'Treats' Acrylic on wood assemblage ©robinrkent

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Folk Art Diary: Pillow and Art Questions to Sleep On

'Sunday Morning' assemblage  Acrylic on plaque
@robin r kent
Continuing notes from my 'Artist as Nurse' series (see two previous posts.)

My pillow is my most important sleep partner. Soft, hard, chubby or extra long, its position is key to comfort. Each person has his/her own preference. But trying to help another with subtle position changes is no small thing. After a while I began to 'read' what might help: pull a pillow here, loosen a blanket there.

It's the same when painting or creating assemblages. A slight change in color or proportion can make a piece sing, or, will stop and shift focus to the 'uncomfortable' part of the work. Is it an organic sense we feel when interpreting artwork? How do we know such things intuitively?

9 comments:

Cindi Myers said...

Some blogs I follow for the writing, the humor, the way they think and how they convey that.
Other blogs I follow so that I can stare at their creations in awe.
I follow YOU for both reasons!
XOXO - Cindi

amanda white said...

Golly what a wise post, Robin.
How do we know?
I don't even know if I do.
I spent the whole morning putting in a sheep and then taking it out.
It's out now and I have published it (always a good way to put a full stop to dithering).
But now I am wondering whether it should go back in....
Then I think about really important things like wars, famine and typhoons and I think what the (unprintable). Mmmm shouldn't have had that second glass of festive wine ..

Robin Kent said...

Thanks Cindi and Amanda. Your words mean so much to me. This forced sabbatical still allows me to think as an artist while my hands are doing the nursing thing... Will try to catch up on my favorite 'others blog' readings and stay connected. Amanda, looking forward to (not) seeing the missing sheep.

Anonymous said...

.....sometimes we know intuitively, other times we just never figure it out and spin our wheels....just like the pillow is uncomfortable and that's just it...I am not going to settle so,....give up and get up...art is like that....sometimes it never settles and I get up and give up...(gesso is a wonderful thing)

Carole Reid said...

Is it something that comes to us as we age and become more aware of life's calls?

Robin Kent said...

I'm of your opinion too, Carole. The older I get the more I feel the universe talking. All my experiences are somehow connected, if only in my mind.

Robin Kent said...

...and yes, Anon, gesso is a wonderful thing!

Sand said...

I travel a lot yet I sleep like a log. I stay at marriots mostly, they have so many pillows on the bed that I simply bond with one of them.

Robin Kent said...

Hi Sand- I'm a good sleeper too. Must have got it from my father. When he would 'put me to bed' he'd be asleep right away and I'd be making hand puppet silhouettes on the bedroom wall from the hallway light.