This morning I attended the first meeting of a critique group of 5 other artists from the Bromfield Gallery. We have decided to meet about once a month at a different one of our studios each time, and spend three hours focusing discussion on that person's work.
I had wanted to find a group of artists to do this with for a long time - one of my new year's resolutions was to try to arrange a critique group. It can get quite lonely out there, and between show rejections, and the whole marketing-the-art thing, it can be depressing. Once you leave school, it is difficult to get honest and constructive feedback.
Among many topics, we discussed the scars we all had from art school professors, and how wrong some of them were about what turned out to be "right" for us. One of my favorite books on the subject is James Elkins' "Why Art Cannot Be Taught". If you've ever been to art school, you'll recognize lots including a play by play of a grad student critique. Painfully all too true!
So much of what was said today, even though it was directed toward someone else's work, can apply to my own studio struggles. I'm excited to get back into the studio and apply some of the discussion to my own work.
I had wanted to find a group of artists to do this with for a long time - one of my new year's resolutions was to try to arrange a critique group. It can get quite lonely out there, and between show rejections, and the whole marketing-the-art thing, it can be depressing. Once you leave school, it is difficult to get honest and constructive feedback.
Among many topics, we discussed the scars we all had from art school professors, and how wrong some of them were about what turned out to be "right" for us. One of my favorite books on the subject is James Elkins' "Why Art Cannot Be Taught". If you've ever been to art school, you'll recognize lots including a play by play of a grad student critique. Painfully all too true!
So much of what was said today, even though it was directed toward someone else's work, can apply to my own studio struggles. I'm excited to get back into the studio and apply some of the discussion to my own work.