Thursday Seeds: Art begets Art

I’m in a fervor at the moment regarding all the options that technology gives me. Art begets Art is the theme. So how do I say it without saying it?

By the way, Begets and begats, which do you use? My thoughts are that Begats are for people and begets are for ideas.

Now, do I let autocorrect assume the word that I mean? What if the AI folks are wrong? Do I let the iCloud decide which picture is best? What if they are wrong too?

How do I teach both of them that I’m not like the others? That my drum beats differently?

I go back to pencil and paper. Pen and ink. I shun the whole mess.

But how are you reading this?

It’s called burn out. Social media burn out is the cause of toxic waste in our societal thinking. It’s even social acceptable to tell everyone that you are taking a break. It’s a fad, “Take a break.”

How do we clean that, toxic waste yuckie that no one wants to talk about, up? With art.

Yes, it’s that simple. And what is art? It’s passion.

You look at a tree and feel something. You glory at the colors of a rainbow, you feel something different. You like feeling all those glorious things. They, and people, bring you back from the dark to the light that helps you listen to your own calling.

I’ve heard this story before. So have you. There is this underground movement that says we are hardwired to hear this. That our brains respond to story. Shhhhhhhh don’t tell anyone.

It’s a secret.

It lives in song.

It lives in color.

It lives in your kid.

It lives in your neighbor….

The one that irritates the Jesus out of you because of book burnings. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you listen, and write, and …. Just love.

Let me tell you about this artist friend. I barely know her. But I got to know her this past weekend just a little bit better. She makes jewelry as her main source of income. She was burned out. She did a pivot to shake herself out of it. Here is how she presented herself to me after our greetings and me showing her that I’m a repeat customer (rings people, these rings are beautiful) #shamelessplug #woma:

((Dear customer that I value). Yes, that is how she looked at me!)

Artist Friend: “You should tell me your ideas on stained glass. I’m really excited to make new things in this medium but it’s in the early phases.”

Backstory: She and I have exchanged notes and comments regarding her stained glass and this farmer’s market where I am standing in front of her. #socialmedia #instagram

Me: “Your stained glass is beautiful! I once tried to buy a set of stained glass feathers and they were sold to someone else instead. What about feathers?”

Artist Friend: “That’s a great idea.”

Me: “You could even make them authentic to real birds and then sell them to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens or the Wild Birds Etc. locations. I know of 3 different stores in the city.”

Artist Friend: “Those are great ideas! I’ll see what I can do!”

(A pause so that I can shop.)

Me: “I actually love these black stoned rings you made that were featured on the NetFLIX show, Stranger Things. It was so exciting to see that since I already own one of your rings from before, when you were just starting out.”

Artist Friend: “Oh yes, when was that?”

(More dialog unfolds to discover it was more than three years ago when she was pricing her art at WELL BELOW market value. How did she hook me? She took time to explain knuckle rings to me. I now have two.)

Listening to my friend talk, she reveals to me that stained glass was her segue back to jewelry. She was burned out and trying a new form of art. The new art begets her back to the old art. So that she is paying the bills, the rings are three times the price of that first one. And guess what? They are NOW priced at what they were worth then. The quality, and yes I have both, is comparable from then to now.

This gal needs all the confidence. How do I know? I see myself in her as an artist. Me TOO!

Disclaimer: The dialog here was not exactly word for word. How much time do you have? I shortened it to the point so that you can move to the next thing you were gonna do.