FOR ALISON STEWART

"I'm working on a paper and I want YOUR STORIES!! I want to know your exposure to the arts! please tell me what you experienced or didn't experience. Do you consider yourself a creative person?? Do you tend to stay away from the ...arts? And by the arts i mean visual arts, performing arts, music, ect.. I want to know how you feel the arts have/have not had a role in your life and during your education"

I've always considered myself a creative person. I'm breaking down a lot of creative walls now, and trying to really throw myself "out there" to see what I can find. I look at the artists who I admire, and they went way past that creative wall- ultimately leading to their success.
My exposure to the arts started pretty late. I didn't become seriously interested until I was a junior in high school in Mr. Jiorle's drawing class, and that was the only really useful art class I took at the high school. For some ridiculous reason I chose it as my major, and so far it's worked out pretty well. My first few years as an art student weren't all that rewarding until I found my niche(?) in conceptual painting.
So basically since this summer I have become immersed in the arts. I sort of consider it my job to be thinking about art in some way at all times. Whether it's to notice that something is visually pleasing and WHY, or whatever. No matter what: my brain is WIDE OPEN at all times to things I've seen, heard, felt, experienced. I never fail to shock myself at what I pick up subconsciously and throw into a painting way down the road. I've learned to create extremely strong, intimate relationships with most things I'm working on. Like any relationship, this is a completely exhausting experience. I can throw as much love, money, and knowledge into a painting, but that doesn't always mean it will be worth anything. At all.
However, I am 100% willing to paint over any piece that does not satisfy me. If it isn't satisfying me, it isn't satisfying the viewer either, making it a completely useless piece of art.
I'm really in love with the idea of the process (or choice) of a piece of art. If there is a conscience process involved, or a conscience choice made by the artist: art has been created. Period.
Currently, I'm exploring my feminist philosophies concerning choice, having children, family ideals...etc. Anything relating to being a woman, basically. My main focus is embryos. They say a lot, even if I'm not always sure what that is.
The great thing about being an art student at Ramapo is that the visual artist community is extremely involved with the music scene. Having people understand the insanity of CREATING something that's worth anything is an awesome awesome awesome buoy.

Anyway Alison, hope this helps. I'll tell Niki to write something up too...I'd also suggest looking through the posts we've written on here. There aren't many, but a lot of them (especially the more recent ones) are about our own philosophies and experiences with art. All of them are geared toward answering the question of what art is. As individuals.




LATER.



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sketchsteph/