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Joann Wells Greenbaum
Fine Art
Blog
by Joann Wells Greenbaum on 1/7/2010 1:31:04 PM
The Message is in Her Art
Another of Seth Godin's questions to inspire some thoughts is "how much freedom are you willing to trade for opportunity and why?"
The 3 words that stand out here are FREEDOM, TRADE, OPPORTUNITY- all are open to interpretation in my mind.
What is freedom, how would you define it?
For me it's about making choices, knowing what the choices are, and knowing which choices are going to yield the best return.
Trade- exchanging one thing, activity or set of circumstances for another.
Opportunity- the return that is the result and catalyst to allow the freedom to make choices that are going to bring growth.
How does this relate to work and to making art? My work day is a series of routines in which I've had the freedom to choose how to apportion the hours of the day. Within this routine is a sense of rhthym, stability and predictability-within which the environment to create is established. These are the conditions that are much like planting a garden.
Preparing the soil is like arranging the studio space to be ergonomically and environmentally functional.
Planting the seeds are like having the materials and tools along with the ideas to create.
The sun, water, removing weeds, etc are the conditions that nourish the growth of the plant- which are like the established routine for working, knowing that I'm going to show up in the studio.
Once all of these conditions come together, the plant has the freedom and (almost without choice) will grow.
Once I am engrossed in a project, its as though the project takes on a life of its own, I am now the facilitator to provide the force or energy to bring it to fruition.
Than the opportunity of both producing and then having someone receive the project as being useful to them completes the cycle, and allows for another cycle to begin.
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by Joann Wells Greenbaum on 1/4/2010 4:50:38 PM
"Red Eye Border" earrings
I've been following Seth Godin's blog for about a year now. There have been times when he's caused me to pay more attention to what I'm doing or thinking.
Recently he posted 8 questions to ask when forming intentions for your goals in your chosen discipline.
The first question on the list is -
"Who are you trying to please? And why?"
(Raise your hand if you are a people pleaser.)
That might not always sound like a good idea, unless you truly and sincerely want to please someone.
I surprised myself when I asked the question and the first person who came to mind was my mother. Why? Because she is proud of me, and so I want to continue to make sure that she is proud of me, because it gives her pleasure. She's 86 and her world is shrinking. But her children are indeed still in the forefront of her thoughts and pleasures.
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