Here's The Plan

I started writing this first blog entry a week ago.  I think it's time to get back to it.

Well, here we go.  Hi everyone.  Thanks for stopping by this little corner of the internet.  I go by Raygun, and I will be your guide/ facilitator/ person who pretends that he knows what he's doing/ delusional visionary on this artistic social experiment.  I'd like to start by telling you a little about my motivation for this blog and all that I hope it brings forth.

I've lost my motivation.  There.  I said it.  Whenever I sit down to create some artwork, I'll take the ideas that have been brewing in the old noggin, put them on paper (or whatever the platform du jour happens to be), then conveniently forget about them before the first layer of paint dries.  I've learned in the almost nine years since I've been in college, that I need to disassociate from my "restful places," or have someone depending on me to create something in order to be productive as an artist.  In other words, working on a painting or print at my kitchen table usually winds up turning into looking for motorcycles on craigslist or watching random anime on netflix.  That's why I'm here.

In 2009 I had to take some college courses to renew my teaching license.  Since I'm an art teacher, I had the option of taking education courses or studio art courses.  Obviously, I went with studio art, and wound up in my first printmaking class that I've ever had.  I wound up loving printmaking and had a great deal of respect for my professor.  One of our final projects involved choosing two random words from two separate bags.  One bag contained words that were objects.  The other bag contained words that expressed a mood or idea.  Once we had our words, we had to create an image based on how we interpreted our two words together.  Mine were "shotgun," and "haven".

When the two words were presented to me, I could suddenly work at home.  I hadn't been given the mundane task of drawing a still life, or creating a self portrait.  I also wasn't tasked with with having to create a piece of art within a certain time frame with out any insight or suggestions towards content.  I had a puzzle that I had to solve.  That made it an artistic commitment that I was actually looking forward to seeing through to the end.

I guess I'm straying a little here.  The point is, two simple words ignited a ton of ideas.  It was a guide towards creativity that I have not experienced again in three years.  Of course I could create my own bags of words, but they would all be my own ideas.  Nothing in that scenario would force me to stray from my comfort zone of "familiarity". 

Here's where you come in.  Let's create a list.  We can collaborate to create a bank of words.  This could be a list of emotions, ideas, concepts, theories and objects.  Obviously, some words will be more awe inspiring than others.  For example, the word, "transportation," will bring a lot of immediate pictures to persons mind.   Alternatively, the phrase, "egg beater," would leave a lot of voids in terms of creative solutions.   Words that would require most people take a trip to Wikipedia are probably not in the best interest of the cause. 

I will post an email address to which words can be sent.  Submitters can chose to remain anonymous, or I can give them credit for their submission (with their name, a link to their blog, twitter or facebook page, etc.).  Once enough words have been compiled, I will randomly select a word out of a hat and post it on this blog.  That word will be the theme of the week.  Readers of the blog can participate by creating a piece of artwork based on the randomly drawn word, then send in a high quality photo or scanned image of the artwork.  There is no limit on the media, size, or how much work you put into your piece.  Heck, you don't even have to participate if you don't want to.  There will be a new word each week if you change your mind though.

I have another project that will be a little more hands on, which I'll describe in a later post.  It will involve people that sign up to work on a piece of artwork collaboratively via the mail.  Numbers of participants will be limited for each piece and the results will be posted here, but all of that is for a later date.

To send word suggestions, email me at artwithstrangers at gmail dot com.  Remember to include whether you would prefer to be left anonymous or given credit, and how you would like to be acknowledged.  Pass the word!