More on Humorous Interludes

Real-life observations are a source of material for those times a touch of mirth is called for. With satire or comedy, it's just a matter of plug and play. For other genres, these brief detours can serve as ongoing subplots. Think Seinfeld: Kramer lucks into money; George is insecure and dishonest; Jerry has quirks and phobias. Might the writers have drawn on their own observations?

This example is a straight recount of some backyard bird follies, waiting for use somewhere in a story. A large ceramic plate served as a ground-level bird bath. A grackle--those large black bullies of the bird world--had commandeered it all to himself. Enter a starling, sternus vulgaris in the lexicon. These are scrappy, hard-eating little jokers better called munchibus scrappio horribilis.

The starling hopped into the water. Instantly the grackle lunged to that side and drove him out. The starling ran around to the opposite side and jumped back in, obliging the grackle to chase him out again. You can see where it's going. After a frustrating game of whack-a-mole, the grackle flew away in a huff. I can sense his thoughts: This place has become skid row. Maybe he's right. The plate was quickly full of happily splashing starlings.

Moving Along

Good evening fellow writers and artists.  We hope you are having a great week and I want to thank all the commenters and our contributor Mick Williams.  It seems everyone has survived the loss of Disqus channels and we are persevering.
We want you to feel welcome here.  If there is anything you want to contribute on art, writing, on a style, or seeking advice please feel free.  Let it be at your pace as this blog is going to be open for a long time.  All it takes is click on my name and you'll come to my email and send me one.  THen I send you an invite.   If you prefer, I can add you on to our other blogs just in case you feel an urge to contribute.   Again, no pressure but variety is a beautiful thing here on our blog that brings unity when we talk about artists, authors and so on. Writing and art compliment each other.  My goal here is to take everyone away and use this as a resource or just to hang out like it's our own club.   Keep on your projects.  You will get there.   

Art: Gonna Be A Hot One

This is another 8x10 acrylic done with the rapid thin wash method, with more solid clouds overlaid above the horizon. Yellow and orange create a warm atmosphere, tilted toward hot by outlining the tree line in red. The cottage features a blue light for cool contrast, suggesting the owner has the AC going on a hot summer dawn.

When Secondary Characters Get Too Big

Your protagonist lives in a world populated, usually, by many millions of others. A few of these will be special acquaintances that either help or hinder his quest. A short list demonstrates what roles they play.

1) They reveal key details without the need for the dreaded data dump. Dialog is always more interesting, because it brings characters to life, and readers simply listen in on a conversation.

2) They motivate the hero and serve as his conscience, depending on how close they are. Drama and conflict result if they strongly disagree with the hero's course of action.

3)They help define the story world and setting. Your world will be full of different tongues and cultures. A supporting character can bring this to life, again, without the need for exposition.

4) They progress the story in some way. That means they should only be on stage when there's a reason for it. Readers are anxious to know what happens next, not the details of Bert's son's birthday party.

5)Friends or enemies contribute to the hero's own backstory. This means they'll need their own history, broadly painted in. Close friends reveal key details of the hero's early history, maybe something he's in denial about, and is causing him problems.

6)Limit their movement, unless he's a close companion vital to reaching a destination or who serves as a bodyguard, etc. That helps readers remember who they are.

If you find yourself unduly interested in a secondary, consider spinning him off to a series of his own. The illustrations show an example of this. In keeping with our Halloween theme, the second view shows a mage called Wicca in an early scene as a villain. The dwarf at upper left later becomes her sidekick, so it's fortunate her spell missed hitting him. The first illustration shows Wicca on modern Earth, where she's the hostess of a Saturday horror show.

Halloween art & stories wanted

Did you hear that?  Oh it must have been the house settling.   Did you just see that?  A trick of the eye.  Maybe you better check it out.   Oh I have the shivers so let's go check on it.  We're safer in groups, right?   


Our blog is looking for the best art or stories on here to post for Halloween.    Do you know the origin of Halloween?   Does it have to do with old Celtic myths?   Do you have superstitions?   My husband to this day will hold his breath going past a cemetery.   It just so happens this is a common thing as I learn others do it too.  By the way, do people still make their own costumes? I still think hand made costumes are the best.  Good luck and let's make a fresh pot of tea, pull up a chair and hope what's in the closet is just a mouse.


Make a post!  Send me your email.  Click on my label and you will get it.  I get you approved so you can post some Halloween stuff.    

https://americanliterature.com/author/washington-irving/short-story/the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow

Sylvan #3

Another 8x10 acrylic from the forest series. This view drew me for two reasons: the near absence of green and the strong shadows. It was well-balanced, with fallen trunk and shadows at right angles. The flesh-colored leaves lent themselves to a variety of hues in strong sunlight.

A white sapling grew up between branches of the fallen giant. Behind me, some rusted and sagging barbed wire kept out a pair of curious black labs who tagged along (the slats at lower right are a collapsed fence section). But they found adventure in a ditch filled shoulder-deep with cold water. One of them dove in, paused to drink, then went slogging ahead to explore how far the ditch ran.

Artist Statement

It has been years since I wrote mine.

What Is an Artist’s Statement? A general introduction to your work, a body of work, or a specific project.

1. It should open with the work’s basic ideas in an overview of two or three sentences or a short paragraph.
2. The second paragraph should go into detail about how these issues or ideas are presented in the work.
3. If writing a full-page statement, you can include some of the following points:
   • Why you have created the work and its history.
   • Your overall vision.
   • What you expect from your audience and how they will react.
   • How your current work relates to your previous work.
   • Where your work fits in with current contemporary art.
   • How your work fits in with the history of art practice.
   • How your work fits into a group exhibition, or a series of projects you have done.
   • Sources and inspiration for your images.
   • Artists you have been influenced by or how your work relates to other artists’ work. Other influences.
   • How this work fits into a series or longer body of work.
   • How a certain technique is important to the work.
   • Your philosophy of art making or of the work’s origin.
4. The final paragraph should recapitulate the most important points in the statement.

What an Artist’s Statement is NOT:

1. Pomposity, writing a statement about your role in the world.
2. Grandiose and empty expressions and clichés about your work and views.
3. Technical and full of jargon.
4. Long dissertations or explanations.
5. Discourses on the materials and techniques you have employed.
6. Poems or prosy writing.
7. Folksy anecdotes about some important event in your life.
8. Nothing about your childhood or family unless it is very relevant to your work.
9. Not a brag fest or a press release.

Why Write an Artist’s Statement?

1. Writing an artist’s statement can be a good way to clarify your own ideas about your work.
2. A gallery dealer, curator, docent, or the public can have access to your description of your work, in your own words. This can be good for a reviewer as well.
3. Useful in writing a proposal for an exhibition or project.
4. It is often required when applying for funding.
5. It is often required when applying to graduate school.
6. It can be a good idea to include an artist’s statement when your slides are requested for review or your work is included in the slide library of a college or university.
7. Good to refer to when you are preparing a visiting artist lecture, or someone else is lecturing or writing about your work.
8. Useful when you are applying for a teaching position.
9. Good idea when a press release is being written.
10. Useful when someone is writing about your work in a catalog or magazine.
11. Useful when someone else is writing a bio for a program brochure.
12. It is a good way to introduce your work to a buying public. Often the more a buyer knows about your work the more they become interested in what you do, and in purchasing a work.

Types of Artist’s Statements You Might Need.

1. Full-Page Statement: This statement you will use most often; it speaks generally about your work, the methods you may have used, the history of your work, etc. It may also include specific examples of your current work or project.
2. Short Statement: A shorter statement that includes the above in an abbreviated way, or is specific to the project at hand.
3. Short Project Statement: A very short statement about the specific project you are presenting.
4. Bio: Often a short description of your career as an artist and your major accomplishments.

How Should I Write It?

1. This most often depends on the context where it will appear. Who is your reader? What assumptions can you make about their knowledge?
   • Emotional tone
   • Theoretical (but not over-the-top)
   • Academic (but not dry)
   • Analytic
   • Humorous
   • Antagonistic
   • Political
   • Professional
2. Ask yourself “What are you trying to say in the work?” “What influences my work?” “How do my methods of working (techniques, style, formal decisions) support the content of my work?” “What are specific examples of this in my work” “Does this statement conjure up any images?”
3. Use a word processor so that you can make changes and update it often. You should keep older copies so that you can refer to them if you should need to write or talk about your older work or if you have a retrospective.
4. Refer to yourself in the first person, not as “the artist”.  Make it come from you. Make it singular, not general, and reflective of yourself and your work.
5. Make it clear and direct, concise and to the point.
6. It should not be longer than one page.
7. Use no smaller than 10 – 12 point type. Some people have trouble reading very small type.
8. Artist’s statements are usually single-spaced.
9. Do not use fancy fonts or tricky formatting. The information should wow them, not the graphic design.

Considerations:

1. Who is your audience? What level are you writing for?
2. What will your statement be used for?
3. What does your statement say about you as an artist and a professional?

Style:

1. Be honest.
2. Try to capture your own speaking voice.
3. Avoid repetition of phrases and words. Look for sentences that say the same thing you said before, but in a different way. Choose the better of the two.
4. Vary sentence structure and length. The length of a sentence should relate to the complexity of the idea.
5. Organization of detail is important. Significant ideas should be at the end of each sentence for emphasis.

Where Should It Go?

1. In a binder at the front of the gallery with your résumé, list of artworks, and past reviews or articles about your work.
2. You may want to hang it on the wall, regular size, or enlarged as a didactic statement.
3. Include it in a program for performance, screening, or panel.
4. In the application package of the grant you are applying for.
5. Give to anyone who you feel would benefit from the information.