Following through on our desire to foster community, we accepted a request from an aspiring artist to paint a mural at our studio, in our new paint splatter room. In doing so, I was reminded about what it means to be a young artist.
Allison of ANM Designs. And Marlo, Allison and Brendaliz.
Allison Munger, from ANM Design, has always wanted to paint a mural. This opportunity helped her gain valuable insight and just a mere taste into the world of mural painting. She was professional in asking about our needs as a business. She made mock ups, digitally and on paper. Her translation of her idea from the 8.5 x 11 paper to the wall was impressive, that achievement is no small task. She worked non stop, from arrival time to her finish time. It took her about 12 hours, over the course of 2 days. Cudos to Allison for taking a leap of faith and earning a milestone. As soon as we open the new splatter room, her mural will last about a couple of weeks before it is completed covered by our paint throwing, happy customers. There is a certain freedom in knowing, that as an artist, perfection is not always the point. We made space for vulnerability. We followed through with our business value, anyone walking through our door can make ART.
Finished Mural in new paint splatter room.
As a business in the Arts we value this experience of art making in our studio, at our tables, and in the paint splatter room where free flying paint, in a 30 minute moment, creates an unforgettable art experience. Do our customers walk out the door with a piece of ART? That is a good question, what is ART? The point is, we are not going to answer that, we can’t.
Does ART have to be static or a thing? Can it ebb and flow like a wave? Sometimes ART makes a huge presence because technique won and we, as the viewer, are wowed by the shear ability to create this perfect thing. Or, sometimes it is more subtle, and we as the viewer can’t see that the artist won. They made a personal milestone. Yes, personal achievement and growth are part of the circle and cycle of ART. And yes, the viewer (critique and judgement), whether it is the artist, or an on looker, it is part of the art experience whether we like it or not. I like to call it constructive criticism, but let’s be honest, the viewing and judging of art is a beast. (That is another blog post.)
As a former teacher, who has supported every student that has walked through the my door, I stand firmly in a belief that we can all make ART. Concerning our studio, Creative Jam Art Co., maybe the ART that leaves our studio door lives in our bodies. It came in the door as a fun idea, in the shape of a canvas or ceramic piece and left the studio as a performance. When I say performance, it is because we made paint move and flow in ways we didnt know that it could, we layered it, poured it, threw it, flinged it and even laughed so hard that we tasted it. Yes, we all can make Art, and maybe it moves like a wave, it ebbs and flows.
Marlo, Mama Bear of the Arts.
Phew, I really needed to share this with you, and I hope this resonated. As a business we are a bit raw right now, we have expanded!!! Yes we have. We officially now have 2 paint splatter rooms. As summer business has slowed down, there is more time for reflection. In this new thing called running a business, we could not predict our summer bookings. Take some time to join us this summer, you won’t regret it.
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