Lotus Blossoms, Ideas, and Time

Good Morning Poetry  Lovers and Writers,

This morning I was thinking about how we come up with the myriad of ideas that we gather for our poems and our writings.

People always ask:

"How do you gather ideas and images for use in your poetry?"

First of all, 

Ideas are everywhere!

Ideas and inspirations  surround us all day long when we are actively engaged in the mundane chores of our day. 

Ideas and images are:

Overhead in the night skies,

Sloshing down in the pouring spring rain,

Romping like a child with a sand shovel and bucket in the sunshine on the beach,

Found on the front page of this morning's small town newspaper,

Sent  in a letter from a dear friend,

Articulated over the phone when I am talking with a friend who is meeting challenges,

Hidden in  the bushy ruffled wag of my little  dog's tail as he dances to  beg for treats, 


Packed away in great grandma's old metal trunk with bands of wood and brass


 forgotten in the darkness of your dusty attic

Buried deep in the rich black earth in the woods beneath the stately Hemlock tree where we have buried all our pets through the years.

Search through your MEMORIES

Can you recall the ivory blooms of Queen Ann Lace in the early fall fields?

They are often intermingled with the periwinkle stars of the Chicory, just before the first frost. My heart skips a few beats just to think of this delightful sight, right in my back yard every year. Last year, the meadow was alive with cone shaped mushroom. They were scatterd about like a magician had come through and waved his magic wand there, and from the dust of his want came the brilliant white mushroom reaching up to the sky.

How about that dragon- fly that landed on your shoulder as you sat quietly along the edges of the brook when you were a small child? Did you hear it  rattle around in the back seat of your car yesterday?

What idea was blown by the winds across the foggy surface of asphalt in the parking lot at the strip mall?

Are you remembering some things right now that just might be the stuff of a poem?

I think I could sit here for hours on end writing about where I have been surprised and delighted  by  the quickly fleeting sliver of an idea, or softly echoing lyric of a soulful idea for a poem. I think I spotted the leg of a new poem this morning, lurking there inside my new pair of Reebok cross-trainer shoes! I saw that slender strip of yellow zig-zagging across the bottom of the shoes - calling out to me to pay attention and not be in such a big rush to get going on my journey today.

 I sat down to look over new messages on my Face Book page today, 

I found a gem of an idea there.

Delight was right there in print on that page. 

 And, there was a picture, too! The picture there was of a Lotus Flower, all in violet, lavender, deep greens, and periwinkle blue colors.

An idea for a poem  came to me as I scanned through this  new FaceBook message.

One thing you eventually find on social media are like minded individuals who share a world view that can be similar to your own.  

 These are the "friends" you always look for because they often post messages that lift you up and encourage you, and give you new insight - a little glimmer of some truth that rings true inside your body.  I had one of those moments this morning!

~ I choose  friends who ~

 love the arts 

care about the earth

work to find homes for animals 

 restore others  to good health

friends who love dusty old things

cherish small things

some who love flowers - gardens - birds

those who love to travel and enjoy the culture of other places 

friends who respect other people who live in very different circumstances

Think carefully about the kind of people you call your friends.

What kind of energy do they give off? Is it healing, helpful, encouraging, and positive? I avoid negative people because their energy will bring you down to where they are and that is a place where there are no poems and no marvel. Choose friends who love life and who are life-bringers in this world. A negative person is an empty shell of a human person. 

Just a few months ago

I joined a group of writers who talk about their work and put up their writings for the rest of the group to discuss. There, I have found three strong women poets who are absolutely amazing writers. Like me, they have experienced sight loss, yet they live a full and complete life with no boundaries and no regrets. 

The poetry folks I have met recently at the National Federation of the Blind on the NFB Writers Division list have been talking about saving some of the comments and poems they find so they can return to them and read them again. What a good idea this is! I have a couple of files started for this purpose, too. I have read some poems that are so nourishing, rich, memorable that I want to savor them again and again. I also want to see more poems from these people, and watch their path unfold as they write.

I, too, have a  folder  for saving "ideas" for some future works for myself. 

An idea will come to me and I like to record it and save it to my files. I will collect information on that idea until I have sufficient material to begin the work on a new poem. I gather ideas and put them in my files before they fly off to become someone else's poem!

Another place I find inspiration is when I read some of the FaceBook pages posted by friends I have never met.

Today's find  is the message  I will post below. The message uses the metaphor of the Lotus Flower. It is a keeper and is now in my folder. My folder is  called "Poem_Ideas"  and at some point I will return to this message and begin the work of writing a poem. The idea has been captured and saved for me to return to another day when I am able to put the work into the idea.

What do YOU need to do to enrich your ideas for working with words?

You need to SLOW DOWN, first of all.

Pay attention to your surroundings.

Listen to what sounds are there. Close your eyes and smell the air. 

Reach out your finger tips and touch something. How does it feel?

Is there a taste in the air?  Do you hear the music?

Patience, my friends, patience. That is the KEY to getting in touch with your own world. It is YOUR WORLD and YOUR LIFE that is your motif.

As you begin to feel, hear, taste, see, touch, smell your world, you will now be ready to begin your poem. 

The poem is your life!

  

"The lotus flower sits upon one of it's leaves, having risen to the surface as the sun, held in the hand of God, invites it upward to the light. This unique plant is rooted in the mud and muck at the bottom of a body of water, it's stem reaching up to the surface, where the leaves rest quietly. At night, the flower closes and sinks below the surface, only to rise with the daylight and once again, gradually unfold it's petals. 
What we learn from this amazing plant is how our own spiritual path unfolds and opens to the light, then at times gently folds in on itself for a proper rest when the daylight fades. 
Your spiritual unfoldment is occurring at all times, whether or not you are aware of it. It is inevitable as long as you put your trust in the hands of the Creator, the One who holds the Light. 
Like the Lotus, your soul is always reaching for the light to fulfill its karmic destiny, but even in that process, there are periods of darkness and times to rest. It is a natural cycle, one that cannot truly be coerced or halted. 
It has an innate rhythm of its own, one that is unique to the Being that is you!"

~Earth Magic by Steven D. Farmer

 

How do YOU do it?

Good Morning Friends,

I was asked recently:

How are you able to write a blog?

How can you create a website?

How DOES a person who is blind do these things? 

How did you learn to do it?

I cannot see details and colors since I have no central vision. I have only some peripheral vision and that is not clear at all. The sight that I have is akin to walking in a snow squall. Everything is grayed out and blurred, with an occasional glimpse of something significant. I can usually detect something that is moving, if there is contrast.

The way that I do see, is with high contrast. I see no nuances or subtle color changes in anything.

 When I am knitting, my friends and family explain to me what colors they see in my yarn. To me, it mostly looks all gray.  I am always delighted when they tell me of the wonderful colors they are seeing there!

How do I manage my website and my blog?

I had very extensive knowledge about how to do websites and blogs BEFORE sight loss. I had two blogs and have had a  website for many years. (I am a former professor of Fine Arts and Humanities, at Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA)

Before sight loss, I wrote about one of my passions, knitting. I did it for relaxation and to share information/patterns/finished projects on the blogs.

It was a nice get-a-way from my professional life. Knitting is very relaxing to me, and I love the feel of the soft yarns as they slip through my fingers. There is nothing that can compare to the feel of a hand knitted garment, that is one-of-a-kind, original.

How do I maintain and create my  website?

 My website is where I share images of my art works.  Before sight loss, I used to share photos of of my paintings, wood cut prints, upcoming show information, and my travel/study trips to Europe every summer. The website was a recruiting tool for that program.

For twelve years, I taught a course called Drawing and Writing in Salzburg. Students at the college could take my course for credits in Humanities, English, or Studio Art.

We lived in the Alps in Austria every summer until 2008 (I lost my sight in the fall of 2007). College students and came with me to  Austia for a month every summer. While there I worked in my art studio in the village school, just outside of Salzburg. I taught classes every morning Monday - Thursday until noon. Our class met early each morning  in the school, and each day we took trips all over the area. They had writing and art assignments at a different location every day. On weekends, I took the students to a different country - Italy for the Redintore Festival every year in Venice.  We traveled to  Czech Republic, where we visited small villages and of course, Prague.  In Germany, we traveled on boats over deep Alpine lakes, ancient cities,  and castles

This is how I knew HOW to make a website - through marketing my own art and my Drawing and Writing in Salzburg courses.

When I lost my sight - overnight - I was completely LOST. For five months I really sat in a chair and listened to Public Radio as I did not know how to do anything at all. My husband brought me books on CDs from the local library - I was completely LOST and no one knew what to do with me.  It took five months of very hard work to learn that there was such a thing as rehab for blind people - and finally, after an existence that was meaningless, I got to go to a rehab center in Pittsburgh.

There, I learned that I could do things again. But the realization that I had in an instant gone from teaching and lecturing on a very high level, and had plunged to a level that was less than kindergarten became very clear to me.  The  LEARNING CURVE for a person who has entered the world of sight loss  is the steepest learning curve I have ever experienced, just to begin to live again and do the most basic things.

I was at the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services in Homestead, PA  for 15 weeks, and did very well. I still had no computer skills, when I left there. But, I had the “Intro to blindness” skills that completely changed my life and my future. I found out that there is almost nothing that I cannot do. I just have to learn how to ADAPT to doing everything in a new way that works for me.

After FOUR YEARS of sight loss, I am still learning how to adapt all the time as new situations come up. There are still moments when I lose it for a little while and have to get my bearings, and begin again.

Relearning the computer   took another two  years  to be able to write a blog or work on my website  again I can now process photos by myself, and upload them onto my computer.  As a VISUAL ARTIST this is important for me to do. I share my work with the world through my blog and my website. 

I am still the VISUAL ARTIST I have always been, but now I have learned to ADAPT to my new situation.

Through this blog, I am able to take you on the journey with me as I learn how to do new things and how to re-learn the things I once took for granted.

The learning curve is the steepest one I could ever have imagined.

TENACITY is the KEY to success - in everything.

Don't GIVE UP, and Do not QUIT TRYING.

This is one of the newest pieces of pottery I made. I never knew I could make pottery!

These days, I am making pottery, knitting, and creating intricate encrusted bead work.

I do it all by TOUCH, non-Visually, and in some cases with the help of TECHNOLOGY.

Life is still good...

 Life is still a creation in process!

> 

Art is God's Voice

Pay attention to poetry.

Pay attention to music.

Pay attention to paintings and sculptures and photo exhibits and ballets and plays.

Why?

Because art is God's way of saying hello. Your world is shouting out to you, revealing something intrinsically glorious about itself.

Listen carefully.

Love art, the way art loves life.

Don't let all this go unnoticed. _Neale Donald Walsh_

I have a page on Face Book. You can find me there by typing in my username:  Lynda McKinney Lambert. I use this page to keep in touch with friends mostly. It’s a place where I can chitchat with friends and family. Lots of times, I post interesting things that I like. I share them with anyone who might visit my page that day.

You can also find another page that I have on FaceBook. It is the business page where I keep my friends and clients updated on my upcoming exhibitions and show photos of that is going on in my studio. That page is:  River Road Studio


http://www.facebook.com/pages/River-Road-Studio/175785105811956

You can visit this page and when you do PLEASE click on the LIKE button there. This way I know there are friends who like my work and like to hear about what is happening in my artistic professional life. Please visit me there soon. And, be sure to leave a comment for me!

I like to check my two FaceBook pages every morning. Often I see some gems  to  enjoy. Every now and again, I find something that makes me sit up and pay attention. Some things rise above the usually mundane. Today is one of those days. I found the quote above, posted by Neale Donald Walsh. I really love this post today!

You know, it is in the ARTS that we can LEARN what is really going on in our world.  

The evening news does not have a clue as to what is really going on. It is through the ARTS that we learn about our world. The arts give us insights into the future as well as understanding of the present. The only things is, you have to be willing to STOP and take a LOOK. Stop and LISTEN. STOP.  


The ARTS make us THINK and thinking takes TIME. The ARTS stop us in our TRACKS.

I have often heard from a philosopher friend that when he wants to know what is going on, he looks to ART to give him the SCOOP. The inside information. It is hidden. Art REVEALS. Through ART we can actually SEE OUR SELF.

Neale Donald Walsh has it right.

“Pay attention to poetry. Pay attention to music. Pay attention to paintings and sculptures and photo exhibits and ballets and plays. Why? Because art is God's way of saying hello. Your world is shouting out to you, revealing something intrinsically glorious about itself. Listen carefully. Love art, the way art loves life. Don't let all this go unnoticed."  Neale Donald Walsh

Read it again.

“Art is the WORLD saying HELLO to you!  ART is God’s way of speaking to you. Say HELLO to GOD. Go look at some art. Go listen to a musical performance. Go.  Let God have a WORD with you soon.” _Lynda Lambert_

January 2012 - a Resolution

January 2012 - Beginning the New Year 

Bob and I  hung some art on the walls in our Library.

Now the room feels just right as I sit surrounded by the beauty of ART!

There is nothing that can compare with real, original art  in your home or office. Each piece holds memories as you look from one to the other.  When you buy a work of art, you are buying a piece of the artist's  life in a very personal way.  In my own collection are works from artist friends as well as other pieces I have bought from artists I will never know personally. Each art work reminds me of the artist who made it and each holds a special place in my heart.

The lively abstract painting shown here  was painted by me. It is one of my all time favorite paintings that I did a long time ago.  I was an graduate student in painting at West Virginia University. I was passionately reading poetry by Robert Bly and William Carlos Williams. They are still my poetic mentors.  The images I recognized in their poetry cam through my brushes during those years as I painted in my stdio. There were wonderful images from nature, snow storms, rain, and the environment that we dwell in evry day.  This painting moves me every time I stop to have a deep look at it. I will never understand this painting and it still holds secrets that I find there. 

There are other paintings and photographs on my walls and they were done by friends I know personally. Other works of art on my Library walls come from Africa. A young painter in Nigeria sent me this beautiful textural painting one day. It was a very big surprise. I had no idea it was coming to me through the mail, in a tight little roll, inside of a box. This is one of my treasures, among all treasures in my home. It was a gift.

The African Painting and sculpture  hang above a collection of books on a vintage primitive table. I am very fond of primitive things that I have found over the years at yard sales, basements, and unexpected places. They are often someone else's trash and in my home they are my treasure. I have many such pieces in every room of the house. I keep them exactly as they are when I find them. I do not paint them or disturb them, but just clean them up and put them to use again.


The lamp shade was made by my husband Bob. He makes beautiful art  in Stained glass and steel.  The pottery plate was made by me,  I was inspired by a vintage advertisement plate made of clear pressed glass. African statues fill the nooks and crannies of this Library.  I am always surrounded by the spirits of the artisans who created them..

A bay window allows light to flow into this room from morning till late afternoon.

While others are making stunning and ambitious resolutions for the year, I choose to just resolve to spend time each day thinking about art and poetry and the passage of time.  

My resolution  for the New  Year is to  enjoy  making some  knitted items in the solitude of my cozy home; sweeping the wooden floor of my porch with a fiber broom to clear it of the new  snow that the western winds have blown there; watering and tending to my plants while they safely wait inside the house for their time to once again return back outside after winter has passed; pausing to admire  my little African Violet plat (I started from a leaf).  It is about a year old, and won't be ready to bloom for quite awhile yet. There is time for that. No hurry.  

I finally started writing in my journal today, too.  I wonder why I put it off, keep in on the back burner like I do. I write it on the computer, print it out, then put it in my binder that is labeled "Journal."  

The pottery bowl  was a welcome Christmas gift from our daughter Heidi.  I cherish  this piece of pottery. What I like about it is the natural color of the glaze, the kind of clay that the potter used, and the way she carved deep geometric and symmetrical patterns in the clay.  Another reminder of Heidi is on the wall. There is a set of three drawings that she made years ago. The three drawings are placed vertically in one frame. They look African, too.  Her drawings have a tribal feel to them.

I would not trade one small piece of hand made art from this room, for an entire room full of expensive commercial art made by the thousands and sold at slick department stores.  Here in my Library,  each piece is priceless to me. 

How to ENTER a JURIED ART EXHIBITION

How to Enter

a Juried Art Exhibition

Enter your art work in a JURIED EXHIBITION

contact the gallery and ask for an “Entry Form.”

     The gallery creates an “entry form” for each exhibition.  This entry form is your road map for entering an exhibition. The form will give you all the details that you need to enter the show. Be sure to look over this form very carefully before you begin to fill in the blanks. Read it over first to give yourself an overview of  the information you will need to have as you begin the process.

Each exhibition has a title. The front page of the brochure will give you the name of a particular show you will be entering.

Example: Art of the State…Pennsylvania 2012. 45^th Annual Juried Art Exhibition

Below the title of the exhibition you will find the dates that the show will be on display at the museum. In the example I have given you, the dates for that show will be June 16 – September 9, 2012.

The final thing that is on the front of the brochure is the hosting organization that is sponsoring the exhibition and the name and address of the gallery or museum where the show will be on display.

You get a lot of information about the show when you look at the front cover of the brochure. You now know the name of the show; the sponsor; the museum; the dates of display; and the address.

After you have noted this information, you are now ready to open the brochure and look over the DETAILS you will need to know about HOW you will ENTER the show.

Look for the ENTRY DEADLINE

The show will have either a “Hand Deliver Only” policy, or it will have an “Enter by MAIL policy” or BOTH!  How does the museum want to receive your entry? And, when?

Look for the final date for you to get your entry form and pictures of your work to the museum. Your entry must arrive by that date if you want to be considered for the show. Entries arriving AFTER the deadline date are NEVER considered.

What do you need to send?

Most shows want you to send them slides of your work, or a CD with photos of your work. Many venues will not return these to you so be sure you have duplicates.  If they are returned to you, then you will be instructed to send a SASE along with your entry fee. The SASE is a “Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.”

There will be an “ENTRY FEE”

The form will give you the amount that you need to send along with your completed form, and photos of your work. This fee will not be returned to you if you are not selected for the show.

The brochure will give you the information on who the juror is, and who the juror of awards will be. Often the juror of the show entries will be the same person who selects the awards, too. Sometimes it is one person, and other times it can be a group of people who will be selecting the show and the awards.

          The brochure will give you the EXACT INFORMATION DETAILS that you need to have to send in your entry. You’ll need to know the exact SIZE of your work.  For a 2-Dimensional work, you will measure the HEIGHT and the WIDTH of the art work, and then the depth of it, too. If the painting, for example, is framed, then you need to give the dimensions of the work PLUS the outside edge of the frame.

For a 3-Dimensional art work, such as a sculpture, you can usually send in three views of that work. You need to measure the Height of it, the width of it, the depth of it, AND the WEIGHT of it.

For each work

fill in the blank for each of these questions:

1.) Title of the art work

2) Medium (Painting, print, sculpture, ceramics, etc.)

3) Dimensions (the size measurements)

4) For Sale? You will be asked to fill in the PRICE you want to sell the    work for, if it will be for sale.

5) Not for Sale?

Some shows will not show a work that is NOT for SALE!  For those shows who will show a work that is NOT FOR SALE

6)  INSURANCE VALUE of the work. 

When will you know

if YOU ARE SELECTED

 for this show?

The brochure will give you the date that you will be notified.

You will be given instructions for the delivery of the work after you are notified that you are IN.  You will receive a card that you had filled out when you sent in your entry. 

There will be a little box on it and one of the boxes will be CHECKED. You will be IN; or, you will be OUT.

GOOD LUCK!

The Juried Exhibition

How to be a Professional Artist

Part 3: 

Juried Exhibitions

After you have had some success showing your art work in local “open” art exhibitions, you will want to begin to seek out some “juried” exhibitions. 

The “open” show allows all entries to be displayed in the show.  

This is an amateur type of show.  

There are no selections and all works are displayed in this show. It is a nice place to begin if you want to start getting your work out in front of the public.  I suggest you do this for a year or two to get started and get a feel for showing your work to the public.

The “juried” show will be selective and a “juror”  will choose some works, and reject some works for the show.  

This is a step forward for you, to begin to be selected for exhibitions. At this point, you have decided to become more professional about showing your art work and you will no longer be looking for the “open” art shows.

Here are some types of Juried Exhibitions for you to consider:

1.)  Regional Juried Exhibition – 

This show usually limits the scope of entries to a radius around where the show will be presented.  It may be a “Tri-State” show, or a show that sets the distance that an artist may live from the exhibition site. Typically, that will be anywhere from 50 to 150 miles away.

Art works will be selected from artists who live within a tri-state area if it is a “Tri-State” show, or within the mileage described for entries.All other artists who live outside the selected  area  cannot enter this show. 

Typically the “Juried Exhibition” is selected by one juror. It will be a successful artist who is well-known nationally or regionally.  The show will be sponsored by a museum or art center.  The exhibition will be held at that site and only works of art that have been pre-selected by the “juror” will be on display in that show.

2.)  National Juried Exhibition – 

Artists will be selected by a nationally known juror for this exhibition.  It is usually held in a museum or gallery or art center.  Since the range from which the entries may come is quite wide – the entire nation – you can imagine that the chances of getting into a National Juried Exhibition are not as good as a regional show would be. The competition will be strong for a place in this exhibition.

One nice thing about such a show is that your work is viewed alongside fellow artists  rom across the entire country.  This gives you an idea of what is going on with other artists nationally. You can see how your work stacks up next to the others. You can also attend the opening  reception for the show, and meet  the other artists who are in that same show.

3.)  Juried Exhibition sponsored by art organizations – If you are a member of an artist’s organization, 

you will most likely have the opportunity to be involved in an annual exhibition. They are always “juried” exhibitions. That means, everyone in the group can enter a specified amount of art works.  Typically, you can enter anywhere from 1 to 4 works. 

There will be a “juror” for this show, too.  The juror will come from out of the area and will be someone who is notable in the art world. It can be a working artist or an arts professional such as a professor of Fine Arts at a university, or the director of an art museum or gallery.

This kind of a show is exciting because your work is put up for the jury process against your fellow artists in the arts organization that you all belong to. This is a chance to put your work up with your peers. 

4.)  International Juried Exhibition –

 Here, your work is in competition with art works from many different countries. 

This show can be expensive for you if you are selected. You will have to ship the work to the country where the show will be held. You’ll be paying shipping to and from that show. You will have to find out what the rules are for shipping the work and it can be complicated but you have to do that. You have to do your research to find out exactly how you can ship the work.

Some Juried Exhibitions require that you send your work to an art handler instead of sending it directly to the museum or gallery where it will be in a show.  The art handler receives your  work, unpacks it, and delivers it to the show site on a specified day. This is often the case when doing shows in New York City or other large metropolitan areas.  You have to pay a fee to the art handler for this service. And, it usually has to be the art handler specified by the art gallery or museum. You cannot choose another one, there is only one permitted to do this usually.

Sometimes, when doing an exhibition in another country, the museum will pay for shipping of your work, both ways. I have been fortunate to be in a couple of shows in Japan and New Guinea and  all shipping costs were covered to the artists who were in the show.

Everything you need to know about how to enter a show is printed on a “prospectus.” 

What is the prospectus?

It is a flier on which all the rules are outlined for you. It will tell you how many works you can enter, where and when you can enter them, and the cost to enter. When you learn about a show, you may contact the gallery or museum and ask for a prospectus. It can be mailed to you, or you can often get it via e-mail.

This gives you a brief look at some aspects of putting your work in a juried exhibition. By now, you are probably wondering what the costs involved may be.  I will give you a brief overview of that here:

Jury or Entry Fee:  

This is the fee charged for you to enter the show.  You will enter the show by taking your work to the museum for the juror to look at directly. Or, you will enter slides of your work, or a CD with pictures of your work. You pay this fee and even if you are NOT juried into the show it is not refunded. This fee is your first expense when entering a juried show. All juried shows that I am aware of have a Jury or Entry Fee.

Shipping Fees:  

If the show is too far away for you to drive to it, then you will want to ship your work there. You will pay to ship the work to and from the show.

I hope this gives you an insight into how you might want to proceed to become more professional about where your work is being viewed. 

Your opportunities for selling your work at a juried show are fairly good.  It is much better  if your work is shown in a well-known gallery or museum because that is where collectors will come to buy art. The collector respects the gallery and the juror and knows that the work has been selected from many other entries just to be in this show.

Another exciting thing about a juried show is that there is always prize money awarded to a selected few winners from the show.  

The prize winners are always recognized in the show’s catalogue and they are given their awards publically at the Opening Reception for the show.

The winning works are usually depicted in the show catalogue, too.

I hope this has inspired YOU to think about what YOU might do with your work.

 What is YOUR NEXT STEP?  

Are you ready to try to get into a Juried Exhibition? I hope you do. Go ahead and get your prospectus, read it over, and follow the directions - you are off on a new phase of your career.

The Artist's Statement

Part II

The Artist's Statement

Do YOU have an Artist's Statement?

     One thing you will need to start thinking about after you begin to get your work into juried exhibitions is the Artist's Statement.

     Galleries will ask you to provide them with an Artist's Statement.  You'll need to begin right NOW to start thinking about YOURS and begin writing down your ideas on what you wan the gallery and the public to know about YOU, your WORK, and the IDEAS behind your work.

     In my next article I will go into more detail on Juried Exhibition and explain them in more detail to you. But, for now, I want you to begin thinking about your own art work, and how you can begin to TALK about it.

     Here is the Artist's Statement I completed today to send to a gallery that will be displaying my work in a few weeks. They also needed my Artist's Statement to apply for a grant for me to be an Artist in Residence at their gallery. 

 Lynda Lambert: Artist’s Statement

September  2011

The source of my pottery lies in two traditions: 

1.)    Art History - my studies of the ancient past. I taught Ancient to Medieval Art History for many years as Professor of Fine Arts and Humanitis at Geneva College. It is natural that the imagery and history I worked with daily would be abiding motifs in my own creative efforts. My love of the ancient past was aroused as a mature student working on my BFA degree at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s. My first glimpse into this world happened the first night of my first art history class. These memorable images and ideas have remained a central part of everything I create.

2.)    Nature - My observations of the natural, organic world around me have been urges that I have held within my creative self from as far back as I can remember.  Nature has been my muse since childhood. She continues to guide my hands as I work with clay. The ancient myths hold me transfixed as I contemplate the symmetry and majesty of Nature. My work is both a celebration of Nature, and a recognition of the eternal forces that are inherent within Nature.

My artist process begins as I gather fragments of information from the art of the past, and combine those inages with the world of Nature that surrounds me every day  These fragments mingle with memories, myths, history, and become the force that guides me in my creative work.

I define and explore a sense of place as I make my pottery.  Images and motifs emerge slowly as I work in layers of clay, mark making, stains, under glazes, and glazes. My   color is influenced by nature and a sense of the passage of time. The methods I use in creating my organic sculptural vessels are very time intensive. Each piece takes form over a period of weeks or months before it becomes the final work that will be on view in the gallery.

     Each piece begins with my choice of clay.   From there, the object is created mostly by using timeless Asian hand throwing techniques.  I am influenced by ancient pottery and especially by shards of pottery that is found in an ancient ruins. I like to be sure that the mark of my hand is left in the clay to show the process and to remind the viewer that pottery is made from the earth and by a person who has left behind marks that naturally occur in the process of making the object.

     I see my pottery creations as individual works of fine art. I am not a production potter. There are no two pieces of my work that are the same. Each piece is one of a kind.