Learning to be the Artist I want to be.

It's tea time, March 28th, 2014.

Lately, the inspirational creature that lives inside me has grown more temperamental and wanting to let loose. It has to do with several reasons and I know this sort of thing doesn't just happen on its own. Nothing ever happens on its own. As someone who's field is working with what they love - creativity - there's always that misconception that "inspiration just happens."

It takes lots of consistent labor, actually, and not just in making art work! I am thankful that my success in selling my work is growing, but I understand why that is and I wish that more artists understood the following....

• Learn to be you. Understanding and being aware of who you are, your actions, your desires, your small habits and your biggest fears, and giving in to it is one important step. Whether it's a start for you or a continuation of your work, learning to be you at home and in public is highly beneficial.

• Expect the constant struggles. Be a welcoming person to all things! It will guide you to the places you might need to be. 

• Working on the creative stuff as much as you work on the admin stuff. Taking time to edit or update your website, sharing images on social media, posting, replying to people is part of our jobs as artists. I mean, we want to have people buy our work eventually, right? We need to start a following, plus the internet is free! 

• Be curious about the world. I love watching TED Talks, PBS and Art 21 shows. That's my little circle of "internet friends" I can meditate ideas with back and forth. There's something exciting about knowledge and actively surrounding yourself with it. It makes me feel like a kid in school who's learning about a really cool bug or ancient civilization. Which also brings me to...

• Be surprised. I LOVE surprises and what that teaches me about myself! It makes me happy to let something bewilder my senses and make me think. It's a great way to keep your mind sharp and active!

One of these days I might have blogs elaborating more on these points, but for the meantime it was good to just get them out there.

I'll promise myself to write more on the bigger and the smaller things that go on around me. It's just plain fun to have a personal blog and live out my creative side in all ends of the spectrum.

Thanks for popping by!

Photo's in this blog entry are courtesy of "Women's TEA TIME" Facebook page, 

who is always posting inspirational images and words.

Art as an introduction to life, not an escape.

:::Inspiration is jasmine tea and rain. - What has turned into a self-critique [of my work.]:::

It has come to 2014 and I've passed my first full year out of college - in the real world. It is exciting to think it's just the beginning and that my career is already at jump-start.

Writing while there's a soft rain outside and surrounded by the flowery aroma of Jasmine tea, I pick up my Art History Thesis I wrote two years ago. Quoting John Cage "art is not an escape from life, but rather an introduction to it," I continued writing, "he valued the inter-connectedness between people, objects and nature as well as experiencing the present moments" and reshaping them into art as his way to introduce an audience into his world - what he sees, hears and how.

This indulged a few questions and observations swimming in my mind in regards to 2013 and the beginning of my artistic career. They asked - how is your work an introduction for an outsider into your life? Is it enough?

I want to answer them with a "no," that satisfaction is famously never granted to an artist. It's also too soon to for my portfolio to give such answers.

I do agree that an artist is a reflector with many filters; a magical mirror into the same world yet communicating different views about it. Our goal is to understand our own behaviors, challenge them until we can control them to our artistic advantages. For example, confronting an inhibition (such as social or body issues) and understanding its life in you. Then by overcoming it we use it to reflect ourselves in our work. With this we are on the road to fulfilling John Cage's quote that art is a reflection of ourselves, not something that we are not.

There are things that I battle within my work - particularly when dealing with Middle Eastern Dance and certain misogynistic connotations of sex and seduction. How much sensuality do I portray? Is it subconsciously giving into the male-societal imprints that history has hammered on us, male and female alike? Am I portraying the beauty of the feeling in that movement? Is it powerful enough? Is it weak? ...Is it true to me?...

With my personal questions and a deep desire to clear the taboos towards this dance, it is no wonder I once received a constructive critique that the dance was taking my art hostage. It was not complementing art. It is clear there is a fear I wish I did not have for something I truly love.

And so John Cage came to the rescue reminding me about the essence of art. It came at a very good time and I am currently letting it examine my fear.

So artists, let's set ourselves up to be true to one's self, our work and life. Honesty and courage will only make for better work.

What Inspires You?

Recently I took a vacation, a "rejuvenation" trip, to Costa Rica - the country where part of my family is from and where I always want to travel when I feel the need to absorb the “pura vida” lifestyle (pure life) typical of its culture and healing power found in its natural environment. What I didn't know was that I was on a little adventure in search of my roots. It turned out to be a place that inspires me in more than one way.

It was the first time that I chose to travel Costa Rica with limited help from my family while accompanied by my boyfriend, the best travel buddy I could ask for. I had two goals: 1. See whales in natural habitat at Bahia Ballena. 2. Swim in the crispy freshness of the rivers.

Another thing was.... I didn't want to think about my jobs or even art (oh my!). My mind had to be blank, with a clean slate.

Having had my share of travels (twice to Europe, a few US cities and several to Costa Rica) I had a fair idea of how the type of traveler both with and without Andres (my boyfriend). I like "half-way" plans mapped with possibilities despite potential "failures." We stayed with my parents who did an excellent job at hosting us and out on the road we roomed at a cute bed and breakfast in the rainforest. We wanted adventure. We weren't concerned with the fancy or the luxurious. I wanted to be as close to the culture and the natural as possible.

And did it work? I felt like I had been gone a whole month. The beginning of my inspiration process began with this preparation: simplicity and open-mindedness of an adventurous traveler.

Won't bore you with details, so I'll flash forward to what I gained from this trip. 

I learned that I am definitely not a beach person but a forest and rivers person.

I learned that I can let go of the tangible with the intangible - with laughter.

I went water rafting and zip lining and learned that genuine trust is a risk and a reward in disguise.

I balanced river rocks onto river rocks with only my hands and felt the beautiful sensation of unlocking a hidden door.

And what struck me the most - when art started to flood back into the wheels of my mind - was when I learned that my family is a family of song. There is a long history of singers and even I see it continuing in the younger generations. Woah.... I discovered a hidden jewel in my identity. And what's more, I realized that identity comes from our roots which stem from culture, and culture is reflected in ART.

Funny thing, identity. It's what keeps us moving forward. It's what artists sometimes lack and seek within their work. It's what we all crave for.

Something I frequently say is... there is a difference between knowing and realizing. We might know something, but realizing comes with experience and a deeper understanding of what we think we might know. By trusting ourselves more inspirations will unlock and our own identity will begin to unravel.

So here's a question for you, reader. What type of art do you see in your family? Is it music, textile work (sewing, crocheting, etc..), cooking, hand crafting, woodwork, dance, painting, drawing, sculpting, storytelling....? There's an infinite number of things considered as art. Just remember.... Art is a way of life, it is a reflection of your world projected into a type of language (a type of "art").  ;)