in 1992 I graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, which is not the same as a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. The second has greater accreditation than the former but I didn’t feel comfortable in the art department, especially since it had recently pivoted towards graphic design. It was a good alignment for the university as it helped secure the future for many of its students. As I had been living and working in the western art market for a majority of my life, it wasn’t a good fit for me and I got the fastest pass out of there so I could get back on the road working in the family business.
I learned a lot while I was there, and I did learn a true appreciation for modern art. I was taught the fundamentals of composition and began to understand that just because you could recognize the subject matter someone painted; it didn’t always make it good art. To quote an old blog of mine, “A car can look like a car but it may not run. Good abstract art is like a car that doesn’t look like a vehicle but gets you where you want to go.” Here I am at the end of my 3rd week at Arts Letters & Numbers and find myself back on uncertain ground but I am much more interested in where I am standing.
I am much more receptive here almost 35 years later and I find that I am fascinated by what other artists are doing and the messages they are sharing. There is one artist here, Adrian Lee who is the studio coordinator. He is working on a painting about capitalism and supporting political movements to achieve long term financial goals. Given our current administration, you would think it is about current players but this is from over 100 years ago. 2 sisters were here working on different projects about their homeland experiences. They immigrated from Iran in the ‘80s and their families live here with them today. One of them was imprisoned and her art was based on her and other women’s efforts against oppression. There is a visiting artist who works in the studio next to Adrian who works with a vision of ties suspended and connected to her art from the ceiling, to floor, to the air.
My work has a simple message and while I felt it was too gentle to be meaningful in a place of such statements, I have been assured that it too has a place within the studio walls. The lesson for me is this; I am the one who is restrictive in my judgements. I have been intimidated by academia for so long that I have feared the reception of my art when I actually started creating it. The first Tuesday lecture I attended didn’t really help but, when I broke down and had to create on something on suede; the reception was warm and pleased. The first Tuesday lecture I attended on Elan Vital was eye opening about the ambition of this place and what it and the students here have accomplished. ALN always brings you around to new facets of how you might see or approach your work. There was a silent critique where everyone walked from studio to studio, grouping them into 2 small sections. After we looked at the groupings, we all shared the impressions each set gave us as they were together.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if I took one of the crusty old western masters, and dropped them here. Or if they were dropped any school like this? There is so much to learn in a place like this for all of us. I know that some of the old cowboy artists I have admired were pretty distainful of the way modern art schools taught; hell, many of them were not excited about school period. Still, I wonder what Everett Russel would have thought; how about Fred Oldfield? Would have been a hoot to see. Well, I’m going back into the studio where I am having a good time and enjoying my time so much I didn’t really realize I was working that hard. Talk to you next week.