my magic 8 ball and it read "it is certain", so I feel compelled to continue)

I have a brother who can draw anything --->

(he also teaches music and can play anything, which makes him totally talented and yes, a wee bit annoying, dammit)

He was born like this - we have no idea how and if it wasn't for his addiction to Pixar movies and blue cheese we might think the hospital made one of those switched at birth mistakes that Lifetime movies and million dollar lawsuits are made of.

When you have an artist in the family - everyone else, kind of just by default, becomes 'not an artist'. It goes without saying that when someone can draw anything and someone else is gluing feathers to a plastic sandwich bag and calling it a pocketbook (yes, this is the part where I come in) it's probably not going to be called art.

But when we define art as "the making that has something to say, something that connects", things shift (yes, maybe even for a plastic bag decorated with feathers).  

The things, which do not even have to be things and often aren't, created with heart and soul and originality and boldness; the things birthed from our desire to express, our desire to be vulnerable and connect - are art. And if artists are people who make art, then who are we again?

If we explore artist archetypes and their shadows : genius (madness), success (starving artist),
talent (ecentricity) we can see that this new paradigm we are living in requires some archetypal tweaks.

"art is not a gene or a specific talent. art is an attitude, culturally driven and available to anyone who chooses to adopt it. art isn't something sold in a gallery or performed on a stage. art is the unique work of a human being, work that touches another. most painters, it turns out, aren't artists at all - they are safety-seeking copycats." - seth godin

Working without a net? We're an artist. Working from our heart? We're an artist. Creating something that touches others (and that something can be a conversation)? We're an artist. Art is real and art is vulnerable and personal and committed. And the people doing real things (the actual things don't matter) and allowing themselves to be vulnerable and committed are artists. So who are we again?

And if we are still thinking - all well and good but, I'm still not comfortable with this word, this word just isn't me - maybe it would be worth taking some time to figure out how we have arrived at this decision, maybe it is worth looking at what we are really afraid of.

part III what am I really afraid of

if you knew what you were doing you wouldn't be an artist

eeebee print

A friend of mine was recently interviewed by a jewelry making magazine and one of the questions she was asked referred to her as an artist.

This word artist made her uncomfortable and she changed it to craftsperson.

I have done stuff like this myself.

(I love the word craftsperson, too, and grew into that one with calluses and hand tools and time - I earned that one, but artist ... )

The word artist always resonates inside me as ARTIST!!! Capital letters and exclamation points and expectations

and the probability that if I dared to claim this word for myself it was only a matter of time before someone would come along and yank open the curtain and there I would be on a step stool and my tippy toes all wobbly and sweaty and stammering about how I really was an artist .... really.

This is some scary shit.

"art is difficult, risky and frightening -

it's also the only option if we choose to care."

-seth godin

The first time I visited a museum I was in the 4th grade. I was uber excited for this class trip and wore a green plaid vinyl raincoat with a green corduroy collar and carried a Josie and the Pussycats lunchbox.

(that unbeknownst - is that a word, I think so, I just love those 11 letters-to me housed a cheese on white bread sandwich, although I had begged my mother for anything except a cheese on white bread sandwich and she had assured me that it was most decidedly not a cheese on white bread sandwich)

I wandered past the African art and the Asian art and the art of Ancient Egypt and the paintings and sculptures of the European masters.

The paintings were hanging behind ropes and men with uniforms and stern faces stood watch. They were beautiful and amazing and flawless and they were untouchable.

After lunch we clamored into another wing. The boys were laughing and pushing and pointing and pronouncing this stuff was definitely "not art - we could make this stuff", they laughed.

I was mesmerized - this stuff I could understand, this stuff I could touch, was art? I asked the teacher, "what do you call this art?" and he said, "this is called modern art - this is art that has something to say".

Modern art - art that had something to say - I liked the sound of that and I definitely wasn't laughing.

If modern art was something that everybody could make then maybe even a little girl with a crooked hair cut and a Josie and the Pussycats lunchbox with a cheese on white bread sandwich still lying uneaten inside could make it, too.

Part II - what are we saying?

ways to work with today's new moon ...

print by revigorer

Today's New Moon in Aquarius is too good to miss. To make the most of this energy use affirmations that reflect the Aquarius archetype and then take some action in support of that affirmation.

These are the ones I am working with, so you can see what I mean:

I am aware of new trends and easily cooperate with them.

(energy - the future, technology, trends)

I easily see the actions that will give meaning to my life. I have the courage to take these actions.

(energy - long range goals, follow heart)

I create wonderful win-wins with other people.

(energy - humanitarian)

I easily attract exciting, revolutionary experiences.

(energy - rebel)

(this one could get interesting but let's be bold - it is an Aquarius new moon after all)

I attract and begin happy and healthy new friendships.

(energy - friendship)

I enjoy clear, right insights that lead to my dream of ____ coming true.

(energy - objectivity)

I am easily able to consider other people's opinions.

(energy - detachment)

I enjoy perfect circulatory, vein, ankle, calf (all things ruled by the amazing Aquarius archetype) health.

xo

better sorry than safe ... (plus that lucky new moon)

print by ink the print

Lessons learned this week month:

1. Always ask a doctor who is ordering a test involving radiation what exactly this test will tell us and what exactly our action after this test might be because if the action is something we can do without the test - then can we just do that and see if it works and avoid the radiation

(this actually worked for me this week to avoid a CT scan of my eyes because the treatment was exactly the same at this point regardless of the scan results - I think docs can be a little radiation happy)

2. I went to an Etsy Wholesale meet-up for NYIGF sellers, yes, you heard me, even though this was the kind of social-function thing I avoid at all costs I put on my big girl pants and drove into the city.

(and the weather was very similar to my last drive to Etsy - the time I got lost and never got there)

"How bad can this be, really?" I asked myself which is the same optimistic attitude I take to every social event, all buffet restaurants and most all Nicolas Cage movies.

The meeting was in a hotel in Brooklyn - I was thinking hotel meeting room, chairs, power-point, snacks. It was hotel lobby, standing room only, postcard not power-point and I think I saw an appetizer tray at one point but the only thing I was ingesting were my fingernails.

But I muddled through dear readers so I could report back to you with the following:

1. The new Etsy Wholesale site will be juried
2. Makers can be designers and have the work outsourced
3. There will be a flat monthly fee not a percentage of sales
4. We will be able to print out the pages like linesheets
5. They have many buyers lined up (unclear how new buyers will be sourced)
6. Customers can order without paying (pay at shipment, etc, whatever shop's terms are)
7. Unclear if buyers can see prices without registering

That's all I know and who knows how much of this is subject to change. They are in the planning stages, but I know they have a whole hell of a lot of programmers now, so maybe things will fall together quickly.

The meeting left me with many more questions than answers but on the plus side I got to meet Amy (thepeachtree), who I knew from my old treasury days; she works at Etsy now and is super sweet and positive and not prone to any fingernail ingesting that I could see.

3. Get your Vitamin D level checked.

OK, on to the New Moon tomorrow in my beloved birth sign of Aquarius.  The new moon is when the sun and the moon are in the same constellation - the moon goes dark - things can feel a little less light, a little less hopeful maybe and there is a lot of Pisces stuff happening right now with Mercury and Mars so there may be a little guilt, showing of vulnerabilities, a little intuition

(things may look better than they actually are with Pisces so don't bet the farm - unless you have one of those dire factory farms where the chickens don't get any sunlight, then bet away)

fears creeping in, sensitive feelings getting hurt and then BAM which could feel more like bam depending on where this falls in our personal charts and that is ok, too - we have this wonderful new moon in an air sign to uplift us and help us to innovate, think outside the box, hell, toss recycle the box.

The moon also trines Ceres so we have luck, timing and the ability to bounce back here, too. No sign is better than Aquarius for positive leaps!

Aquarius rules the house of friendship, relationships, humanity, think long range goals, commitments, win-wins and networking.

Aquarius is the cycle to raise our energy; to get unstuck. The cycle to begin something. It doesn't matter what it is we start - what matters is our motivation.

The most important thing is to get moving (you can't choose the wrong road) - in story books (and astrological charts) action is almost always followed by the semi-sextile, the kind of half-opportunity that could look more like stumbling upon a gaggle of hungry ogres (yes, they move in gaggles like geese those ogres) - the sort of road blocks "time to take our medicine, pay our dues, show us how badly we want this" that may cause us to turn back, find another way or push through

(any of which are totally appropriate decisions depending on the circumstances) - at this part of our journey, the new moon - we start.

Take some action step, we don't have to do everything now - the new moon is the time of darkness, like winter, the time of germination - if you want to work with this energy - just do something.

I'll get back to Saturn Saturday next week- sorry to everyone I have left hanging for their charts!