advocacy

dear future students,

it is your responsibility to stand up for your students, their art, their individual creativity, and the value of art itself.  at some point, you will have to be the cheerleader.  that's just the way it is.  that's part of the job.  that's part of the joy.  that's part of the struggle.
but hey, nobody said you had to be an art teacher when you grow up.
you're the one who signed on for this!  (thankfully, YOU! you get to slowly, patiently, with great love expose people to the power of art and creating :)

i was teaching a canvas painting party when a parent whispered to me "you better check in with the girl at the end".  in the middle of putting away paint or washing a brush or trying to get paint out of my hair before embarrassing myself, i partially couldn't hear this parent's comment and partially had no idea what was wrong with the girl at the end.  so i casually stroll to the end of the table, and not finding any sort of bug, meltdown, or lack of supplies...i continued teaching from this location that was supposedly having an issue.

and then parent #2 (neither of which were the parent of this child!) says "will she be ok?  will her painting turn out ok??" at which point i realize that oh, we're referring to these larger than normal lily pads here that this one wonderful and beautiful artist created?!? these perfectly OK, unique, yes maybe a little off on perspective but hey, that shit is hard lily pads?! we're asking if this 8 year old's canvas painting is going to be OK like it's life or death if her painting looks like my stupid example?! and now, parents, your comments literally have every other student at the table looking at this unique painting and back at their own to make sure they haven't gone awry?! and now the girl at the end with the unique and wonderful and individual painting is starting to feel self conscious and like she did something wrong?!?! HOLD THE PHONE, PEOPLE.

and kara kelley hallmark's words just came flying out of my mouth.  not loud or angry or upset, just so quickly that i did not even plan or expect this response to come from me.  but i started going on about Claude Monet, who inspired these paintings, and how he was part of the Impressionists who were a group of painters who did everything "wrong".  they painted outside, they painted light and color, their paintings got rejected from the Salon exposition time and time again, but they believed so much in what they were studying and creating that they made their own art show and their own group of artist friends and did their own fucking thing.
when we read about it in books it sounds so eloquent and proper and right...but c'mon people, going against the grain is NOT eloquent or proper or encouraged or delightful.  it's hard work.  it sucks.  it's hard on the ego.  it doesn't make you very many friends, or very many fans, or very much money.  BUT, it is these people who propel society forward.  it is these crazy ideas that change art.  it is these people who are willing to paint their water lilies however they see fit that enhance humanity and make it ok for others to be themselves, to try their ideas, to take a leap of faith, to make and change and see what happens.  sometimes it works.  sometimes it doesn't.  but you should never let the fear of failure keep you from trying something new.  we're all going to fail, but without the big chance you can't get the big reward.

and you know what parent #1 & parent #2 and every other student at the table did at the end of my shpeal?  they shut their mouth and worried about their own painting.  because they knew it was true,  they knew Monet wasn't making many friends at the end of the table painting his water lilies hundreds of times like a crazy man, and they saw that they weren't making any friends in my book by being critical and less than loving to a fellow artist.

so, my dear future students who will become wonderful art teachers, be prepared to educate everyone about art.  not just your students, but their parents, other teachers, administrators, community members...on and on and on.  but even beyond being prepared to do this, be excited to do this.  parent #1 and parent #2 weren't trying to be hurtful...they believe art has a right and wrong like math.  they don't realize that art is wonderful and open ended and expressive and unique and challenging and should be encouraged and supported and encouraged some more.  because it's good for us, for all of us, to know that life doesn't have one right answer.  there are lots of right answers, you just have to find the one that is right for you.

love always,
rae

the studio

May 2015

is a bit of a disaster.  new studio (at the new house!) is under construction.

er, one day if it ever stops raining in austin, they can pour a slab.  upon which our house (and the new studio!) can be built.  eventually.

at least there is still a little sliver of space in the current studio to make things!

i

have heard this before:

but never really got it.  until yesterday when i taught it, and it turned into:

and then this: 

and then after a sight-seeing of clouds, some constructivist teaching (that I learned from the best that Kara Kelley Hallmark), and some courage it all turned into these:

things are good. really good.

oh alma, that's funny...

Alma Thomas, Starry Night and the Astronauts (1972)

Kehinde strings

http://www.upworthy.com/6-overused-creepy-sentences-that-i-wish-always-had-these-surprise-endings?c=ufb1

vs.

Kehinde Wiley

Mark Shavers, 2010

oil on canvas

48" x 36"

or:

Kehinde Wiley

Mama Ngagne Study II, 2010

oil on paper

46" x 36"

http://www.kehindewiley.com/an_Economy_of_grace/Dacia_Carter.html

and Wiley goes back all kinds of strings.  similar but different, as m would say.

Lakey the Poet

"Lots of people have been questioning me about why I don't show in a gallery. I have a whole book of reasons why I don't, but instead of the negativity I'll keep things positive and tell you why I prefer the street.

On the streets I get to share my art, passion, and philosophy indiscriminately. I speak to whoever takes the time to appreciate my sign or art. Sometimes it's homeless people that stink to high heaven, sometimes it's business professionals, sometimes it's Anarchy patched train hoppers, sometimes it's cute sorority girls, sometimes it's 5 year olds, sometimes it's grandmothers, sometimes it's cowboys, sometimes it's red bandannas and sagging blue jeans, and that's just the tip of the ice berg. I'm happy to speak to, learn from, and sale to anyone. I'll take a compliment from a crack head just as happily as I'll take one from an art professor. I love a job that will allow me to do that. This would not happen in a gallery.

When I sale an original on the streets (3 this year, literally on the streets, for $300-$400 and several less expensive) I get to appreciate the person buying my art. I know they are not buying my artwork simply because a gallery, or a curator, or a critic said it was good. They are buying it because they say it is good. I didn't need to pay a marketer to convince them it was good, I didn't need to TRY to sale it to them, I didn't need to put on airs. They're just that bad ass, self-confident, and well off. I love having customers like this.

I was born in Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) and named Joshua (Yehoshua aka Jesus) and I grew up in the church. So even though I stopped going to church almost a decade ago I've got mad respect for Jesus. I fall short in several other ways but I'm very comfortable sharing the same company as Jesus. I'm shy when it comes to talking to "normal" people. (BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING MEAN!) Homeless people/street kids/train hoppers whatever, I feel comfortable sparking up a conversation with. On top of that most beggars really just want someone to talk to, someone to treat them like they're a human. It's easier to hold a sign saying "give me money" than it is to hold one saying "Treat me like a human so I don't kill myself" though, so most people just dismiss them as lazy or crazy. Being on the streets makes me available to speak to any of them.

Lastly, I get to challenge stereotypes, culture, and counter culture. I proudly wear the business man's attire, sitting at the homeless man's business desk, while creating art. I suggest the business man rethink his actions, I urge the homeless to help themselves, and I show artists another path. I protest against society because I know the government will never REALLY change until society REALLY changes.

Eventually I will pursue a gallery show in Austin, TX. A massive one with 50-100 pieces of framed art, prices double or triple what they are on the street, with the whole gallery packed. Until then I'll do my street thing, travel occasionally, and maybe make exceptions to further my street cause when opportunities arise." -6.22.13

https://www.facebook.com/LakeythePoet

aboriginal

"...early in the Aboriginal art movement, the People were concerned that non initiates may be able to understand or learn the sacred, secret or restricted parts of their stories.  Drawing a painting in sand had previously posed no problem because it was generally smoothed away after the telling, or if left on the ground, it was done so only in their own lands, safe from prying eyes.  But the permanent quality of acrylic paints gave birth to a concern about inappropriately revealing secret information and the subsequent practice of 'overdotting'  served to obscure the sacred or 'classified' information beneath..." (more here)

Raghava KK

 

Untitled 1 (2008)

22x30in

watercolour on paper

Untitled 3 (2008)

30x22in

watercolour on paper

"Education is great. It really teaches us who we are and helps us contextualize ourselves in the world...but it's really my creativity that has taught me that I can be much more than what my education told me I am. I'd like to make the argument that creativity is the most important tool we have. It lets us create who we are and curate what is to come."

-Raghava KK

to see more work, go here

peter graham

to see more of his work, go here