CREATING A SIGNATURE STYLE FOR A BODY OF WORK

2010 is the year I want to move forward in my art career business. To help facilitate this, i have begun working with art advisor Aletta De Wal with Artist Career Training throughout the year. I am learning to set up a foundation upon which to build my business. This involves going back and setting up a database to build a mailing list and to track my artwork, as well as getting a business license and separate bank accounts, the list goes on and on!


However, this month's exercise is one of the most important steps an artist will take in their artistic career - developing a "signature style". To do this, you have to have a body of work and assess the direction your art is taking. Luckily, I have continued taking part in critique groups, as well as taking classes and workshops. Through this, I saw a style emerging that differentiates my work from others. No matter what series of paintings or drawings I'm was working on, I began seeing pieces that were heavily layered, with details that emerge upon closer inspection. I was experimenting with different mediums, which further gave my pieces a "story" (i.e. using salt, of coffee and tea and why).

Now, it is time to perfect and expand this style.

To do so, I approached my friend and fellow artist Lance Carlson to take part in an exercise. I feel my work is very different from Lance's, but because we use similar techniques, we have found our work very compatible to show together. Is it too compatible??? To answer this question and see if our styles are our "signature" individually, we have set up an exercise.

We are both going to create a series of 10 works, measuring 12x12 each on 100 lb Lenox paper. The theme of our personal series is music. We have given ourselves roughly a month to complete this task. At that point, we are going to mix them up and show them to our friends in the Shadowline Artist Group. We'll see if they are able to discern my pieces for Lance's!

Now - I have to figure out how to incorporate my "signature style" into my collages, etc. Please leave your comments about your journey in developing a signature style!

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR

I had a very busy month of September and haven't had time to really sit down and compose something for my blog. In the month of September, I demonstrated collage during the Atlanta Arts Festival for 2 days, my work was taken to the events for Fashion Week, and I have been exhibiting my artwork prior to the performance of "Come Fly With Me" a world premiere at the Alliance Theater utilizing the voice of Sinatra with the choreagraphy of Twyla Tharp. (see picture above - Gallery in the Galleria) All of this has been excellent exposure for me!
Coming up for the remainder of the year:
Chastain Park Art Festival, Oct 16-17
Georgia Perimeter College will have a group show of the Atlanta Collage Society in the month of October.
Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp - a very fun day on November 7th
Group show with Shadowline Artist Group - month of December in the Limelight Gallery in Binders
Group show with Atlanta Collage Society - month of December in the Quinlan Museum in Gainesville, Ga.
12/11 - 12/12 - Art on Argonne - more information to come
There are a couple of events I've applied to and haven't heard from yet, as well as a couple of things I'm considering doing, such at The Metro Atlanta Holiday Market located in Le Fais
Do-Do on Ellsworth Boulevard. I will probably do a market at Virginia and Highland when the weather cools off too!
I'm looking at the spring festivals as well! And, Denise Jackson with Emerging Art Scene in the Stacks in Cabbagetown keeps finding new and interesting places to exhibit also - and she has my work up there too.
If anybody has any ideas of places to exhibit I may have missed, please leave me a comment!

AN INTERVIEW WITH FINE ARTIST LANCE CARLSON

Lance and I have not only painted together for years and we have even shown our work together many times.I was intriqued about his new "Face" series and I wanted to learn more about his process. I knew he began by seeing a face in an inanimate object (i.e. the more obvious ones are seeing a face in a house or the front of a car), but I wanted to know where he went from there, so I posed several questions to him.Read on and see his answers to his interesting approach to art.



I know you are an architect by trade, but when did you begin shifting over to fine art? I took a painting class about 15 years ago and was hooked immediately. It brought back alot of memories of creating art in my youth. (Painting to the left is FAMILY+REUNION)

Has your style changed from when you began as an artist? I don't think I really had a style to begin with, it was just a matter of putting paint on paper. As I progressed, a certain style emerged. For a while, I vassilated between abstract and something more representational. But, I have pretty much adapted an abstract style. However I make personal connections to literature, music and pop culture.

Can you explain this series? This series began with finding a face (of sorts) in the still life (basically a grouping of objects). I find a rudimentary face and base my initial composition on that. As the painting progresses, the face may appear and disappear and the composition that remains becomes the most important thing.

What medium are you using? For the face series, it was back to basics for me. I had become enamored with mixed media where I could throw together a bunch of varying media and then solve the final composition with a little drawing. I wanted to see if I was using the drawing (on top of paintings) as a crutch. So, I limited myself to acrylic paint on canvas for this series. There was some collage in a few, but this was from "painted over" previous paintings.

Of the 4 images displayed here, I see the palette is very similar. How did you choose the palette? Because I work on several pieces at the same, I am using the same colors on all when I'm finalizing the image.



I see the relationship between the titles and the paintings, except for the one titled "Without at Name", will you explain this? That is the name of a song by Kisschasy. I know it is pretty obscure, but it held meaning for me. (Painting to the left is WITHOUT A NAME)

What visual elements do you repeat in this series? There are alot of curves, to make it lyrical. There is also a good change in values, and I use some form of stripes and bands in each one.

How do you know when a piece is finished? I like to get outside the critique, because for me, an internal knowledge or satisfaction that I know it is complete works for me.

Do you have any plans to exhibit this series in the future? Sure, any ideas? I have submitted it to competitions and galleries. I will keep you posted when it is up somewhere.

Who is your favorite artist? I don't know if I have a favorite, as there are several artists that speak to me. I get an adranline rush out of Ann Hamilton, but I was super excited when I recently saw the back of a Rubens/ I am also influenced by great architecture for le Corbusier to Graves to Calitrava

Who do you consider your biggest influences in art? My mom and dad and brother had plein air outings when I was a kid. They all had easels while I did somersaults in the grass. I think in some ways Franz Klein and Rodin. Wierd combo, eh? But, their work both dealt with human figures and also drawn to bodies and faces.


What do you see in your future as an artist? My future is so bright. I will just continue to create art and see where it takes me. I am taking paths as they come, but not really forging new territory or looking for wealth of fame. I wouldn't turn it down if it came. (Painting to the left is WISE AND DEEP AS THE SEA)


Thank you Lance for taking the time to answer these questions thoughtfully and honestly. However, I have to disagree on your last answer. I think you are forging new territory by continuing to learn and explore new techniques in art.

After reading this, if you think I have left anything out, please leave a comment. And you can continue to follow this series with Lance on his blog.

BLOGGING ABOUT ART

I am taking a four week blogging class. Today's assignment was coming up with 20 topics to blog about in the future. So - here goes:
Gallery Happenings in Atlanta;
How My Rhythm of the Series is evolving right now
The Importance of Learning Art History
Who are my ancestors in Art?
The importance of having an organized studio
Are we ever going to install the flat files in the studio? Or are they going to stay in the dining room?
Spring Cleaning is late, Atlanta skipped Spring this year
Festival Happenings in Atlanta
Are Salons making a comeback
Everything in my kitchen is fair game to be used as art materials
Should I stop collecting junk mail for collage materials, and jar lids for circles?
Review of a movie about art - maybe Who The *&%* is Jackson Pollack
Why I love my Critique Group - Shadowline Artists
the National Collage Society national show is in Atlanta this year
I know How important it is to do blind contours, so why don't I do them?
My dress series is evolving into men's clothing

I have a google alert for Atlanta Artists, and Atlanta Collage Artists, and my recent posts are popping up in there!!!