Thanks to everyone who has been sharing the show and donating! If you would like to donate to the Messy Studio Podcast donate here.
​
When you buy art supplies at Blick remember to use our affiliate link to support the podcast! Bookmark this link and then you don't even have to think about it again. This is one of the best ways to support the show. It takes a few seconds and costs you nothing! The Blick website works exactly the same way, but we earn 10% every time you buy art supplies.

www.messystudiopodcast.com/blick
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What's new at Cold Wax Academy? Rebecca and Jerry have an exciting Winter Quarter planned with a focus on working with cold wax medium using both abstract and realistic approaches. Members will enjoy opportunities to participate in portfolio reviews and critiques, and of course, engage with the ongoing weekly live sessions that explore featured topics in depth. Cold Wax Academy is the only online teaching platform devoted exclusively to deepening and developing your painting practice in every aspect. Lessons are centered on the range of uses for cold wax medium, but also include important insights and information about all other aspects of art practice. For information about joining this vibrant, international community of artists, and to learn more about cold wax medium, please visit http://www.coldwaxacademy.com

As always, members have access to recordings of all previous sessions including everything from the first year, so it's easy to join anytime. Winter Quarter begins January 5th. Please visit http://www.coldwaxacademy.com for details about membership levels and to sign up for a year of exciting learning experiences.

Here is what a member named Sandy has to say about her own experience:
"Rebecca and Jerry have presented the most professional, authentic and structured approach to a creative activity I have ever come across. Their selfless sharing of all their knowledge and encouragement is a gift in my life unsurpassed."

Have an art related product, service, or event you would like to advertise on the Messy Studio Podcast?
Email Ross at rticknor.core@gmail.com for current mid-roll advertising rates.
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For more from The Messy Studio:
www.messystudiopodcast.com
www.facebook.com/messystudiopodcast
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For more from Rebecca Crowell:
www.rebeccacrowell.com
www.coldwaxacademy.com
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The Messy Studio Podcast is a Tick Digital Media Production.

Many artists, especially beginners with abstraction, tend to be a bit disconnected from personal expression in their work. Maybe it's because they believe that abstraction is always about lofty concepts bigger than any individual, or maybe they consider abstraction to be mainly an intellectual /conceptual exercise, or that it is mainly about process and technique.

All these approaches are satisfying to many abstract artists., but others want a more personal or emotional connection to their work.

if you haven't considered your own experiences, situations, and emotions as pathways to this connection, it may be because you worry that this is too self-involved or somehow self-centered. But there is wisdom in the idea that the more personal a subject is the more universal its potential. Your interpretation of your own experiences can strike a chord with others and thus be more widely meaningful. Work based on your own life and experiences is perfectly valid and is a long tradition in art.

Discovering personal sources for your work is challenging. It requires self-awareness and observation of what moves you and what abstract elements you connect with your experiences. Specific memories of moments and emotions connected with them are most potent, and journaling and sketching can deepen your awareness of these and help you focus.

There is no formula for working abstractly from your own experience, it is by nature individualized and personal. But to realize that your own life is legit subject matter and worthy of your attention is liberating. So go ahead, express your own experiences, be quirky, be open, be a little mysterious, mine your own memories, and feelings.

Thanks to everyone who has been sharing the show and donating! If you would like to donate to the Messy Studio Podcast donate here.
​
When you buy art supplies at Blick remember to use our affiliate link to support the podcast! Bookmark this link and then you don't even have to think about it again. This is one of the best ways to support the show. It takes a few seconds and costs you nothing! The Blick website works exactly the same way, but we earn 10% every time you buy art supplies.

www.messystudiopodcast.com/blick
​
Rebecca and her partner Jerry McLaughlin are excited to be launching year two of Cold Wax Academy's membership program, which began in October of 2020. In the coming year, live online learning sessions will feature an entirely new set of topics---beginning with a deep dive into technique and the steps involved in developing a painting. Other topics for year 2 include professional development, abstraction and realism, principles of design, and expanded uses for cold wax medium.

As always, members have access to recordings of all previous sessions including everything from the first year, so it's easy to join anytime. Fall Quarter begins October 6th. Please visit http://www.coldwaxacademy.com for details about membership levels and to sign up for a year of exciting learning experiences.

Here is what a member named Sandy has to say about her own experience:
"Rebecca and Jerry have presented the most professional, authentic and structured approach to a creative activity I have ever come across. Their selfless sharing of all their knowledge and encouragement is a gift in my life unsurpassed."

Have an art related product, service, or event you would like to advertise on the Messy Studio Podcast?
Email Ross at rticknor.core@gmail.com for current mid-roll advertising rates.
​
For more from The Messy Studio:
www.messystudiopodcast.com
www.facebook.com/messystudiopodcast
​
For more from Rebecca Crowell:
www.rebeccacrowell.com
www.coldwaxacademy.com
​
The Messy Studio Podcast is a Tick Digital Media Production.

www.rebeccacrowell.com
www.squeegeepress.com
www.facebook.com/messystudiopodcast

PODCAST notes: merging art and life

Ross Intro: A while back Rebecca posed this question on Facebook,
what activities, passions, or interests do you pursue outside your studio (art
related or otherwise)? Do you think they feed your main work or focus? 
The answers poured in and today we’re going to take a look at some of
them--

Why I asked this question:

Wanted to say something about the wholeness of our lives as artists; artist is such
a large identity/passion that many of us think only in those terms.

But there will always be crossover influences if our art is about who we are

Also we need to get out of our heads sometimes.

Was going to talk about this from my own perspective but too limited.

Curious about people beyond the usual painting postings on Facebook.

What else are they passionate about?

Huge range of answers… volunteering with various causes …making collections
(fountain pens, found objects, old books) …studying the design of Ferraris…raising
bonsais… …storytelling…environmental causes such as radiation protection,
sustainability, working with the homeless…… physical activities including tennis,
horseback riding , weightlifting, sailing, mountain biking, rock climbing, croquet,
;pickleball, fencing, various kinds of dance

Influence from professions—psychotherapy, interior design, costuming for stage
and film,

Also mentioned: synesthesia, the connection in the mind between one sensory
experience and another/ automatic and totally convincing ( a certain musical note
= a certain color. )

Ross points out that synesthesia can occur naturally, but an also be chemically
induced or a product of stress, experiences which have influenced artists.

Not a voluntary interest but one with implications for art making/ part of the
bigger picture of who we are and how it affects our work.

Also some commonalities in the answers, lots of repeats which I will get to in a
minute.

Some people addressed the 2 nd part of my question and some did not—the
connection between these activities and your art.

I assume that other things in life feed people’s work—how much of his happens in
a conscious way?

Could it be helpful to make more direct connections/

Part of making your art personal and unique is mining these passions for ideas

Thinking about personal voice and direction here.

Finding direction and voice is a quest for many people esp starting out
experienced artists might ask themselves, what can I bring into my work
that moves me from the rest of life? New direction and ideas always important.

Connections may be direct or indirect.

Examples of direct connections—from responses

Being in nature: close observation of surroundings, noticing light, detail, feeling a
spiritual connection/content.

Physical activity: (weightlifting) relates to being fit for large paintings and maybe
on a subtler level the physicality of moving paint around ….rock climbing—the
practice of in-the-moment intuitive decision making, being totally present.

Writing: using words to expand creative ideas.

Travel—exposure to different cultures and visual experiences used in art work.

Music—influences from rhythm and mood, improvisational music and jazz as
related to intuitive painting, collaboration in playing with others.

Gardening and clay work.

Looking at art in museums, researching materials, taking workshops-- obvious
connections.

If you don’t think there is a connection--Ask yourself what intrigues, you about
one of your interests and it may lead directly to some new art idea.

Ex: figure drawing group —challenge of rendering form light/shadow, use of
brush.

Ex: collecting stuff—besides enjoying the objects you collect, is there something
about the act of collecting /organizing/arranging that could enter your work?

Ex: birdwatching—movement, patterns, color, delicacy/strength.

Ex: gardening—the cycle of planting, growing, maturing, dying back.

Could your work be enhanced by being open to your interests as a whole?

No need to push, simply set it as an intention.

Summary of the brief and unscientific survey:

Most Often mentioned:
being in nature, hiking in nature
Yoga, meditation’
Photography
Some kind of music connection—participating or listening
Physical activity, exercise, sports
Volunteering
Reading
Writing
Travel

Some help to slow down, get centered/grounded, connect with inner self, connect
with nature have a meditative aspect – feeding the inner self, being present.

Some are stimulating, energizing—being active, playing music, working with
people, travel.

Some directly related to art in obvious ways –photography, drawing,
experimenting with materials.

Many people mentioned a range, aspects of all of the above –

My takeaway -- our lives are made up of many parts, and art has the potential to
be the expression of the whole not any one thing but that general feeling of
possibility and curiosity, some combination of what we make for ourselves and
what life has served up.

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