One of my goals this year is to read more artist memoirs / biographies. (Suggestions please!) While it’s interesting to get the detailed and distanced perspective an art historian can provide, there is nothing quite as enlightening as an individual describing their thoughts and journey in their own words.
Alone ©2017 Elizabeth Fram
I just finished Sally Mann’s 2015 memoir Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs. On many levels it reads like a novel; Mann goes into great depth about her family history, and those folks were anything but boring! More importantly, she does a wonderful job of relating how all the varied people and parts of her life fit together and have influenced the direction of her work.
But on a more personal level, one quote resonated particularly strongly in relation to subject matter. She says, “Part of the artist’s job is to make the commonplace singular, to project a different interpretation onto the conventional”.
Empty Pair ©2017 Elizabeth Fram
In creating the pieces I do, I spend a lot of time thinking about how ordinary events and circumstances are really more, in that they add depth and meaning to our day-to-day, making routine experiences worthy of notice and appreciation. My drawings and stitched work speak to those often unsung moments, acknowledging that their influence is greater than we would ever guess.
I think David Byrne said it best:
“Most of our lives aren’t that exciting, but the drama is still going on in the small details.”
You also point out the BEAUTY of these everyday objects.
Great point Roz; appreciating the form and design of objects surely adds another level of interest.
Your sketches of gloves are wonderful…..as I studied them, and the cross-hatching and various lines you used for shading, I saw those lines as stitches in your work. Do I see gloves-on-shibori in your future?
We’ll see 🙂
Thanks!
“to make the commonplace singular”—you certainly have accomplished this with these two sketches of gloves! I feel like they might just get up and put themselves on my hands. Also love the way you break through the borders in several places. Now…are these garden gloves or still winter gloves?!
Thanks John – they’re actually a pair of Dan’s ski liners. I think he’s starting to learn when he’s missing something that the studio is a good place to look!
I tend to read a lot of writer’s memoirs & I find that there is always cross over to any art form. The writer’s life informs the artist’s life in any creative endeavor. Currently reading Still Writing by Dani Shapiro, divided into small un dense sections that add up. Also love Natalie Goldberg, Anne Lamott, Abigail Thomas, and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. Dimestore by Lee Smith is an amazing journey. And the amazing Maira Kalman tells her stories in a way I simply love..
Your daily sketching practice is inspirational to me! I am seeking to copy you! (your practice, I mean.. not your sketches, though I’d love to have your skill!!)
xxxooo
What a great note, Liz! I knew I could count on you for book recommendations – several of your suggestions I’ve read, but you’ve added quite a few new ones to my list.
There couldn’t be a greater compliment than to connect with another artist and their practice in some small way. Thank you for making my day!