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Art is broader than we think

In school and college I was taught that Art is represented through western-style painting. If you ever want to see how a community producing art does not lead to mediocrity go to Bali. There, villages specialize in producing an art product, be it silversmithing, painting, batik or wood carving. All these villages have no TVs in peoples' homes. I have often wondered since my trip to Bali why westerners believe that they own the definition of art and that art can only be described on their terms. Surely the Mennonites and the Balinese show us that the definition of Art is much broader than our historical knowledge of it.

(RG note) Thanks, Janet. Almost 1000 writers have so far responded to the letter "Community." Several mentioned Bali. For example Elfrida Schragen wrote: "The artists in Bali are abundant. Each village has a specialty. One village may exclusively carve standing ducks, another exclusively elaborate wooden frames, and another only a specific goddess in a specific pose. Within the village the standards range from incredible to poor." Thanks, Elfrida. A metaphor for any cow-town? Or New York? Thanks to all who wrote. All unused letters are carefully archived for possible future use.

Embrace our own thumb print

It is not community that creates mediocrity – we are human and by nature our need for
Light Being
original sculpture community is part of our nature. The same as it is for the artistic spirit's driving need to walk a road less traveled. Mediocrity is created by the notion of "good enough will do" and it is also aided by the dumbing down of our media and buying into fear and conservatism. It takes courage to think for yourself, or to risk failure, and the irony of life is that to get better and live to our full potential it is imperative that we embrace our own thumb print, the unique individuality that we were born with and the history and environment that we grew up in. It is through failure that we learn our skills as well as who we are and how much more we are capable of. It is our uniqueness that makes a community rich, sameness does not.

Solitude fosters individuality

I live on a farm and work in a studio in the upstairs part of the 1875 house, surrounded
en plein air, Welland, ON by 42 1/2 acres of cropland. I've worked in this studio since 1989 and have worked in the main part of the house since 1978. Being solo and surrounded by fields and not networking with other artists, or seldom on a daily basis, frees the artist to create their own way through. No trips to the city either. The bonus to all this solo activity is when I exhibit the work. Viewers could tell I wasn't influenced by someone else. I pay tribute to where I live – in the middle of a field.

Plein air clones

Due to the current popularity of plein air painting, I can now see so many
Louis' Lunch
acrylic painting on canvas
10 x 10 inches artists of that genre who have cookie-cutter style. Everyone seems to want to look like the early California painters. Those of us who dare to be different are subtly shunned by promoters and judges alike. When I started painting on location in Florida 15 years ago, no one had ever heard of plein air painting. Now it is all the rage. At more and more events I see paintings lined up that could be carbon copies, with the same palette and style.

Remain pure in thought

I had the great experience of hearing the painter Wolf Kahn
Wolf Kahn, Charlotte, NC this summer in Vermont. Two comments he said pertain to your last letter. One was to "keep the childlike vision and remain true to your ideas." The other pertained to when he and his wife were looking for a summer home after years in Maine. They completely ruled out the Hamptons (fancy Long Island, NY - where artists swarm) or art colonies. His point was to remain pure in thought and work and to try not to be influenced by other artists. He now resides on a beautiful farm in VT and was boasting his bushels of peaches this year!

Nothing original under the sun

Why do painters constantly advocate breaking from the traditional school of thought? Is it the case of attempting to create paintings that will owe nothing to any other piece of work or artist--something unique and original in the world of art?" It's a wonderful philosophy, but unfortunately an unrealistic delusion, simply because no one has ever been able to demonstrate a work of art that is entirely different. Every painting I ever gazed upon, including those in the clickbacks and those of the great masters all echo some previous painter's accomplishments. Every conceivable aspect of painting has its roots in copying. Painters are by nature copyists. Every work of art, consciously or unconsciously has been subjected to traditional values in one form or another. The truth is that there is nothing original under the sun!

Creative development of a generation

Being a "city girl" I often wish for a slower pace and a deeper connection to place. Of course, what you described didn't seem particularly slow! I imagine that the crafting, creative activities have always flourished in this place. But oddly, this awakening to our handmade, artistic roots seems to be epidemic. I'm not sure what the tipping point was, but arts and crafts are everywhere and it is suddenly very cool to be wearing the jewelry you made with the purse you knitted slung over your shoulder. It may not be "canvas art" but the spirit of creativity is alive and well. The Internet is allowing communities to develop regardless of physical location. Surely this form of relationship-making is spurring the creative development of a generation. Where people once sat in a circle, learning from family and friends in some time honored tradition, we now join forums to learn and share.

Art lumped together with craft

I live in Bemidji, Minnesota which has an art community strong with all kinds of
Beth
watercolor painting crafters. This can sometimes be a problem. These communities see artists such as myself as crafters as well. Somehow we get lumped together and I am asked when my work will "go on sale" as if I hold a "blue light special" on weekends or something! Ha! This aside, it is also a grand place to be an artist in the places where stillness is so common. I look forward to my winters without any disturbances and getting a lot of work done. The thing that I have noticed is that the environment has pushed me. I am not a club joiner and prefer to stay home and pursue my art.

Relationships validate artists

John Donne once penned that no man is an island onto himself, but part of an isthmus. It would seem to me, that to best interpret what you see, you have to have a meaningful link to that community. Isolation can lead to uniqueness, but uniqueness also walks the halls of mental institutions. Artistic relationships enrich life's fabric and provide a wealth of validation, encouragement and new perspectives.

Collective consciousness

The moment your well known artist friend announced that he "didn't want to be
Gongyo
graphite drawing on paper influenced by you," he was influenced by you. Being influenced through reaction is as valid and creative as being influenced through attraction. Whether he reads your letters or not, whether he communes with other people or not, we are all dipping into the collective consciousness moment by moment. As a member of the human race, he has no choice but to be influenced. It's in our nature and part of the creative process. If he's stuck on the paralyzing concept of needing to be original or unique, he needs to get over himself.

(RG note) Thanks, Laura. The remark, which artists frequently make in one form or another, is rather an admission of one's own personal disappointment or a temporary lapse of muse. I'm sure we have all felt this way at one time or another, and to "close off" is an oft considered response.

Visitor's perspective

I am glad that you are having fun as a visitor. As a member of the community I am sure
Long Beach, Tofino
acrylic painting on canvas
24 x 30 inches you would quickly go insane. The giveaway key for me was "be there or be square." The only way to nurture your own individuality (and time) is to be very square, and that is not an enjoyable position in traditional communities - yes, community does thrive in mediocrity. Not all of the Mennonite women are smiling - what you are seeing is a visitor's view - enjoy it, but don't fall for it. I was in a pottery workshop last night with some local girls. I envied them on having lot of friends and family - until they relaxed and started talking, virtually taking apart and scrutinizing their girlfriends and relatives. It was a real feast of cannibals. I am so glad that those "sweet" girls don't know where I live.

Community time

I grew up in Northern Manitoba, way up North past Thompson where the road (if you could call it that) from the south ended. I began a love of art and of all things creative because of where I lived. There were weavers, guitar builders, musicians, painters, potters, stone sculptors, moccasin makers and more. The local "Education Centre" showed all kinds of art, including Native art and exposure to literature, and the occasional artist would visit and discuss their work and encourage us in ours. The small community was made up of many Native Canadians, as well as a mixture of many nationalities. And of course, the scenery with an abundance of unspoiled trees, lakes, and the Northern lights that would dance and fill the entire sky with colour. The spirituality, beauty, and seclusion of a place like that can't help but inspire a person to create. In the middle of winter we would all get together to enjoy the outdoors with the Winter Games – bannock baking, snowshoe races, dog sled races. In summer we fished, canoed, and camped along quiet shores. Alone time is good, but I think a little community time is necessary, whether or not it is art related, just to refresh and renew the spirit.

The little town that could

We live in a rural, mountain area in Georgia, similar to the place you describe.
Chelsea
pastel painting Someone got the idea of turning an abandoned schoolhouse into a center for the arts. It's now a theater for performing arts, a gallery for painters, sculptors, and other artists, a history museum, an art studio where classes are filled to the brim, a recently added pottery museum and showroom. Our tiny, no traffic light, place in the road, has been named one of the top 100 art "towns" in the USA! We attract visitors from all over and foreigners as well. All from a gathering of artists who gave themselves an opportunity to let their lights shine.

Spaces between

I'm typing this from the sardine tract homes of my neighborhood in central California.
Napoleon 'Paul' Garcia I've lived here almost 25 years and it's getting claustrophobic. Lately I feel no sense of community; perhaps I need some "space between." Every day the news reports more growth. I think we're supposed to be pleased. I'm growing almost desperate for aesthetics. Everything here is too mapped out, too copied, too predictable, down to the font size signage on the strip mall joints. I'm sick of the restaurant chains, even the good ones. Lately I read more online and watch more television, perhaps to "get me out of here."

Last month we visited "Georgia O'Keeffe country" north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Georgia had several homes in the area during the second half of her life. During the excursion, my husband and I met a former chauffeur for "Miss O'Keeffe" who makes his home in Abiquiu. Napoleon "Paul" Garcia became the highlight of our trip, sharing anecdotes about Georgia and mapping out her purview of the area. It became easy for me to see why Georgia fell in love with not only the beauty of the desert, but also with the "spaces between." She had that—the intimate and close-knit communities that cherished and respected her in Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, but also the wide open spaces where she painted.

Doesn't get any better than this

I live in a very small community in Newfoundland. As a young girl of 19, I came from a large mining town to live in this small outport. It has been my experience that competition and community can share the same table. After 34 years of being challenged to meet the needs of a community according to the gifts and talents given to me, I have become more resourceful, more creative and certainly more satisfied as a human being! Yes, I like community where uniqueness is not only accepted but appreciated and encouraged as well. Yes, of course I am still eccentric. Yes, I am still different… but to the community… no matter what I do the response is always lovingly… "That's just Rosalind!" It doesn't get any better than that!

Community cultivates vision

Yes, the making of art is most often an individual affair. However, the art that
Windows of Venice - Series
oil painting
12 x 14 inches 'takes your breath away' is art that comes from the heart. The emotional aspect of a piece of art is extremely important and can be at least as difficult to develop as the shapes of a painting themselves. These 'emotional' aspects of a painting come, it seems to me, from a culmination of a lifetime of community experiences. These community experiences help one develop how they look at and indeed, experience the world around them. Although artists often need solitude to create their best works, they are constantly drawing from 'community' as they do their job. The relative uniqueness of a piece of art ultimately comes from these experiences.

Don't take community for granted

As artists in developed countries we often take for granted the contribution to our art that communities around us provide. I live and own a small informal art gallery in a little fishing village in Belize. There is a young man who works 60 hours a week as a kitchen helper in the beach bar and restaurant next to my gallery. I'm not sure why he is alone in our village as he is only 17 years old and completely self-supporting. One day he asked me if I would help him learn to draw. Someone had given him a small canvas and he had drawn a toucan on it. Money and availability of supplies had stopped him there but he persisted. I am a watercolorist but I found a friend who gave him three tubes of acrylic paint and an old brush. He went home and painted his toucan and brought it back to me in the morning. He had used the three colors (red, blue and yellow) straight from the tube. I took him into my studio and gave him a 3 minute mixing lesson before he started work. "Look, Ismael, what will we get when we put yellow and blue together?" His eyes got as big as his grin when he saw he had a green as well. "I wanted that for the leaves," he told me as we kept going. In 3 minutes a whole world of possibilities opened up for him. I perceived myself to be just beginning in my art but Ismael taught me where the beginning really is and how far I've come already. A small group of artists in our community started an art association and the awareness of art grew in a place where there was none before. Can you imagine becoming an artist in a place where there are no role models?

Art and craft

How do we reconcile the differences between "fine artist," artisan, and craftsman? For
Sandwiches
oil painting on canvas
120 x 172 inches
by Jeff Koons years I assumed in my naive ideological way that all artists were craftsmen but not all craftsmen were artists. This is not a caste system that relegates craftspersons to the bottom of some artistic hierarchy. Including people like Jeff Koons under the auspices of "artist" creates and illustrates a point; the artist does not personally have to be a craftsman since other artisans do the actual fabrication of the piece. Is Koons the artist or an art director? Many people find the designation of craftsman/craftsperson demeaning. The measure of artists and the meaning of artisanship have become so loosel