Earlier yesterday, while at work eating an apple, I sampled a couple of the items in the latest Smithsonian. University of Chicago economist David Galenson describes two types of creativity, the 'Young Genius' and the 'Old Master'. "There are two very different types of artists, which I call Old Masters, who work by trial and error and tend to improve with age, and conceptual people, or Young Geniuses, who generally do their best work early in their careers."

I know I don't qualify for 'Young Genius': "Conceptual people—the Young Geniuses—emphasize the new idea, and plan their work very carefully. They often say that the execution is perfunctory. Indeed, in today's world, some of the greatest conceptual artists don't even execute their own work—they have it made by other people. But the Old Masters are never entirely sure what it is they want done, so they couldn't possibly have anybody else do it. Cezanne couldn't have said to somebody, 'Go and make a painting for me.'"

Some of this sounds like the Myers-Brigg distinction between 'judging' and 'perceiving'. I am not satisfied merely with a thought out plan. I must see the finished product. And certainly, my artistic evolution is in such flux, I'm not ever sure about what 'perfection' would be. I can say, I like this piece more than that, and why, but I am always struggling to bring out a more perfect vision.

I have a few samples of work I did in collage, Still life with Fruit, and the earliest piece. (There's another piece, when I find its picture, or take a new one, I'll link that one.) I hope those aren't the best that I will do. So I hope I will be an 'Old master', but like the 'young genius', I ,"leap from topic to topic." I express myself in photography, in more realistic art, which to me is from 'the outward looking eye', and the intuitive art, which is from 'the inward looking eye', as came to me in a poem. I need both types of expression. I have this idea that work in the intuitive style strengthens work in the objective style and vice versa. I hope so.

At any rate, I need both types to be satisfied. Ah, I can sound so grandiose when describing this stuff. I had occasion recently to answer my worst fears. One of them, "What if this stuff I create, what if it's total crap? What if all my fevered ambitious dreams are but the yearnings of an insecure girl hoping to be significant?" So I answered those fears, "WHAT IF?" Is there anything I would do differently? I came to the conclusion I would not. I keep struggling towards these visions of what I want to bring into being. There is this feeling of 'FLOW' I get when I am doing this art. As per Wikipedia brief: "Flow is a mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields."

That feeling of 'energized focus' is addictive. Even if I am critical of the results afterwards, I nevertheless enjoyed the process of getting the result. Time will tell if I achieve 'mastery'. I might not ever be satisfied, but as long as I continue to 'advance in the direction', there will be sufficient contentment. But I don't want TOO much contentment, as I realized this Summer: "Sufficiency. Hunger. Balance:"

What am I thinking about RIGHT NOW? Sufficiency. Hunger. Balance. Never to become so satisfied that I stagnate. Never to hunger so much that the ache drives me mad. Knowing the Balance between these two.

So that's the plan. I think the most important thing is "Am I having fun?" Yes, I'm having fun, a challenging, maddening, but constantly inviting process. This answers all the fears. (Say, one day, I'm at my own art reception, and a drunken fellow artist tells me, "Ah, you have no distinction between foreground, middle ground and background, and your figures are wooden, and...") I'll simply say, "But I had great fun making the picture. Maybe my next will be better."

That is the driving hope, 'the next will be better'. I am so curious to find out.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

"Veggies for Fun and Profit"
8:28am

Click for full size...

"Veggies For Fun and Profit?" Indeed! Current studies show "Although scientists don't know exactly how soy affects breast cancer risk, animal models suggest that a soy component -- isoflavones -- may have protective, estrogen-like effects.". Vegetarians usually eat a variety of soy products. In contrast, "...there is an association between red meat and other cancers, such a colorectal cancer. So, she concurs with the American Cancer Society’s dietary recommendations to shun red meat. 'We recommend that people limit their consumption of processed and red meat, and eat fruits and vegetables and unrefined grains,' Calle said."

Not only that, "Eating vegetables seems to slow mental decline, a new study shows."

Well, that certainly seems profitable to me!

(note later today...)
I found a way to work this piece into the Illustration Friday theme of THANKSGIVING.

While searching for Laura's 'turkey cartoon', I found the original 'blowjob' cartoon, and I figured since it is so darned popular, I'd rescan it. It is far nicer than the tiny altered one she had up. I never did find her 'turkey' original, so I had to work with the old tiny version to smooth out its pixelation and bring out forms more strongly. For some reason, Laura had deleted this cartoon from her menu, but luckily I found it in a hidden file folder on the old computer that used to be Laura's.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

"Colorado River Balloon Crossing"
12:49pm

Today was the last day of the sixteenth Annual Colorado River Balloon Crossing. As we got to the gate, the sign didn't look hopeful, as it said only the 18th. But the website said balloons would be released on the 19th as well. Our fears were relieved, for when we arrived at the Cibola High school grounds, many of the balloons had been already released from their cases: