Beginning Steps to Creating Art
Beginning steps to creating art suggests some new ways of thinking about making our world beautiful. Creating comes naturally to humans. We are innately artists. We try to make our world beautiful. Some of us draw; while some of us paint. Others create beautiful food and table settings for our loved ones to enjoy. Others create beauty in their gardens.
Unfortunately, many of us do not feel that we are artistic. I certainly didn’t for many years. Yet, each of us can create beauty in our unique way. Here are some suggestions for beginning steps to creating a more beautiful everything or whatever you choose.
Beginning Steps to Creating Beauty
Part of my career as an elementary school teacher was spent at an arts infused school. We brought in special artists to teach across the arts curriculum from drawing, painting to theatre and dance. I had been at this school before this program started.
When the program began, the whole school adjusted its focus. I witnessed sn incredible shift in students’ attitudes. We told the children that we are going to try and make all of our work beautiful. We would not criticize the work of others. Trying to do one’s best was the important part. The attitude of the whole school changed for the better. It was so powerful to witness that change.
Think Differently.
Looking outside the box. Many times it is our own perspective that keeps us from seeing things in a new way. Often we acquire materials or fabric with a particular idea in mind. Then it is difficult to get rid of that idea or to envision a new use for the item.
When I got this green fabric, it reminded me of coffee beans. That is the image that stuck in my head. I wasn’t sure how to use the fabric. It sat on the shelf for a long time. Then I began to think differently about it. How could I use it a different way? I decided to use the ovals as bit of motion in the truck of a tree. What little bits of color could I highlight to pull those colors to the forefront and diminish the greenish colors ? A peachy orange shade would do the trick. As my county recovered from the largest forest fire ever, my art quilts reflect that new growth.
Turn the Fabric Around
Another way to look at a piece of material or fabric in a new way, is to turn it around. If it has definitite figures on it ,what will they look like from another direction? New and unrecognizable is what I would be going for. When an abstract artist finishes a work, they often turn the art upside down and sideways to see if it might look better from a different angle. The original fabric for the trees and branches in Skyward was a black,white and gray fabric that had greyhound dogs on it. The movement of the fabric caught my eye before I noticed that there were actual dogs on it.
Imagining Shapes
While working on my nature quilts, I cut out shapes for trees, branches, fish, rocks, or waves. I look at the fabric to see if the shapes on the fabric tell me what it would like to be in my piece. Does a swervy line imply a wave? Maybe a mountrain will appear from the shapes on the fabric? If no shape strikes me on the fabric, then I create my own mountain or a river. The idea is not to find a piece of fabric that has a river on it. But to create a river from lines that the original fabric artist had not thought about..
Visualization
As I am creating, I try to visualize what the piece is lacking. What color or shape needs to be in a particular spot? This often guides me to a hue or textile choice. This is a newly acquired skill for me. I surprised myself when I realized visualization was happening. You can make it happen for you too.
Activities to Practice Beginning Steps to Creating
Here are a couple of powerful skills that can be practiced with no materials at all. Look at pieces of art in the real or virtual world. There certainly are many examples available on social media. Ask yourself, do you like this work? What do you like about it ? How would you make it better? If it were your piece to change, how would you modify it?
Another practice activity is to think of how many different non traditional ways an item could be used. I recently acquired a box of antique keys. I am venturing forward into assemblage, putting repurposed items together in unusual ways. What could the keys be used for? The possibilities are endless; a nose? hair? or other body parts or just purely decoration? While I searched the internet for inspiration, I came up empty. Left to my own devices,I have sprinkled this post with the ideas that I came up with.
In Conclusion
Start with baby steps. Create small bits beauty in your life. Practice helps. I took an assemblage class over two years ago. It took me this long for the ideas to perculate through my brain. Be kind to yourself during the learning process. Trying in the first step. There are no mistakes just whether you as the artist likes it or not. If not, modify it. Dip into your humanity and make the world more beautiful.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/annbmayartquilts/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/07/art-materials-hard-or-soft/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/09/develop-your-art-passion/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/01/first-steps-towards-assemblage/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/02/recent-attempts-at-assemblage/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/05/paper-as-art-material/
More ideas- Here is one of my favorite artists.
https://www.janetsilverglate.com/
