I sent out a newsletter last week, “Uploads and Updates” containing all sorts of social media links and videos, uploads and uptoads. What a funny and crazy world we’ve been creating this last whatever years. Did you all see that article by Deresiewicz that was in the Atlantic (January, 2015) (thank you, Mary!) (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-the-creative-entrepreneur/383497/)? He goes into the ongoing changes of the role of the artist over the centuries (really well done) and how now we’re in this phase of artist as entrepreneur. Ugh! He sure got that one right. And how this new role is sold to us as an “opportunity”. Sigh…more opportunities…
Anyway, yesterday was a really wonderful and refreshing talk by Janice Nowinski (http://www.janicenowinski.com/), who is visiting Boulder for a few days and giving a workshop. Aside from her authentic Brooklyn charm and strong and beautiful paintings that she talked about – she also described how Facebook has really changed her relationship with painting. She described her daily practice of searching the web for images of paintings to post on her FB page and one image leading to another in her search and how much that has enriched her painting practice and the artistic associations within her work. It was inspiring to hear her describe it. I know other folks have been doing this (can I mention you by name, C.?) – and I get it that there’s a whole world of virtual images to browse and I’m sure that before too long I’ll add it to my daily routine (after my stretching and sitting practice I suppose — with that second cup of coffee sounds perfect, of course by now it’s 10am and I’m wondering what’s for lunch). It’s all a wonder – and I wonder what it’s going to look like, that bending of the virtual back to the actual, the serving of the digital to the felt and the real. And that really was what Janice was describing — movingly so.
Well, it’s going to be interesting…
Happy Painting!