Yes, I Make Art

I actually do make art. When I look at other people's blogs and uploads lately I find myself wondering why I don't have any of my own art to show, especially since I am an artistic person. Part of this is because I want to make art, but I don't want to necessarily make a living as an artist who makes art. Either way, it takes resources like time, money, space, etc., in order to produce a collection of art. And those resources I simply do not have in this strange economy and even stranger frontier. Part of why I say it is strange is because I believe there is a lot of illusion and a lot of symptoms of economic and national dysfunction. What is everybody working toward?

Another reason is because I find myself being marginalized yet inspirational. In my opinion this is wrong to look to those who have been rejected, marginalized, shunned, etc. Why not look to those who have been ushered and welcomed with open arms? Afterall, some of us have been chastised and dressed down by representative employees and told not to expect much, unless there is just such an abundance of resources that are just being thrown away. Is there such a thing as abundance in the Land of Scarcity?

I begin to think that there are maybe resources for small businesses, but there are scarcely any small businesses being opened, aside from coffee shops. People either lack the drive/know-how to operate a small business, or they are like myself and lack capital, credit, etc. This is frustrating when you see abundance and potential in many things.

There is a lot to be learned from simple truths, but nobody really has the time or interest to really learn from them. The printed image that I've shared here is from my experience in learning about fine art. It was somewhat difficult as it was my first experience with rubylith, despite the array of other art production materials. Rubylith requires the designing of an image with the use of an X-acto or other carving knife. It was frustrating as a first, but I did learn something from a professional as well as observation, such as the quality of such a print is fine and rather distinct. The razor-sharp etching is apparent in such a technique and just has a certain refinement to it, in my opinion.

I remember designing this when I had no instruction of what to make. The idea came from a contemporary source, one (of many) who insist on choking everyone in the vicinity with an abundant amount of body deodorant. I think the message is "I smell really good" or "At this price I can easily get more". But these aerosol deodorants are fairly cheap (many of them good and designer label) and, even as I was studying some bottle designs some artists nearby quipped, "It costs, like, three dollars." Exactly.

That moment was inadvertently a testament of similar experience, and also reaching an audience by way of art, and particularly in a way that relates. Learning from experience and otherwise. But what to do with experience and otherwise?