thoughts about art



It's 3 AM and I am stirred to think about Printmaking and its relevance to the education of students- accessibility to people, community and its place in the marketplace

Every so often I hear voices saying that painting, and now printmaking is dead. And from my perspective I just don't think that's true - Through the ages there has always been a push forward - otherwise I wouldn't be sitting on the porch @ 3 AM typing on this laptop- there will always be a need to make things, create objects and as it is stated on the Columbia College tagline we are creating the culture of our time.

As we get further into ideas and farther away from making things, we are losing our ability to make objects that have meaning, even with the attendant statement.

A while back I attended an art event where a selection of BEST work by graduates from local art schools was on display. The most consistent element of the whole exhibition was how their things were executed (dare I say crafted).

How do we educate young people? By showing them and encouraging them to solve problems and come up with creative solutions, shouldn't there be skills taught with that?

Now, as an artist/printmaker as I have stated before I am not so concerned about pushing students to become printmakers, but  am encouraging students to come to an understanding about discipline, dedication and a correlation between time spent and effort exerted; resulting in an object or thing that means something.

Art is becoming faster and faster, the artist statement longer and more convoluted, with the obvious disconnect between what is said and what is shown.

I would go for a walk, but the streets are unsafe.

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