Inspiration: Universe, Dreams, Flower Cards + The Art of Asking

For me, art, in general, at first only was a personal experience and an expression. I always have thought, through the early years, that I did not feel the need to share it with anyone. It could be an abstract image or context for me. I actually wasn’t aware I could break the 4th wall until I engaged with several individuals. I found that almost every creative has one thing in common— they indirectly or directly connect with themselves and try to convey a message, regardless if it is appreciated or not.

Lately, I’ve been very interested with artist trading cards, they’re not the usual glossy, good smelling cards available as collectibles that are printed, they are more on the handmade, hand-painted side of cards. A great number of these ATCs are available at Etsy.com. Unfortunately, I still don’t have enough money to buy those hand-painted wonders.

By decision to actually contribute to the existing art form, I decided to make my own, on 2.5 by 3.5 inch recycled Berkeley board rejects (perks of being a fine arts major * laugh *) into smaller artworks I plan to sell or trade or to be a casual type of journaling as a part of my personal work.

It works for me since I usually do academic work more than personal work often, so small work that I accumulate is a stress-reliever and a way of communicating with my inner introspective self. I also recommend this form of journaling or creating small scale paintings since it consumes lesser time than the usually, a portable artwork that you can work on during breaks in transit away from home.

These cards are what I worked on last December, year 2014, in transit. Every card symbolizes a period/phase, person or experience in my life.

More of my musings lately are focused on inspirational and philosophical side of art as an entity or an idea. I found good reads that I recommend to people who would like to discover the sense underneath the tip of the iceberg.

I found this short excerpt via an article on Facebook (I’m so happy that Facebook decided to have the “Save Link” option for avid readers like me *does the happy dance*). Currently, I have more than a hundred links saved and waiting to be read during my free time. Luckily, I came across an article that featured a short excerpt from “What Is Art?”by Leo Tolstoy:

#17. We are accustomed to understand art to be only what we hear and see in theaters, concerts, and exhibitions,together with buildings, statues, poems, novels. . . . But all this is but the smallest part of the art by which we communicate with each other in life. All human life is filled with works of art of every kind – from cradlesong, jest, mimicry, the ornamentation of houses, dress, and utensils, up to church services, buildings, monuments, and triumphal processions. It is all artistic activity. So that by art, in the limited sense of the word, we do not mean all human activity transmitting feelings, but only that part which we for some reason select from it and to which we attach special importance.

–click here to view the rest of the excerpt and the article—

Another person I admire is Amanda Palmer, a musician, who explains the simple art, the Art of Asking, which enables everyone’ artists, spectators, supporters and brings everyone together to “take the fucking donuts” (you will understand this reference as you read along the book) from people offering the gift to create and giving back the gift by simply receiving the gift. It describes not only the aspect of asking in terms of creative and artistic expression, but also in different facets in our life that we can apply it.

While working on my plates, I listened to the 11 hour and a half audiobook from Audible. I finished it with a great feeling of motivation and inspiration, and I’m definitely listening to it again in the near future. Definitely one for the e-book shelf to read/listen to. I definitely agree with the quote from one of her songs, Ukulele Anthem…

–Listen to the book by clicking here—

By choosing the different things to use, a good mindset, people to whom you should surround yourself, we can and will learn to keep the things that should push us to create more works of art. Regardless of the response, we can extract positivity in everything or even sometimes using the response of the majority to your idea’s advantage. Now, I have realized that fact, that in some instances before, I always felt part of myself being sorry for myself for asking. Asking for something back in exchange for my art, especially the majority would think of it as something simple as a commodity and something less for what it seems to be. At some point, it still does hurt when they “bargain” for something, reasoning “someone else or he/she can do it anyway” or simply saying it isn’t worth something.

Marina Abramović, another favorite artist of mine, which also focuses on trust as a focal point, had a trust exercise called “Rhythm 0” through a 6-hour performance art consisting of 72 objects that can be used for any destructive or pleasing action. It can be astounding how many things can happen in 6 hours—from a peaceful atmosphere, comes a destructing, contradicting, and an intense one. A mix of different people, with different possibilities, some facing or avoiding the chance to get near her, like an actual confrontation.

—read the full article—

It seems art does revolve around the existence and absence of feelings, thoughts, ideas, and trust. In these coinciding ideas, can we even abate the chance of feeling vulnerable? As cliché as it sounds, it either makes or breaks us. I guess you can’t feel trust without the feeling of having your foot under the ground.

Can we?

Let us show each other.

I hope these references of perspective-changing ideas can help you out on your venture as well. The purpose of creating something inspiring and expressive is my purpose, what’s yours?

Love and light,

Clarisse

This article was originally published on pinturaatpintig.wordpress.com in 2015.