Balzer Designs

My Experience as an Exhibition Juror

A few months ago I was asked to be the exhibition juror for the members exhibit at the Mosesian Arts Center.  It's a non-juried show.  All members are invited to submit up to 3 pieces of work for the show.  From the submissions, I was to choose 1 Best in Show Winner and 3 Honorable Mentions.

Once the show was hung, I was invited to come by the Mosesian Arts Center and see the work.  I was determined to have a system for making my choices.  Before I walked in, I made a list of criteria for myself.  Work under consideration for a prize must:

• Be well executed.
• Have a point-of-view.
• Make me, the viewer, feel or think or react in some way.
• Be unique in some way.

These aren't the criteria that all judges use, I'm sure. But these are the things I like to see in art.

I made an initial sweep through the exhibit making quick choices about "yes" this fits the criteria or "no" this doesn't.  After my initial sweep, I had a shortlist of 20 artworks I wanted to go back and see again.

I started to think more deeply about the artwork this time through.  I read labels and really considered each of the 20 pieces.  After taking a good hard close up look at my top 20, I narrowed it down to 10 pieces that I really felt met all the criteria.

At this point, I felt overwhelmed.  And so I decided I needed a bit of time.  I took photos of the 10 works under consideration and went home.

The next morning, I decided that I needed a way to more directly compare the artwork.  So I printed all 10 out together onto 2 sheets of paper.  This allowed me to look at them side-by-side.  I picked out my four favorite and decided to sleep on it for one more night.

In the morning, without looking at the artwork, I asked myself, "What artwork are you still thinking about?"  Once I had chosen my top four, I had to choose a Grand Prize Winner from among them. The questions I asked were, "Which of these works shows complete mastery over this person's craft?" and, "Which of these works do I not have any suggestions to give the artist on how to make it just a little bit better?"

And in this way, my choices became clear.  Here I am announcing the prizes at the Exhibition Opening:

All in all, I would say that this was an educational process for me.  I have often been on the other side of the judging process.  Four things I'm taking away:

• Art is subjective (obviously).  I like seeing the hand of the artist.  Another juror might not.
• It's often attractive to go towards creating work that is like what everyone else is making, but standing out is often about standing alone. 
• Titles matter.  Is your artwork about something?  Can the title add meaning to what the viewer is already taking away from the work?
• For me, pretty is not enough.  I need story, emotion...something more substantive than pretty.

Most of all, I think I will be less hurt when I don't make it into an exhibit or win a prize.  Instead I will focus on being the best version of the artist I want to be!

Thanks for stopping by!

August Livestream Recap!

Today I  thought I'd share a quick recap of the August Livestream for YouTube Channel Members.

As always, I started off the hour-long livestream by answering questions from members.  Question included a number about painting on fabric. I shared my favorite fabric painting products and techniques on this scrap of fabric:

After the livestream, I couldn't help myself from finishing up the painting on this piece of fabric, using all of the techniques and supplies I shared in the livestream:

It's so delicious!  I can't wait to stitch it up into something fun!  PS: I used my Fantastical and Stone Increase stencils in the decoration of this fabric.

After answering questions and doing some fabric demos, I shared how non-quilters can take this quilt...

...and use it for inspiration for paper!  I shared how to make these paper trees and paper "flying geese."

It was a super fun hour packed with art lessons!

If you'd like to become a YouTube Channel Member, it's just $4.99/month.  There's no commitment beyond the month, so for about the price of a cup of Starbucks coffee, you can give it a try and see if it's a good fit for you.  Remember, even though it's a livestream, you can watch it any time you want -- pause it, rewind it, fast forward, etc.

Our September livestream is coming up on Saturday, September 28 at 5:30pm EST.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

A PanPastel Portrait Monoprint

I'm seriously addicted to PanPastels on my gelatin plate. I can't stop (and I don't really want to).  Yesterday I broke out my 8x10 plate and decided to try creating a portrait that I could monoprint.  It actually worked out better than I thought it would (if you can't see the video, click on the title of this post).

Here's a pic of the plate and first print next to each other:

I thought it was an amazingly good pull. 

The only thing that didn't really translate were some of the white highlights -- like the catch light in her eyes, the tip of her nose, some of the lip shading, etc.

I did manage to pull two more prints.  You can see all three together here:

There's definitely some fading in the later pulls, but if you look at the last two pulls together, they still have integrity.

I definitely want to do some more experimenting with this technique. I think white highlights may be like working with watercolor -- you have to leave them space from the beginning.  But, we shall see.

I hope you find some time to play with your art supplies this weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

PanPastels on the Gelatin Plate

Birgit Koopsen is hosting a month-long gelatin-printing party on her instagram.  Several days ago I watched a video she shared on using PanPastels on the Gelli Plate.  I immediately went tearing through my studio to grab the supplies I needed and began to experiment.  I shared a video of my first experiment on instagram earlier this week (if you can't see the video, click on the title of this blog post):

Here are my two favorite prints from that video:

But you know meI had to keep going because I looooooove to experiment!  So I decided to see if I could make the technique work on black paper with black paint.

The answer, is a resounding, yes!!

And now, I've put together a quick tutorial video for you -- answering a lot of the questions I got on instagram and providing all of the little details to make you successful -- and the video includes a super fun technique at the end, that doesn't involve stencils at all:

Here are some of the prints from the video:

Supplies:

• PanPastels
• Sofft Tools
• Gelatin Plate
• Brayer
• Fluid Acrylics
• Black Watercolor Paper
• Baby Oil
• Spring Medallion Stencil
• Fantastical Stencil
• Faithful Tree Stencil

I hope you'll try using PanPastel for monoprinting.  It's truly addictive!

Thanks for stopping by!

Meeting Yourself Where You are Right Now

I'm currently enjoying a little R&R at a spa in the Berkshires.  This photo is one I took yesterday when I went for a long walk in the woods.

As part of the program here, there are lectures in all kinds of things including some inward looking topics.  Yesterday I attended a lecture called, "Being in this Body."  In essentials, it was about meeting yourself where you are right now.  What does that mean?  Well, this is what I took away from the lecture:

• Being kind to yourself even though you may not be where you want yet.
• Looking at any steps forward as progress!
• Not comparing yourself to others -- celebrities or simply the person standing next to you.
• Being okay with starting exactly where you are at this moment.

Now, this lecture was focusing on those points in terms of body image -- your weight, your age, your body shape, your fitness level, etc.  But I am **always** thinking of art.  And so I started to think of these ideas in terms of art.  Let's look a bit closer, shall we?

Being kind to yourself even though you may not be where you want yet.

I think we all have an inner critic who loves to point out all the ways in which we are deficient.  I know that I have one (and he's loud).  It's difficult not to feel frustrated when what you're making doesn't match up to that image in your head. Can you find a way to be kind to yourself?  Can you see anything positive about what you just made?  It could be as simple as: "Hey, I made the time to create art!"  Or, "I tried something new!"

Looking at any steps forward as progress!

In my opinion, one of the major keys to being willing to continue with the practice (and I don't use that word lightly) of making art is acknowledging your progress.  Remember, it's progress not perfection that should be the goal.  Giving yourself a pat on the back for simple forward progress, such as showing up, is important.

Not comparing yourself to others -- celebrities or simply the person standing next to you.

This is sooooo hard -- especially with the internet.  Two of my favorite quotes:

• "Comparison is the thief of joy." -- Theodore Roosevelt
• "Don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle, or your middle to someone else's end. Don't compare the start of your second quarter of life to someone else's third quarter." -- Tim Hiller

The only person you are in competition with is you.  Social media is packed with inspiration, but it's also filled with pretty pictures that can make you feel badly about yourself.  There are people who I simply had to unfollow or mute because something about their posts filled me with jealousy and self-loathing.  This is totally normal.  But it's important that I took that step to protect myself by unfollowing or muting.

Being okay with starting exactly where you are at this moment.

Everyone begins somewhere.  So you don't have the right supplies or the knowledge or the skill or the space or whatever it is that feels like the problem?  Who cares.  Start anyway.  The next 30 days will pass whether you spend them practicing your art or whether you don't.  Start now.

I hope you find this list as motivating as I do.  Start with ten minutes today and keep going!

Thanks for stopping by!