Author Archives: barbararachkoscoloreddust
Start/Finish of “Poker Face,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 38″ x 58″image, 50″ x 70″ framed
Preliminary charcoal sketch
Finished
Pearls from artists* # 221
Walking on Spiral Jetty in September 2011
* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
Andre Malraux famously cherished the idea of a museum without walls. In a way, places like Spiral Jetty are jails without walls. They are always about time, about how long they can detain or hold you. I remember the governor of a US prison saying, of a particularly violent inmate, that he already had way more time than he would ever be able to do. That’s exactly how the Jetty looked – like it had more time than it could ever do – even though, relatively speaking, it had hardly begun to put in any serious time.
Geoff Dyer in White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
“A Long Goodbye,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 26″ x 20″
A: I am putting finishing touches on a small pastel painting called, “A Long Goodbye.” It’s a smaller, cropped version of a larger piece completed in 2013 called, “The Ancestors” (below).
“The Ancestors” in Barbara’s studio
Comments are welcome!
Pearls from artists* # 220
Lima, Peru
* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
It is the job of the writer to say, look at that. To point. To shine a light. But it isn’t that which is already bright and beckoning that needs our attention. We develop our sensitivity – to use John Berger’s phrase, our “ways of seeing” – in order to bear witness to what is. Our tender hopes and dreams, our joy, frailty, grief, fear, longing, desire – every human being is a landscape. The empathic imagination glimpses the woman working the cash register at a convenience store, the man coming out of the bathroom at the truck stop, the mother chasing her toddler up and down the aisle of the airplane, and knows what it sees. Look at that. This human catastrophe, this accumulation of ordinary blessings, of unbearable losses. And still, a ray of sunlight, a woman doing the wash, a carcass of beef. The life that holds us. The life we know.
Dani Shapiro in Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life
Comments are welcome!
Q: What invaluable art business lesson did you learn in the past year?
Barbara’s studio
A: I have decided that it IS necessary to work with art galleries. During my thirty years as an artist, I have been represented by two dozen galleries and found most to be disappointing. For the past few years I have focused extensively on social media and other sorts of creative marketing. My efforts have built significant name recognition – many more people around the world know about me and my work – but my collector base has not expanded as much as I would have liked. So I have revised my marketing strategy to include gallery representation.
Comments are welcome!
Pearls from artists* # 219
Barbara’s studio
* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all time, the expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not hear it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even need to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine satisfaction, a blessed unrest that keep us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
Martha Graham to Agnes de Mille in Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life by Dani Shapiro
Comments are welcome!
Q: What advice to you have for younger artists who are just beginning their careers?
Barbara’s studio
A: I have two pieces of advice:
- Build a support network among your fellow artists, teachers, and friends. It is tough to be an artist starting out. Also, be sure to read plenty of books by and about artists. All have experienced similar challenges.
- Do whatever you must to keep working – no matter what! Being an artist never really gets easier. There are always new obstacles and you’ll discover solutions over time.
Comments are welcome!
Pearls from artists* # 218
Untouched sandpaper
* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
Let go of every should or shouldn’t running through your mind when you start. Be willing to stand at the base of a new mountain, and with humility and grace, bow to it. Allow yourself to understand that it’s bigger than you, or anything you can possibly imagine. You’re not sure of your path. You’re not even sure where the next step will take you. When you begin, whisper to yourself: I don’t know.
Dani Shapiro in Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life
Comments are welcome!
Q: Start/Finish of “Epiphany,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 38″ x 58″ image, 50″ x 70″ framed
Roughed out in charcoal
Finished, signed lower left
Pearls from artists* # 217
Barbara’s studio
* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
This is true for most artists, not only writers.
What I do know – what I’ve spent the past couple of decades learning about myself – is that if I’m not writing, I’m not well. If I’m not writing, the world around me is slowly leached of its color. I am crabby with my husband, short-tempered with my kid and more inclined to see small things wrong with my house (the crack in the ceiling, the smudge prints along the staircase wall) than look out the window at the blazing maple tree, the family of geese making its way across our driveway. If I’m not writing, my heart hardens, rather than lifts.
Dani Shapiro in Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life
Comments are welcome!
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