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a manifesto...every artist needs one

3/18/2015

 
PictureAlong the Clarion. ©2015 Merriam Ryding
I wrote this as a list--so much easier than a narrative for me.  And so much easier to change.  I think an artist's manifesto should be rewritten on a regular basis.  We embrace change--we thrive on transformation
So here is my version of a manifesto for artists:
  • 1. Explore: always be searching, reading, learning
  • 2. Be self-reliant but not alone.  
  • 3. Observe the way of the natural world--cycles, seasons--here is your guide.
  • 4. Identify your audience. Work because they matter.  Build trust.
  • 5. Don’t settle, they can always tell.
  • 6. Be far-sighted in your goals: write them down and return to them often for focus.  
  • 7. Be near-sighted in your work: details matter
  • 8. Consider: is there a need for faith or for rebellion? (Never be afraid to revise goals.)
  • 9. Share a truth as an instigator (drag them kicking and screaming if you have to)
  • 10. To focus: reduce & simplify.  Subtract the obvious, do what drives you to your goals.  
  • 11. Say ‘no’ more often than ‘yes’
  • 12. Disregard the commonplace.  Mass taste is rarely good taste. (S Godin)  
  • 13. Make time to stay organized.  A system for mundane tasks saves energy for the flow of the process.
  • 14. Trust the process (S McNiff). Work through blocks, use mindless tasks to nudge you out of inertia.
  • 15. Acknowledge failure, consider it a lesson learned, move on
  • 16. Be good, but try to let no one know it. (L Tolstoy)  Boring gets work done.
  • 17. Always live with less. (You are an artist, you really have no choice)
  • 18. Credit those who inspire you
  • 19. Encourage those who look to you
  • 20. Ignore those who belittle you
  • 21. Walk away from those that want to harm you
  • 22. Keep your eyes open 
  • 23. Keep your mouth shut.
  • 24. Use your hands.
  • 25. Start before you’re ready (S. Pressfield)


cat
3/18/2015 11:37:27 pm

I like twenty-five the best. I tend to wait until I have it all planned out and then often have lost interest by then!!! Hope to see you in the studio next week!

Kari
3/29/2015 03:36:02 pm

Very good list! I need to work on number 13..... Maybe it would help if I had my own house! Can't wait for the depot to open again.... I gotta get a working for the opening show!

Merry
3/30/2015 03:00:17 am

I actually have to work on all of these...every day...
Your Black & White photography would be perfect for this opening show (Light & Dark)--get snapping!


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    ArtWorking...

    A journey through the creative process, working and traveling in the Northern Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

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    I practice artworking in several different media: encaustic, collage, egg tempera, block printing, and digital

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"Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is."  Mason Cooley

When we look at a particular work of northwest coast art and see the shape of it, we are only looking at its after-ife.  Its real life is the movement by which it got to be that shape.  Bill Reid, Haida carver

"Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making of something after it is found"  James Russell Lowell, American Poet

"It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing."
Mark Rothko, artist
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  • Home
  • About
  • Encaustic Medium
    • Setting Up Encaustic
    • Painting with Encaustic
  • Portfolio
    • Encaustic >
      • Floating World
      • Encaustic Landscapes
      • All Nature SIngs
      • Abstract - Mixed Media
      • Beached
      • Small & Square
    • Older Work >
      • Searching for Beauty
      • Collage
      • National Park Series
  • Contact
  • Make Good