Today started out with an hour bike ride. I donned my purple & went out on the road. It as a fun morning of exercise & enjoyment of the beauty of the mountains. More public art. Lots of horses as public art here.

I've completed several more paintings. I'll post them and be back on later today. We have about a dozen artists from the greater Bay Area. We'll be meeting for dinner.

Happy Sunday! Linda

Coming from a military background (9 years in a Navy uniform), it totally cracked me up when one of our presenters said that one of her older artist friends calls all non-artists 'civilians'. This is a big departure from my definition of civilian since it has always meant non-military person. I chuckled about it & then started thinking about the artist community & how much like the military it can be (I'm ducking since I know many artists will not like this analogy :-)...

If you think about it, artists look at the world through a different lens than most people. The lenses for artists are much more diverse than the military, but bear with me. Artists, as I have experienced, see shapes, potential subjects, challenges, conflict, emotion, activism, communication. Life provides subject matter for their work. Similarly, military service members are also looking through a lens that is about protection, security, defense, communication & danger. We all have our view of life. To one artist, civilians are those people who don't view the world like he does (some artists would actually see other artists as civilians...). Likewise, the burden of defense (and unfortunately offense is some cases), lies in the hands of the people in the military. They see those who do not understand or participate in their view as civilians. Even those of us who were in the military, but no longer don the uniform fall into this category of humanity. Art, as demonstrated by the cartoons of the Muslim deity, can cause conflict and even war. Art can also cross boundaries and communicate when language falls short. I think sign language is an art form. Anyway, back to civilians. One definition of civilian is "...a person who is not a member of a military. ..." (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). Some artists work hard --- fight hard to get people to understand a different point of view. During the first 3 days of ISS, we have seen slides from many different artists. The range of messages & metaphors is amazing.

Sometimes I feel like a civilian (or maybe a seaman) in the art world due to my newness to this sector of life. And yet, my art is inspired, motivated from life experience. I know, having left the Navy in 1987, that I am a civilian from the military point of view. But if you look at the current selection of art on my personal gallery page, you'll find my midshipman series, motivated by the young people who are training to protect our freedoms & by the continued service of many of my friends & classmates. At the same time, I struggle with the military because of things like "don't ask, don't tell" , the inequity of our laws and even some of the tasks the military has been ordered to carry out.

Life is a journey that requires interaction with other human beings. One of my classmates from Navy once said "Everyone is a human worth being". I believe that my art will help me navigate these questions of life, freedom and humanity. It sounds grandiose, but I tend to be idealistic. Today I don't feel like a civilian. I feel like an artist.

"Art is literacy of the heart" ~ Elliot Eisner

The wet weather unleashed the spring scents, filling the air with sage the way lavender lingers in southern France. Here at the Sagebrush Inn, we're surrounded by the sage, which is a wonderful aroma.

I was able to get a ride in this morning. For some reason, I thought it would be a lot warmer while I was here. I donned every piece of clothing I could find for this mornings ride, including a hanky as a hat to keep my ears warm. I rode through town up to the gate of the Taos Pueblo. The mountains in the background of the pueblo were dusted with snow. It was a peaceful scene (except for the 3 unleashed dogs that got my heart going).

Today I have my critique. I'm looking forward to it. It's also pizza night with my fellow Pod B artists. Should be fun. I decided to organize it so I could learn people's names. Fun! We have people from all over the country. Should be a great day!

w/smile, Linda

The spectrum of artists attending the Intensive Studies Seminar is vast. There are 100 student artists. Many have been to this seminar more than 10 times (this is the 11th seminar), many, like me, are in their inaugural event. Today was an entire day of painting with a couple lectures. It's absolutely fascinating how diverse the art is. It was interesting yesterday, when we got to see 3 slides from each artist, one person requested that the artist state the medium used. One of the instructors piped up that it was "pigment with binder" and left it at that.

I'll post some of the art that I have painted in the last 36 hours in the next posting as a gallery. You'll see why I have become known as the "Flag Lady". I have an American Flag paper clipped to my set up. I have focused on paintings of my bike helmet so far, with some figure paintings and abstracts thrown in. It's really liberating to know that painting is really my focus for the next 8 days.

Tonight at our social hour of veggies, chips & dip (okay, a couple drinks, too), I sat with a number of artist while we discussed our art & the seminar. Most had never attended before. When I let the group know that I was the one who stated, as part of the intent of my art, that I wanted to create a revenue stream, everyone congratulated me for being bold enough to put that into my statement. We brainstormed about having an exhibit at the end of the class for the locals to attend. Katherine Liu was kind enough to sit with us for a bit and she indicated there would be a couple of hurdles to overcome. What a fascinating person, Katherine Liu. Knowing that she originally studied science (masters degree) was encouraging to me. We all soaked in her every word as she described the humble beginnings of the seminar & the raft of curator assignments that she manages throughout a year.

After a couple of beers, I was ready to get back to my palette. I finished a piece that started in the late afternoon. I'm starting to discover that I'm not so good at painting in the lines...

That's it for tonight. I can't thank Donna enough for supporting me in this endeavor. If you read this and make it by Pelican Art, please thank her for us!

w/smile,

Post

I stayed in the studio until about 9:20 last night & couldn't wait to get here this morning. It's such great practice to just paint. I'm starting to get a rhythm & produce some fun art. I have my private session with Katherine Lui tomorrow morning when she will give me feedback on what I seem to have a handle on and what I need to work on. Several of the other students who have taken the class before and who did not get Katherine as their mentor said that they were jealous. One thing that I can't believe I didn't bring is any of my cat paintings to show. We'll see how today goes. I'll post some progress pictures later today or early tomorrow.