For some confounded reason, I felt compelled to revive my art shop from the year long coma it has suffered. AnarchistCouture.etsy.com
AnarchistCouture.thecraftstar.com
Dealing with artists and designers all day must have rubbed off on me- Hang around the barbershop long enough, you’re bound to get a haircut.
So here I am, figuring out what to put on my shop announcement when a stroke of genius hits me! Art is human therefore it should be as imperfect and beautiful. There! Got it!
I see so much insecurity in artists, it is heartbreaking!
Is it symmetrical? Is it perfect? You can see a spot, right there in the corner. What do you think? Is it good enough? Dare I call it art or is it just crafty?
I’m like- really? We should leave perfection to the machines who do it best- sorry, I don’t speak binary code- why compete?
Again for the people in the back: ART IS HUMAN THEREFORE IT SHOULD BE AS IMPERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL . Thus my shop title- Anarchist Couture. Total oxymoron.
I actually went to THREE Art Schools, I even graduated from all of them. I happy to announce that my education was a total waste. I know less about art than I did before I enrolled. All I truly learned was what NOT to do, what ISN’T Art. So….. why not indulge in breaking all those rules?
Let’s take Symmetry and proportion and hack it to death. Let’s go out of our way to make lines crooked, big ass stones in teeny bezels, unfinished seams and splashes of colors that go OUTSIDE the lines.
And the best part about that? Let’s not do it on purpose.
Now you may ask: How can you not do it on purpose if you are purposely breaking the rules?
Easy- I basically forget that I am supposed to be an artist and I just become a person. End of story.
Example- I make these fabric hearts and tags.
Absolutely beautiful! How many straight lines do you see? How many thread knots, frayed edges and hanging strings? Too many to count. I am lucky that Shabby Chic and Patinas are trending right now. And that makes my whole point, doesn’t it?
Here’s a patina I make that sells like crazy. Best part about this messy heart? Buyers looking to spend their money on us understand that the more imperfect, the more beautiful.
If it’s distressed, uneven, repurposed and messy it’s trending. I guess it is safe to say that being human is trending BIG TIME. So throw out your perfection manual and get in the ring. Forget everything you were told about art and design and make some!!! Don’t edit or go back on anything your creative impulse has dictated. Let’s face it, I’m not even gonna proofread this blog. After all, only another beautifully imperfect person is gonna read it. At least, that is my hope.
calliopesattic 