Why am I Doing This…
The Process Blog is a documentary of the creative process for new and existing pieces. The goal of the Process Blog is to document in real time the activities and thought processes that an artist goes through while creating. I hope to provide a documentary of the everyday life of an artist and to provide insight to how pieces are developed inside and outside of an artist’s studio practice.
A Little History…
The blog was an offshoot project that resulted from the development of my website at jpvanarnhem.com, which was an offshoot project that resulted from my interest in trying to get to graduate school and a direct result of me meeting (and taking an inflated steel workshop with) Sabrina Fadial at the College of Charleston.
Timing is Everything…
I have been working towards creating my portfolio for graduate school since 1998. During this time I have completed my BA in Education and continued taking courses in studio art. My interest in John Dewey led me through a slippery slope to Union Institute & University at Vermont College. While attending a presentation given by Sabrina Fadial her explanation of documenting the creative process made a huge impact on me.
I was also reading Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit and had been mulling over the idea that in order to be creative you had to create a lifestyle for yourself that promoted creativity, discipline, and the time for thought and reflection. Sabrina’s message that you had to read, write and create everyday echoed in my head as I left the presentation.
And then I Stewed…
And tried to figure out how I was going to create the environment that I needed to be creative and document the creative process in a way that worked for me.
What I Realized…
I needed a lot of help to 1) make it work, 2) work out the technical kinks, 3) actually start posting, and 4) present the information the way I wanted to.
Who I Need to Thank…
Jerry Spiller for all his help in creating the the customized Blogger.com blog, figuring out how to customize the WordPress Blog, writing ALL the PHP on this site, being a really great friend and pretty much making this happen! This project is as much his as it is mine.
Visit BitRot at http://www.unc.edu/~jmspille/blog.shtml.
Enjoy and check back often.
Proost,
Jolanda
