Mindfulness & Making

The Wheel of Technology

2009-06-16T14:27:00.004-05:00

My foot is stuck in the samsaric wheel of technology. I’ve been meaning to write this entry for a while on iPod Touch v. Steno Pad, but now I see the wheel is stronger and more inevitable as I find myself needing to buy an Adobe Creative Suite.

iPod Touch v. Steno Pad

For many years I’ve been happily using a steno pad to keep my list of things to do. I even have a steno pad system.

Write everything down one sheet of the pad.
Cross things off as the are completed (very satisfying).
When that sheet becomes too jumbled up with crossed out things, copy the unfinished items onto a new sheet and add additional items
Repeat.

This is a good system, but it has some draw backs namely all the different activities I do in different locations. I need to keep in order what I need to accomplish in my studio, at the studio at Loyola, household things, and then there are the things I want to buy, which happens at stores, like what materials I need to buy for my studio, groceries, gifts, etc. I could easily make a list of my lists. Also the steno pad cannot talk to my online calendar that organizes my social life, my two jobs, and collaborates with my husband’s calendar. My online calendar is wonderful because I can access it at both my jobs, at home, if I’m visiting my parents, anywhere I can get on the internet. I cannot get on the internet at my studio and my steno pad cannot get on the internet anywhere.

My lists and my calendar are very interrelated. I was perfectly happy living in this “quagmire” until I was dazzled by my colleague's iPod Touch. Its does almost everything an iPhone does, but doesn’t have a huge monthly price tag. I can sync it to my online calendar, access it and update it even without wifi. It can keep many beautiful lists all at my finger tips, on which I can actually cross out my accomplished items, just like on paper. Furthermore I can check my email at a cafe, look up google maps, and of course listen to music and podcasts. This is it! This will be the tool that will make my life run so well it will be near perfection. HA!

How many times have I said that? iPod Touch will not solve all my problems, it will create as many new problems as it solves. My steno pad doesn’t need software upgrades and enjoy the slower pace of writing by hand. How mindfully will I use the iPod Touch? But, yet I know, soon I will make the switch. I know it is inevitable, I am just waiting for the next upgraded model to be released.

Meditation Retreat

2009-06-10T16:29:00.004-05:00

I recently attended my first ever week long meditation retreat at The Atlanta Shambhala Center. This week long retreat was an Art Weekthun. Weekthun is a week long program based on the traditional Tibetan month long retreat Dathun. The art part of this meditation retreat was not the reason I choose this Weekthun over the others being offered this summer, I choose this one because of scheduling between my husband and I and because we could drive there. However this program was really perfect for me in all my practices, meditation, teaching and making.

The Atlanta Shambhala Center which hosted this Art Weekthun was so much more beautiful, grand, comprehensive and impressive then I could have ever expected. Their center and facilities are so wonderful, they are now being called an Urban Land Center. In about the past seven years they bought wonderful land with two buildings on it, built a large and beautiful new meditation hall, and acquired a guest house. I could not recommend doing a program there enough. I had such a great time, they are so friendly and wonderful it was just great.

The Art Weekthun was an interesting program consisting mostly of sitting meditation, but also interlaced with different art practices meant to be executed as a continuation of meditation practice. This was my first exposure to Dharma Arts. I found the form and the approach to be a great way to remind me of how my own art practice is a type of meditation practice. Getting into the “zone” or “flow” is the basic joy of making. The Dharma Arts we practiced there are like a direct connect to that place.

The Dharma Arts approach, for me, was at first too simple, but as I stayed with it, rather then being a know-it-all in my mind, I realized that within this simple approach was some of what I’ve been missing in my teaching. I needed to see and do very simple exercises to realize how I could connect and engage my students more. This lead to a conversation with Lance Brunner about my interest in mindfulness or contemplative practice in higher education. More on this later....

Equally important was the sitting meditation. I really felt my practice deepen. I really began to see the gears of my mind, and my ego’s agenda. There were wonderful moments of understanding. I can’t wait to do another Weekthun, hopefully soon or maybe a Dathun.

This blog seems so short and inadequate compared to my experience there. I know that it will offer me more to learn as time passes.

art weekthun at atlanta shambhala center 2009

Fungi @ Atlanta Shambhala Center

Mushroom Meditation

2009-05-11T13:35:00.007-05:00

This past Saturday I participated in my first morel hunt with fellow members of The Illinois Mycological Association in a forested area in the outskirts of Chicago. It was a great mixture of new foragers and seasoned experts. Fungal knowledge was shared freely about how to find morels as well as what other species of fungi were called. We all had a great time which culminated in finding a great number of morels at the end of our expedition.

Looking for morels or any mushroom reminds me of when a moment of insight arises. Like when I have a problem to solve, I research it, activity think about, sleep on it, and then when I’m doing something completely unrelated the solution reveals itself. Similarly when looking for morels, you must be mentally prepared, know what your looking for and where to look, but it is when I was NOT looking for them that I saw them. I would stand still, in the right spot and wait for them to reveal themselves to me.

Finding morels involves pattern recognition within the density of patterned information of the forest.

The first patterns learned are the pattern of Ash bark and what a dead elm looks like and you begin following these patterns through the forest.

Then once you see your first morel, the pattern of the cap is imprinted in your mind, and you look at the ground, hoping this pattern will jump up. The harder you look for the morel pattern on the ground, the less likely you’ll see it. I found that looking casually, like I was waiting for something else would cause them to appear.The rush of the reward of finding one can be blinding or sometimes it can bring clarity to see the neighboring morels. But, either way, eventually my mind had to “reset” to the patterns of the Ash, Elm and Morel, cycling through all three without hanging onto any of them too tightly. My mind also wanted to find other patterns, like, that they grow in the open, but then I’d find one under a bush, or that they grow about four feet from an Ash tree, but then I’d find one nowhere near an Ash tree. Ironically, our biggest find of morels was not distinctly near the two tell-tail trees, but was in an area that was more open.

After three hours of this on Saturday, when I closed my eyes, I could see the patterns, mainly of the Ash bark and the morel cap. I found myself looking at the roadside as we drove away, unable to stop looking for them, even as I was moving too fast and too far away to possibly see them.

Orange Jelly on display • Enjoy your commute!

2009-05-06T13:15:00.007-05:00

Orange Jelly is on display at Loyola University's Ralph Arnold Fine Arts Annex, 1134 W. Sheridan Rd., Chicago. It can be viewed from the street and in passing cars and is on display until August.

Orange Jelly is a an installation made from orange sweaters which have been transformed into a fungal invasion of the space. It is part of a series of works I've been making which use the form of fungi as a metaphor for liminal states of being. Fungi are liminal in that they commonly grow on dead things spanning the space between life and death and biologically they are more closely related to animals, but most people view them as plants.

I love exhibiting this peice in this gallery space because the space is liminal in that it acts as both a gallery and as public space.

View Ralph Arnold Fine Arts Annex in a larger map

Science, Buddhism and Art

2009-04-19T17:27:00.004-05:00

On April 10, 11, and 12 I took a course at The Shambhala Meditation Center in Chicago titled Consciousness, Compassion, and Transcendence which was taught by Jeremy Hayward. I was inspired by his first talk on Friday night when he talked about the principles that Buddhism and Science have in common, I thought these principles also applied to art. This blog entry is structured based on his talk and his comments on science and Buddhism. I’ve added my thoughts on art to each of his points.

Science, Buddhism and Art are based in questioning. They are based in a longing which is fundamental in humanity. This longing seeks the truth, but these three disciplines look for the truth in different yet complimentary ways. They have the following in common:

Art, Science and Buddhism are:

based on experiment not faith.

In science the hypothesis and experiment are fundamental. In Buddhism the practitioner learns by trying and doing and is not expected to believe anything that he or she cannot experience. In both of these practices dogmatism is out of place, but it is unfortunately often present in science and occasionally Buddhism.

In the case of art, experiment and faith converge. The artist is like a scientist performing experiments without a hypothesis. The studio is like a crazy lab or strange and wonderful manifestation of these experiments. The artist also has faith in his or herself. Her ability to know without knowing, from an intuitive place, which of the experiments are a true expression is essential. Not all experiments should make it out of the studio. Only some of the experiments create their own momentum within the studio and begin to drive the sequential experiments. This making is genuine. This is making without knowing. Once the artist sees what the outcome will be, the rest of the process is labor, just work to complete the piece.

Dogma also has no place in art. The “what is and isn’t art” argument should by now have reached the end of its rope. On the other hand art is not nihilistic. Art is not anything, but anything can become art.

aware of a disharmony between appearance and reality.

Science and Buddhism are both seeking a truth that is obscured by our limited faculties. The scientist is looking for fundamental principles and building blocks of the universe. The meditation practitioner is using meditation to experience without the duality of self and other prevalent in our consciousness.

The artist is also confronted by and confronting this disharmony. It is apparent when a student is learning to draw from observation like in my class at Wright College. The mind obscures what we see with assumptions and language, which is an obstacle to true observation. I see teaching students to draw from observation as a task of unlearning and letting go.

Artists are free to explore and manipulate the disharmony between appearance and reality. Artists include interpretive, emotional, and chaotic elements in their work to express a personal reality often clouded by disharmony. The disharmony between appearance and reality can be used a life long muse for artists inspiring works that are personally expressive and yet collectively appreciated.

recognizing the problem of the observer.

Scientists know that they as the experimenter are effecting the experiment and try to eliminate themselves from the experiment. Buddhists experiment on themselves, and know that the human mind is non-dualistic in nature, but that it expresses itself as dualistic in most situations, which creates an observer experience.

Artists are constantly working with and against the observer. I my own practice I’ve struggled with and have now come to rest in a confident place with the observer. In the past varied contrived observers would manifest in my mind like a multiple personality disorder and judge my work as I created it in my studio. “What would my mom think of this? My grandpa? My old professor? What would my peers say about it in a critique? Will galleries like it? Will someone want to buy this? Why do people buy art?....” I think the voices have both quieted and unified into a steady confidence. This took a while to happen and grad school helped this process. I took risks in grad school and was rewarded by the outcome of each one. I also think my meditation practice has helped. Its not that the observers have gone away, they remain an important team in my making. The more I realize that my art and my making are not about me, the easier it has been to work with the observer. Without the pressure of the self and a mandate of self expression the observer and the observed can merge.

concerned with cause and effect.

Science sees cause and effect as a linear progression because science has a concept of time. Buddhists see cause and effect as a network if interrelationships (karma).

On this topic the young artist unfortunately shares more with the scientist. I remember talking to a freshman at Alfred at the end of his freshman year about his next endeavors. He was very swept up with idea of creating a “body of work,” and was setting about this task as though he was writing a history book. I recommended that he make what he want without regard for a “body of work” and let some art historian or critic figure it out and “make sense of it all.” This approach to making saddens me when the artist is not aware of what he or she is participating in. This linear approach to making is structured not for the artist but for the marketplace and collector. It makes buying this artist’s work seem like they are buying into a greater plan, something that has already happened which mimics the post-mortum sale of an artist’s work. This also helps the galleries sell the work because it mimics selling a brand, not something messy and unpredictable like art. I think this type of making and buying is not genuine and is based on a construct that is not only out dated, but probably was never beneficial to either party. This linear construct of making and selling work implies that the artist is too wild and should be corralled and that collector is unable to buy what he or she likes.

Making should be open. The work of an artist will inevitably create some kind of body of work which will be deeper and more enriched without the addition of a linear construct. During my graduate studies I had to present my work in a one hour slide talk. Preparing for this talk was the first time I ever saw all my work together on a large light box. As I moved the work around I realized I had to begin my talk with work I did during high school because it was still relevant conceptually to the work I was pursuing in grad school, and is even still relevant now. This was a wonderful discovery, not a plan. The work should always be about discovery both for the maker and the viewer.

improving the human condition.

Buddhism is really driven by this. First you start with improving yourself, but your motivation is to get it together so you can help others. Science helps humanity, but only incidentally, its main focus is on phenomena, and if this results in atomic bombs or revolutionary medicine, the motivation was the same.

Talking about art improving the human condition is complex for me. Art as it is now, sequestered to its museums and galleries is hard to see has helping humanity. I say this as a “fine artist” working within the system of galleries and museums. This sequestered world is my world, for better or worse. However, I suggest that art does improve the human condition. The experience of the viewer, unaltered the dogma of history or criticism can be a genuine in the moment experience. Many viewers are separated from this experience because of the museum or gallery experience. They don’t feel they have the authority to view and experience the art on their own terms, but when they can be reunited with their own curiosity the viewing experience can be wonderful.

Creatively Stuck

2009-04-06T22:02:00.014-05:00

During and after my latest exhibit I experienced a familiar decline in creative production. It took exhibiting a few times after graduate school to catch on to this now reoccurring trend. Even though I now come to expect a decline in creativity during and after an exhibit, it can still be frustrating. I used this time to reflect on this experience and other times in which I had lost the impulse to make. In my experience, getting stuck can be caused by a variety of reasons, but, I’ve narrowed it down to four major causes that affect me.

Causes of getting stuck:

Too much time: I make more and I am generally more creative when I am very busy. Recently, being hit by two spring breaks (from the two different schools I teach at) has not put a boost into my making but as rather taken a big chunk out of it.

Completing a big project: There’s so much energy going into the project, that once its completed there is a deflated feeling. What will I work on next?

Melancholy: In spite of what my husband may say, it happens to us all. It could be the weather, or too much partying, or a legitimate depression. Sooner or later the blues will get you, and keep you feeling heavy and unmotivated.

Uninspired: Being uninspired is a little like the chicken and the egg. If its not caused by melancholy, it will certainly cause it. Occasionally, I just don’t have any ideas.

I feel that within these obstacles are opportunities. Here are the solutions I try to implement after I have the awareness to realize that my art practice has slowed or stopped. Sometimes it takes a while to even realize that I’ve spent eight hours this week watching The Wire on DVD, not only because its gripping and addictive, but because I might be avoiding an obstacle. So after the light of awareness hits me, I try some of these transformations.

Problem: Too much time

Solutions:

The List:
Make lists. Make long term to do lists, but most importantly, make a list of accomplish-able tasks for the next day. Be sure to vary tasks, from the household, to the studio, to the recreational. Don’t try to punish yourself or make up for lost time by suddenly putting in 10 hours at the studio after a hiatus.

Volunteer:
Volunteer your time so you are more busy. Volunteer with an organization or just help your friend out with moving. Get out there and be helpful. You’ll feel great and productive and you’ll want to get back to work.

Get outside:
Just do something. Go to museums, galleries, socialize anything. Get out of your house. Break your routine.

Take a class/Join a club:
Meet new people, learn new things. Do something that seems totally non-art related.

Problem: Completed a big project

Solutions:

Give yourself a break (if you deserve it):
If you just completed a major show or a major project. Relax. There is generally a feeling of exhaustion from all the work or a post partum like depression. Give yourself some time to transition to the next project.

Catch up on the computer stuff:
Update your email list, and website. Do the clerical stuff you don’t have time for when you’re jammin in your studio.

Network:
Use your show as an opportunity to meet new people.

Look:
Look for new materials and new inspirations for your next projects.

Problem: Melancholy

Solutions:

Do Nothing:
No matter what, it will eventually pass. No really, it will. Sometimes what you resist, persists.

Wallow in it:
Better yet, use it as inspiration. Make drawings or simple notations of how you feel. All of experience is source material for your work, so don’t miss out on this just because it feels crappy.

Exercise:
Put it on your list of things to do and then do it. Elevating your heart rate will elevate your whole being. You don’t have to like it, but you just might after a while.

Read:
Read those books you’ve been meaning to get around to.

Just get to work:
Go to your studio and work, even if you feel crappy.

Problem: Uninspired

Solutions:

Meditation:
Continue your meditation practice, add more time or go on a retreat. Creating space in your mind will allow the next thing to bubble up. The first entry in google when searching “creatively stuck," says “Try Sitting With The Silence.”

Repeat:
Do something repetitive at home or in your studio. Allot a certain amount of time for this repetitive action and do it for the whole time. Repeat as needed.

Be patient:
.....

Finally some closing thoughts on staying creative.

Work without a purpose.
Draw something everyday.
Write by hand everyday.

Fluxliminal Closing Reception-Friday, March 20th, 5:30-7:30PM

2009-03-15T20:44:00.005-05:00

Winter is over! Please join us for the closing reception of our show investingating transitional states using photography and sculpture, on the spring equinox, this Friday, March 20th, 5:30-7:30PM at Loyola University's Crown Center Gallery.

fluxliminal

Vesna Jovanovic and Renee Prisble Una present new work
investigating the changing world between states of being.

Feburary 27- March 20, 2009
Closing Reception: March 20, 5:30-7:30

Crown Center Gallery • 1001 West Loyola Avenue • Chicago, IL 60626 • 773-508-7510
Gallery Hours: 10am-7pm M-F, 12-4pm Sat & Sun and by appointment

Work in Progress- Orange Sweater Fungus, Mountain Stickers

2009-01-19T16:26:00.004-06:00

I am making some new fungus forms using orange sweaters I buy at thrift stores. The colony is growing day by day. Vesna and I are trying to show together in the gallery space in the Art Annex at Loyola. We will both be showing work dealing with fungi and decay. I will include this piece and the ceramic works. Vesna will show really large photographs from a pinhole camera. We just need to set a date with the department.
These are my plasticine models for the next generation mountain stickers. “Mountain Stickers” will be an affordable installation art product that creates a collaboration between the collector and me, the artist. The work will be small scale, low relief mountain ranges that are easy to arrange and affix to the collector’s wall. The collector will have the option of leaving the material of the molded mountains exposed, or painting over them with their wall color to create a seamless installation. An exhibition label completes the piece and the collaboration.

I hope to have these ready for market and sale in a couple months.

Clocking In

2009-01-12T16:43:00.004-06:00

The new year has started off great! I'm not really that into new years resolutions because I think they are too rigid of a concept, but I have made some changes.

Michael and I are meditating together almost everyday, and we have been to the Shambhala Meditation Center two Sundays in a row. Our goal was to meditate every day in January, but we have already fallen short of that, however our goal has created some momentum that has us returning to the cushion.

I have scheduled on my google calendar to be at my studio two hours every weekday this semester. I am off to a good start. My commitment is to be there for two hour even if there is nothing to do. I have been organizing and rearranging things over there and I am really enjoying it. It feels like a new studio. Committing to be there no matter what is already rejuvenating the practice of play that has been absent from my studio for many years.

New Work, Work for Sale, Updates

2008-12-21T10:37:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

New Work in Ceramics
I wanted to share some new work I created while teaching a ceramics handbuilding class this past semester at Loyola. The working title for the installation is Beautiful Decay- Fungi. All pieces are glazed stoneware. These are installed in my studio. I now need to find a place exhibit them. They can be installed easily with screws into any wall. They are the beginning of work I'll be exploring, which is purchasable installation art. Since much of my previous work is destroyed as the installation comes down, and can usually only be installed by me, this represents an exciting additional direction for investigation. This new work can be bought and installed by the consumer, transferring some of the art making experience to the consumer.

Beautiful Decay- Fungi looks at the beautiful and transformative quality of death and decay and reminds us of the cycle of destruction and creation.

Work for Sale
After the success of my recent show at minidutch, I was inspired to sell some affordable work through Etsy. Please check out my shop by clicking here. I will be adding more work to it from time to time. Hope you enjoy it.

Logo
Inspired by the sale of several pieces, I developed a logo to stamp my work with. I feel that this logo references a craftsman tradition or the chop signature of a sumi painter. Both really satisfy me. This stamp will accompany new work as a signature.

Instruction
I've just ended the best semester of teaching so far. Through an unexpected circumstance I was able to teach a ceramics Handbuilding class at Loyola in addition to the two sections of Sculpture I teach there, and the one section of Drawing I teach at Wright College. I feel like I've really found the symbiosis of teaching and studio work and I am proud to present some great student work from these classes on my website here.

This winter break promises to be a productive and busy time in my studio and sending out portfolios. I hope you have a Happy Holidays and a Great New Year!

Sincerely,

Renee Prisble Una

I hope you enjoy receiving my emails, if you don't, please let me know and I will remove your email address from my list. Get this information and more by reading my blog.

Beautiful Decay

2008-12-19T17:37:00.007-06:00

New work created at Loyola from the past semester. All pieces are glazed stoneware. These are installed in my studio. I now need to find a place exhibit them. They can be installed easily with screws into any wall. They are the beginning of work I'll be exploring, which is purchasable installation art. The work can be bought and installed by the consumer, transferring some of the art experience to the consumer.

Beautiful Decay looks at the beautiful and transformative quality of death and decay and reminds us of the cycle of destruction and creation.

Ceramic Fungi Samples

2008-11-03T17:12:00.001-06:00

The success of these surfaces has prompted more forms. I had a great weekend in the studio at Loyola.

Leftover Leftovers

2008-10-27T21:10:00.002-05:00

These four works are leftover from the Leftover's show. They are great pieces, two latex tubing pieces, and two masking tape paintings. Don't be the last people on the block with out one of my pieces! Contact me for more information!

New Business Card Design

2008-10-18T18:37:00.001-05:00

What a long day of computering...My eyes are tired

Materials Exchange, Oct 12 @ mini dutch

2008-09-23T08:33:00.003-05:00

In keeping with the spirit of my show at mini dutch, it will close Oct. 12th with a materials exchange. Bring all that crap from the corners of your studio to swap for new crap from someone else's studio. It should be fun! Meet and network with other artists, get rid of old materials, get some new materials.

Take a moment to post what you'll be bring here, if you know.

http://www.minidutchgallery.org/materials-exchange/

Artxposium this weekend!

2008-09-18T23:39:00.003-05:00

Hey Everybody! Its time for Artxposium, carnival like, festive, art exhibit in West Chicago. Its worth the drive! I am showing the second incarnation of The Prayer Wheel Project. Hope you can make it.

artXposium 2008

On its second edition this year, artXposium is a 3-day multimedia art experience with more than 80 participating artists. Local, national and international talent will come together from September 19th to the 21st to display a variety of art work ranging from traditional painting, sculpture, and photography to interactive, multimedia, and sound installations. This years event also include the inaugural month long international artist-in-residence program featuring Danish artist Gudrun Hasle at the West Chicago City Museum.

Showing and Selling at Mini Dutch

2008-09-15T17:22:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who came to the Mini Dutch show this past Saturday. I had such a great experience. It was really my first experience selling my work and I loved it. Not nearly so much for the money, which was nominal (prices from $1-$50), but because I saw my art making people happy and going to good homes! I learned so much from this show, lessons that will take years to manifest.

If you haven't seen it yet head on over, and no not ALL the good stuff is gone, but about 1/2 is.

Mini Dutch Gallery
3111 w. diversey first floor
chicago il, 60647
773.235.5687

open Sundays 11am-3pm or call/email for appointment

minidutchgallery [at] gmail [dot] com

Fungus & Ceramics

2008-09-15T16:57:00.003-05:00

So, I haven't written yet about my new, and most likely temporary teaching position teaching hand building in ceramics at Loyola! Its going really well, even though I was given such short notice (three days). I owe much of my success to Vesna, who has helped me out tremendously!

One of the great things about teaching this class is not only the added experience I'll be gaining, the great students, and the money, but I will be making some ceramic art for the first time in a while.

I've been fooling around with some old ideas, but have been unhappy with them, feeling like an imitation of myself. But this weekend on the El platform there was a new idea- fungus. This orange folded delicate organism, peeking out from between the boards.
This new idea will hopefully continue another piece I made a while ago, but sold this weekend at the mini dutch show. "Mountain Stickers" are latex casts of small mountain ranges, each about one to two inches long, painted white, with double sided tape on the back. A woman bought all of them, and was so excited about them! I asked her what she would do with them and she started drawing in the air and explaining how she would make a mountain range somewhere in her apartment. I became so excited about this. She was going to go home and have a creative experience with the art she bought. I love this idea. Hopefully these new ceramic fungus pieces will work in the same way, but probably not at the same price point.

"Leftovers" show opening at MiniDutch Sept. 13th

2008-09-07T11:51:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

I am excited to present this new show of old stuff:

Leftovers
Opening Reception: September 13th, 7-10pm

MiniDutch another apartment gallery
3111 W. Diversey
Chicago, IL 60647
773.235.5687
http://www.minidutchgallery.org/

In this show I've made work from the materials that have been in my studio, in some cases for over 10 years. I've been carting these leftover and never used materials around think that someday I would make art with them. The materials vary from found objects, felt, latex, fake eyes, orange powders....

I returned to the source of art making practice for this exhibit. The curious, adventurous, anything goes making from my youth created these many delightful, often curious objects. This making process was fun and immediate, creating new pieces rapidly and severing what had become an emotional tie to the promises of all these materials.

To further sever the tie, the work is for sale, and very affordable prices range from $1 to $50. Some work is available for cash and carry.

The show closes October 12th with a materials exchange. Artists and makers are invited bring leftover materials to swap and socialize.

I hope you can make it to this show and the opening event!

-Renee

Artist as Ronin - No Self (an essay for the local Shambhala news letter)

2008-09-05T08:44:00.001-05:00

Artist as Ronin
No Self

A contemporary artist without self is lost without a master. Modern and contemporary Western art has relied on and fallen for the personality of the artist, the moody, or drunk, or demanding, or troubled being that is the artist. The artist’s personality often drives the consumption of the artwork, and is often used to create a linear interpretation of the work, rather than allowing the viewer space to experience the work. The artist in Western traditions has been associated with a myopic often near madness that compels them to create their work without regard to others. The artist has even been see as divine.

As a contemporary artist, I might be doing it all wrong. I will wear different clothes, different masks, and perform different tasks. I am for hire. My work will change from place to place, time to time, and to suit the audience. I have no plan for my body of work or my portfolio. My vision is no vision. The more I practice meditation the further I become from fulfilling my role as artist.

Like the ronin released from their master, there is shame in my practice. A ronin is a samurai with no lord or master. After losing his master to death or ruin, a samurai was expected to commit suicide. Those who didn’t lived a drifting life and were shamed from their samurai community. My art practice fails the contemporary art community because my work becomes like a mirror, a lens, a tool, for questioning what is around me, not a driving force of self-expression. My work explores the space of the gallery and the space of the viewer’s mind. My successful work creates space, a moment, and emptiness.

But really, being without self is the challenge and this is the goal for me as a mediator and an artist. My goal is never knowing about what I’m making, but rather to be in the studio making without knowing why. To be lost in the process of materials, ideas, and impulses is the joy. My art practice and meditation practice rely on being open to whatever comes up, to having no agenda, and to recognizing the unexpected as an opportunity.

more for mini dutch

2008-08-15T10:32:00.006-05:00

More work for the mini dutch show! For this show, which opens September 13th, I making work only with left over materials in my studio. In fact the show is called "Leftovers". My making process has been fun, impulsive, confident and cathartic. This process in a return to the joy of working with my hands, working directly, and the wonder of discoveries.

At this show all the work will be for sale. The price points of mostly $5-$40 makes the work accessable to my peers- other artists.

Second Batch for mini dutch

2008-08-13T08:35:00.005-05:00

rusted colony (sideways)

screw ball

daydreaming (ode to gormely)

latex hoops

masking tape painting 1

mirror galaxy

First mini dutch pieces

2008-08-10T19:52:00.004-05:00

Mirror Galaxy
etched mirror

Mirror Galaxy
etched mirror

Shipping Label Piece #2
shipping labels, hot glue
Shipping Label Piece #1
shipping labels, hot glue

I finally went my studio today and cranked out a few pieces for my show at mini dutch opening September 13th. The show is called "Leftovers" and I will be making new work from left over materials in my studio. The work is very impulsive, immediate, and fun. Here are the first four to preview.

Also, my new bike rocks! It took me painlessly all over town today. Love it!

My Last Day

2008-08-08T07:34:00.006-05:00

So to day is my last day of my summer job, which has been a real roller coaster, with occasional ups and lots of downs.

When I opened my email this morning I had the most appropriate lojong in my in box, ever! It was delightful and made me laugh. Thanks ancient Buddhists! (get a lojong saying every day via: http://lojongmindtraining.com/default.aspx)

Below are three interprtations and translations of the saying in chronological order.

Don't Expect Thanks

Don't hope that others will express their gratitude in words of thanks for your own practice of dharma, your helping others, or your practicing virtue. In a word, get rid of any expectation of fame or prestige.

All these points of advice are means that will strengthen mind training and prevent it from weakening. In summary, Gyal-se Rinpoche said:

Throughout our lives we should train well in the two kinds of bodhicitta, using both meditation and postmeditation practices, and acquire the confidence of proficiency.

Make an effort to follow this instruction.

From The Great Path of Awakening : An Easily Accessible Introduction for Ordinary People by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Ken McLeod. Copyright 1993 by Ken McLeod.
Published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston.

Don't Expect Applause

Don't expect others to praise you or raise toasts to you. Don't count on receiving credit for your good deeds or good practice.

From Training the Mind & Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa , copyright 1993 by Diana Mukpo.
(Official Chogyam Trungpa Website)
Published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston.

Don't Expect Applause

The next slogan is "Don't expect applause," which means "Don't expect thanks." This is important. When you open the door and invite all sentient beings as your guests, and not only that, but you also open the windows, and the walls even start falling down, you find yourself in the universe with no protection at all. Now you're in for it. If you think that just by doing that you are going to feel good about yourself, and you are going to be thanked right and left- no, that won't happen. More than to expect thanks, it would be helpful just to expect the unexpected; then you might be curious and inquisitive about what comes in the door. We can begin to open our hearts to others when we have no hope of getting anything back. We just do it for its own sake. On the other hand, it's good to express our gratitude to others. It's helpful to express our appreciation of others. But if we do that with the motivation of wanting them to like us, we can remember this slogan. We can thank others, but we should give up all hope of getting thanked back. Simply keep the door open without expectations.

From Start Where You Are : A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron, Copyright 1994, Shambhala Publications.
Published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston.

Glimpsing Center, Again.

2008-08-04T18:08:00.005-05:00

This job this summer has tried me in almost every possible way: long hours, big disappointments, lack of control over the final product, difficult people, and self doubt. I constantly feel inadequate and like I am a disappointment to my employer archi-treasures. I don't sleep well, I am constantly worried.

My meditation practice has lapsed for up to a couple days at a time and my alcohol consumption has increased in a predictably stressful and summer way. These two things are not good for me.

But today I had a glimpse of the center I once knew.

"I can only do this job as well as I can. Any body's disappointment or agendas belong to them not me."