Synergy

As I mentioned in the post before, I'm on a journey of discovering myself as an artist, and in that process am interacting even more with life itself.

Lately I've been watching DVDs on past artists, trying to get an education since I graduated with a Bachelor of Science not Fine Arts. My parents preferred that I NOT end up a starving artist. I desperately wanted some art courses and not just my major. I spoke with the dean, a Jesuit Father, and asked if my non-science electives could be fine art classes. He said, "No, you need to be well-rounded."

I figured I had one chance to change his mind. "I'm not trying to be presumptuous," I said, "but Da Vinci needed both the sciences and the arts to fulfill his God-given destiny. If I can prove to you that I am well-rounded, will you give me that same opportunity?"

Yes!!! After about 20 minutes of being quizzed my request was granted! I would go to the other campus for one fine arts class a semester. It was just enough to give me hope.

Over the years I've grabbed a class here and there as I could ... in between raising 10 kids that my husband and I adopted.

So ... in watching these DVDs, what attracted me was seeing the comraderie and synergy that many of the artists shared with their fellow contemporaries. I quickly realized that I also was being offered this same opportunity but on a more intimate scale.

Last year in June, Lisa Hutchinson, my best friend and I saw the painting "Prometheus Bound" in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was done by two artists!! Rubens painted the figure and Snyder painted the eagle. A collaboration!!! The painting reminded me of Lisa's skill with figures and computer graphics and my skill with Chinese brush where flower/birds are a specific catagory. Could the two of us create together?

Over the past summer we talked about it and Gold Plum Studio was birthed. Since then we've collaborated on a text-mix-comics series called "Nikki and Jade". I ink Lisa's pencils with a Chinese brush. That is typical in comic-creating circles to have pencilers and inkers.

Could a different kind of collaboration happen? Why not have her finished computer graphic image juxtaposed with my echoing thoughts and feelings on her piece using my Chinese brush. Both images created to be ONE. Us working more like two jazz players.

I'll be showing you in the next few blogs our collaborative attempts.

"I think that in a lifetime there are only a few people you can work with... where you can trust each other and push each other in different directions." (Errollyn Wallen)