hammer it out

collection of a. rosato

reading about the art-making process is pretty captivating because every person's journey through it is so individual.  i'm young, and even though i've been making art since i was a kid, i'm still green. i have a lot to learn, and i'll be the first to admit it.  when i attended art school, i was more focused on beer and boys than the brush.  some of the professors seemed disenchanted with the "youth of today", and so i was even more distracted, gleaning little from my studies in painting.  every assignment was thrown together in the last frantic minutes before a critique, yet i was defensive, building up a tough exterior so as not to bruise my fragile young ego.  even still, i excelled, maybe because my artistic nature was biologically ingrained.  i was lucky to spit up some moments of naive clarity.  i won a scholarship, and started the bfa program with a bang, but i accidentally signed up one credit short and the scholarship was ripped from my clutches...i then showed up late for my first critique and got ripped in half by the professor.  humiliated, i went home and sobbed my little heart out, only to drop out the next day. today, i look back, and it seems like an opportunity half-wasted.

this winter i've decided to put myself back through "school", on my own terms.  i'm going to learn as much as possible, beginning with a book on the life and work of wayne thiebaud that was so graciously lent to me at the perfect moment.  i am so fortunate to be surrounded by a community of brilliant artists; starting now i am going to ask them the questions, press them for answers, and make them help me be the best i can be.  i'm thirty now, and i have more patience and focus than before.  it's time to teach this puppy some new tricks!!  today, a lesson from thiebaud on how to spice up the banal with a bit of color and vibration.  tomorrow....a new day!