Becoming a "Real Artist"

Years ago, I read a science fiction story by Bob Shaw, called "Light of Other Days", that introduced me to the concept of slow glass. The glass was supposedly engineered to slow the light passing through it, so what appeared on the other side of the glass was, in essence, a view of the past. The slow glass could be made in various "time thicknesses" (I made up that term, but it describes the effect). I often think of people as slow glass, especially children. You put something into them and it might not come back out again for many years. One reason that you can usually tell work of young art students is that the slow glass isn't very thick yet. The experiences haven't built up inside them sufficiently to provide the depth that you see in the work of more mature artists.

Much of the time now, I feel like very thick slow glass. All the thoughts, feelings and sights that have passed through me are now reappearing on the other side and you can see them in my work. I see the Art Deco and Victorian influences from my New York childhood. I see science and technology, a remnant from my former professions. I see the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life.

Being self-taught, there are times I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of artists who have their MFA degrees. They know how to do everything from charcoal drawings to massive bronze sculptures. They can critique an artwork while blindfolded, even with both hands tied behind their backs. They are fluent in Artspeak and know how to dress in an appropriately creative manner every day. I already have a Masters degree (in audiology) and have no desire to go back to school again for that length of time, so I have to ask myself whether an MFA would improve my art over and above what I'm already doing. No, it wouldn't, because I don't want to have my work graded by someone else. This is my journey and I'm the only one who can tell if it's right.

In 1999, I made a very conscious decision to leave traditional quilting and explore art quilting. That description worked for a few years, but then it dawned on me that it wasn't the quilting part that was important anymore, but the expression of ideas. The quilting became the vehicle for that expression because I already knew the techniques and it was a very versatile medium. It was about that time that I began to think of myself as an artist. Not as a quilter or as an art quilter, but as an artist. This is how I feel inside of me now. I look at the world differently than I did before.

I suppose I could be doing something else with my life that would be more profitable, but my art continues to emerge from me at the strangest times. That slow glass is finally revealing everything what's been inside, but it's coming out all mixed together. It doesn't really matter whether I have a fine arts degree or not, because this is what I've become. I think I'm finally a Real Artist.

Comments

[Sue Reno]

Jill, I really like the "slow glass" analogy. Thanks for an eloquent post.

[Susie Monday]

Dear Jill
That's exactly the reason I look at your art and read your blog. You are working from your deepest ideas and quilting is simply a form for expression -- you certainly don't need an MFA to progress! I will ponder this idea of slow glass. Susie

[Natalya]

very well and eloquently said.. thank you! and that is why I too read your blog.