Grand Canyon Work: Small Endeavor for a Day

While taking a lunch break today, I watched a little of Charlie Rose's program with Chuck Close and Richard Serra talk about creativity and the brain. A woman artist was not part of the discussion, which I thought would have added to the conversation. I mean, the male brain and the female brain are different from each other we've learned. How so, scientifically, as it relates to creativity? Historically men have been heralded as leaders in art. So, what do women artists' brains reveal in relationship to art and creativity? Well, it was interesting that Chuck Close said, and I paraphrase, that inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. While that seems flippant, it is true that we have jobs to do. I like to think this way too--do the work, surprises happen, new ideas emerge. I'm endeavoring. 

This week, I'm working on "The Beast" again--the Grand Canyon painting that I've been working on since 2008 (48" x 72"). This is one new section. Of course, it brought back wonderful memories of going there, standing there, dazzled by a sunrise on the rim. I surely hope I can finish this painting soon! Grand Canyon Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza Plus, I am delighted that this small work: Evening Light Catalinas (5" x 7") sold this past week. What a boost for this artist. Evening Light Catalinas Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza Okay. Lunch break over. Wishing you all a productive, happy discipline in the studio!

Tucson Museum of Art's Arizona Biennial '09 & Ich Bin Ein Artist

Yesterday, I sent out the first invitations and postcards to the upcoming Tucson Museum of Art's Arizona Biennial '09 and this got me to thinking about validation, confidence, hard work and the power of other artists' support through blogging. Because of your visits here, I have grown, experimented, and learned so much. Thank you, everyone. I am very grateful. I wish you could all attend the event and exhibit. Here is a link to some pre-buzz on the show and to Mat Bevel's page. Also, here is a link to another artist, Monica Aissa Martinez, in the show. Most of all, I hope that you will read the following and appropriate the message for yourselves. I recently received permission to share a mail art piece that I made for my son, Ell, last September 2008. Yes, I know. The sentence, "Ich bin ein Artist", is grammatically incorrect. However, I found this jewel in the New York Times Magazine in an article featuring a young artist. In this mailart (I painted a watercolor image of a ceramic fox that he made years ago and used copies of his inked stamps of an Icelandic flag and a dragon along the bottom), I wanted to let him know that we often don't see ourselves as others do. We are so much harder on ourselves than we need to be. Certainly, we are far more critical than our friends are. Why not treat ourselves as kindly as we treat our dearest friends? The words: In everyone else's eyes, you are always more creative than you think. When you make something with your hands, you have a process & a dialogue with yourself. First, an amorphous blob dares you to begin. Pulling the clay, asking yourself Questions: How do I make a fox? How large should it be? What are its proportions. Your hands work. The body is the foundation. The legs come next, one by one, Supporting the whole. The head and tail are developed last like the punctuation in a lovely paragraph. There is an observer present who says, "You're tired and this doesn't look like a fox. Quit now. This is not good--not at all like a picture, not at all like I imagined, not at all like... An allegory, an analogy, your life begins too, as an amorphous form, slowly developed thru a lifetime of questions--never turning out exactly as planned. Yet, the energy and movement that is the artwork of your life is more than you can see from the middle. Page two: Blurry from here, but clear on the outside...You can see there is a code, a secret message Back page: Albert Einstein said, "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." ....Be true to yourself, think about quieting the 'censor' and seek an honest, loving image of yourself. "A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind." Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Here's a link to my new website. Thank you, Mr. Artyfice!