On Behalf of My Pencils

I have lost count of how many pencils I have, how many I work with. Here's a picture of my "guys."

Here also is a link to a story about how pencils are made, and the mystery of their creation in that no one person can make one, it is a global endeavor.

From The Freeman, Ideas About Liberty. . .

I, Pencil

By Leonard E. Read • May 1996 • Volume: 46 • Issue: 5

My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls, the cookery and the raising of all the foods. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink!

Pay Me Now, Help the Economy Tomorrow

Here's a good way to stimulate the economy; buy my art; buy art from LIVING ARTISTs BECAUSE....."When artists get cash, they spend it both quickly and carefully."

Felix Salmon writes in this month's issue of The Atlantic that a good way to jump start the economy would be to pay the artists, who are among the very poorest citizens. "We’re living in a newly frugal world. But the rediscovered values of thrift and moderation should apply to the government as much as they do to households. No more trillion-dollar misadventures abroad: we need to spend money at home, and we need to get the maximum bang for our buck. If the Obama administration is serious about stimulating the economy and creating as many new jobs as possible, one choice is clear: it should announce a massive increase in federal arts funding. Artists are among the very poorest citizens. When they get cash, they spend it both quickly and carefully.

"That’s not what most recipients of federal largesse do, but it happens to be exactly what economists look for in any stimulus package

Free to the Public = Sense of Ownership?

Here's a link to an article in artdaily.org with the wonderful title of Free Admission Boosts Sense of Public Ownership of National Museums in the UK.

Key quotes from the article; to which I would add, when you take money out of the public till, have respect for the public beyond catering to the lowest common denominator, treat them with respect.....

Free admission is valued and seen as a key element of public ownership. 
Free admission is much valued – and makes the concept of ‘public ownership’ real. 
Free admission does not of itself mean people think museums and galleries are places for them to visit. Government and museums should make every effort to find out what ‘barriers to entry’ still exist in our museums and galleries. The research highlighted some clear social and educational barriers that need to be tackled. 
Better storytelling can involve the public and make art more approachable. Even apparently remote and difficult works can be made accessible relatively quickly - but the effort needs to be made. 
The public should be encouraged to ask questions and interrogate decisions made on their behalf. Being asked what they think helps people feel a greater connection to the art collections they own, and may be a crucial first step in attracting support for fundraising campaigns. 
Engaging the public in debate about collecting need not undermine the expert curator’s role. Galleries don’t need to be frightened to ask people what they think, because if the effort is made to engage people, they are happy to leave decisions to experts. 
Andrew Macdonald, Acting Director of The Art Fund said: "Free admission has established itself in people’s minds as the cornerstone of what it means to have art owned by the public. Galleries can still feel intimidating or elitist, but those barriers disappear when they engage us in the human stories behind the art in our national collections." 

Women at the Museum? Why Not?

From ArtInfo.com

"NEW YORK—A couple of weeks ago, New York magazine art criticJerry Saltz unleashed a torrent of discussion in the arts blogosphere when he posted a status update on his Facebook page: "Of the 383 works on the 4th & 5th flrs. of MoMA's perm. coll., only 19 are by women (4%)," he wrote. Saltz went on to elaborate that he feels "MoMA has declared itself a hostile witness" and to ask the museum to address the issue." 

Why oh why do WE have to keep saying LOOK AT US, WE'RE HERE!  WE'RE NOT EFFING INVISIBLE!

From ArtFagCity, here's a list of artists the MOMA has but not on display...

Here is a list of 57 women artists already owned by MoMA, none of whom are on exhibit on the 4th & 5th flrs. perm. collection (work before 1970): Alice Neel, Georgia O’Keefe, Florine Stettheimer, Joan Mitchell, Hannah Hoch, Anni Albers, Louise Nevelson, Claude Cahan, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fine, Dora Maar, Lee Miller, Jo Baer, Elaine de Kooning, Romaine Brooks, Ree Morton, Howardena Pindell, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Alma Thomas, Emma Kunz, Eileen Gray, Clementine Hunter, Adrian Piper, Dorthea Rockburne, Lee Lozano, Vija Celmins, Maria Lassnig, Gego, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Maya Deren, Pat Steir, Hedda Stern, Barbara Hepworth, Gwen John, Jay DeFeo, Jane Freiliecher, Minnie Evans, Merit Oppenheim, Betty Parsons, Bridget Riley, Claire Zeisler, Kay Sage, Grandma Moses, Sister Gertrude, Hilla AfKlimnt, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Dorothea Tanning, Janet Sobel, Atsuko Tanaka, Francoise Gilot, Anne Truitt, Ruth Vollmer, Jane Wilson, Sylvia Sleigh, Paula Rego, Marguerite Zorach.

Why Getting To Be an Older Artist is Good

Happy birthday to me. I'm making the progression tomorrow, June 6, from what I've been calling "60 and a half" to 61 years old. Here's a link from an article on a blog reviewing a book about the value of being an older artist. The blog is titled Ancient Artist....by Sue Smith.

But I recently started reading a book by Martin S. Lindauer, titled AGING, CREATIVITY, AND ART, A Positive Perspective on Late-Life Development.

According to Lindauer, there are seven characteristics that distinguish "old artists and late art from young artists and youthful efforts." 

• "Older artists have more knowledge and are less career oriented.
• "They also have less energy - the only case where older artists were at a disadvantage to younger ones..."
• "...which they compensated for with greater maturity, concentration, and self-acceptance."
• "Older artists were also less critical than their younger counterparts."
• "However, in two areas, creativity and experimentation, older artists were seen as equal to younger practitioners." (2003, pp.187-188)

Happy birthday to me and to all of us older working, productive artists.

Creative Stifle

How to be an artist? Or more rather how not to be an artist? Yes, be afraid, be very afraid of being ridiculed, laughed at and questioned as to your sanity. Be afraid of being analyzed, asked questions like "have you stopped making the black paintings because you're not depressed anymore?" Or, can you make it to fit my couch in my colors, lilac and lavender?

We deliberately stifle our own creativity and those of others who dare.

From an article in HR Magazine of August 1999 reviewing a book enitled "Orbiting the Giant Hairball." 

The first chapter dares to ask how society has managed to stifle genius and hamper creativity even among schoolchildren. When MacKenzie visited elementary schools to talk about his job, he asked the students how many of them were artists. Although almost all of the first-graders said yes, only one or two sixth-graders claimed to be artists. Adults too can unleash their creative genius if they are strong enough to risk ridicule and challenge the status quo.

No Whining re Modern Wing Today

The Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago is spectacular, a must see. I'm quoting from Paul Klein's Art Letter post below:  

"The opening of the Modern wing at the Art Institute is significant cause for joyous celebration.  The building is beautiful, the space dramatic and the installation sensitive and informative.  Not forced or artificial like I’ve seen too often, here are pairings and groupings where important pieces inform one another and rooms are dedicated to a single artist.  Enlightening. I felt like a tourist dropped in an unknown, thoughtful, considered, glorious, confident, consummate museum.  And then I looked out the window. I was at home."

I entered the Modern Wing via the bridge from Millennium Park over the street. The whole setting from the Gehry bandshell past the Anish Kapoor "Bean" past the Pritzker Foundation to the third floor entry to the Art Institute constitutes one of the most magnificent and yet friendly public spaces in the world. Like Paul Klein I was home. I saw many, many old friends on display, paintings that had been out of sight for years. The building is suffused with a magnificent light throughout that makes the paintings glow and pulsate. Unlike the huge, intimidating entry hall at the Tate Gallery London Turbine Room, the main entry hall is large without being oversized, and is light and airy. The work throughout is grouped and hung so that they are easily seen and awed at. Gerhard Richter has his own room, the Giacommetis dance in their space, the Joseph Cornell boxes are back.

I don't know if it's worth the admission fee, you know how I feel about that, but geesh, go there, it's been a long wait.