How To Choose Our "Major"

I'm going to keep this short and sweet...

I figured out a great way to determine what we should "major" in, here at Affordable Art School, lol.

All you've got to do is ask yourself one question...

"What do I HAVE to do before I die?"

Of course, we're talking about this within the context of our goals as artists - but it could be anything.

Personally, I have a TON of things I want to learn and master, but one thing that comes up for me and I just HAVE to learn how to do, is how to paint - so I'm going to major in painting!

What about you?

Whatever comes up for you automatically, or stands out the most in your mind - THAT'S your major!

We can always change majors and we can always learn and master multiple things here, there are no limits to our potential.

There are no rules here at Affordable Art School, so whatever you want to learn -go for it :)

I'm breaking that sleeping rule again...  I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Art Is Technology : Technology Is Art

One of my favorite thinkers of all time, is a man named Robert Anton Wilson.

He was an author of many books - one of them being The Illuminati Papers, which, from my understanding, is a very strange and random book that he wrote in the '70's, lol.

In this book, he covers a wide spectrum of topics, but I wanted to share an article with the same exact title as this blog post (from page 143 in the book), that really resonated with me.

After reading the article, go on to read my interpretation of what I think Robert was saying:

Art Is Technology : Technology Is Art

Art consists of those sciences and technologies that are self-justifying, that delight the apprehension of the beholder.

Science and technology consist of those arts that allow us to understand and alter our circumstances.

Stravinsky was quite correct in calling himself a sound engineer: Jacob Bronowski was equally justified in calling Newton and Einstein great artists. These are demarcations but there are aslo overlaps.

The criteria for juding art can only be subjective or statistical. One can say subjectively that the artwork delights oneself, or one can say statistically that it delights x percent of the population. Saying anything beyond this is the piffle and humbug of professional critics justifying their jobs.

The criteria for judging science and technology are objective and sometimes also statistical. One can say that certain sciences have objectively enhanced life, and that others have been a blight and a pestilence; and one can estimate the percentage of objective benefit or objective harm in a given technology at a given time.

Artists who cannot speak science are partially illiterate; scientists who cannot speak art are partially illiterate.

Alright, so I decided to interpret what this article was saying and translate it into terms that are a little easier to understand.

Here is my interpretation:

If we are afraid of something bad happening, either to us or someone else, then art can help us work through that, and therefore, the science and technology that makes art possible, doesn't need to be justified - it's irrefutably benefical.

With the same token, art helps us gain invaluable insights about life, and therefore, has a direct contribution to science and technology because it allows us to determine where to focus our efforts in order to improve our circumstances.

Artists can be thought of as "Sensual Engineers", and scientists can be thought of as "Technological Artists". These ideas help us gain a better understanding of how art and science are different, but it also helps us to understand how they are the same.

Judgements about art are only opinions because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Critics only know what they're talking about, to the extent that other people agree with them - whether a piece of artwork is good or not, is completely subjective. The only thing that we CAN regard as fact, is how MANY people did or didn't like that piece of artwork.

Juding science and technology, on the other hand, is a little more objective because whether a particular science or technology is useful or not, can be easily determined with one question, "did it help us reach the outcome we sought after or did it move us further away from it?" As with art, we can also determine how many people perceive that a particular science or technology did or didn't benefit them, and that statistic can be regarded as fact as well.

It is critical that artists and scientists learn about each other's world in depth, because art and science have a very intimate relationship with each other - even if we are not aware of it.

Ok, so I know that was a lot to digest, but I think that these musings are right on the money.

If you feel that I have misinterpreted the words of Mr. Wilson, please give me some feedback so that I may revise my interpretation.

With that said, can you see how this article can help us to understand how art and science are connected?

I posted this particular content as food for thought, as something to challenge our thinking - so I'd love to hear about any insights you might've gotten from it :)

Keep an eye out for another post from me today, because I've got a lot on my mind!

I'll talk to you soon.

Eddie

Being Creative in ALL Of Daily Life

In my opinion, the beauty of creativity is that it can be applied to virtually EVERYTHING!

Creativity can be applied to even the most monontonous and mundane minutia of day to day life, let me give you an example...

I commute to and from work, 5 days a week for about 2 to 3 hours a day.

Say what?

I spend way too much time in the car.

Now, typically, this would drive the average person CRAZY - but not me!

What's my creative solution to boredom in a car?

Singing.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am a songwriter.  So, when I'm in the car, I sing and I sing and I sing.  You have NO idea how fast this makes the time pass by (unless you do it too).

As of recently, I have taken this to the next level - I have taken up the art of rapping.

Say what?

That's right, RAPPING!

In my opinion, EVERYONE should learn to rap, here's why...

I rap at the car wash, I rap in line at the bank, I rap in the shower, I rap at dinner...

I can even rap to myself in my head - I don't have to make a sound.

Even if I were sent to prison over some sort of injustice or misunderstanding, even that circumstance couldn't keep me from rapping.

Nothing can take rapping away from me.

Even if I became deaf, blind, mute or lost my hands...

I can still rap in my mind.

I can still be an ARTIST, in my mind.

Now, I'm being ULTRA extreme here, but my point is, we all need to find creative solutions to our problems.  If we can REALLY learn to do this, it will literally TRANSFORM our lives :)

This is how I practice art as a spritual practice in my life.

Meditate on this idea for a while, see what you come up with - and if you find a good one, share it with me here :)

Alright, well I've gotta get going -  but I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Sweet Sweet Sleep

From what I've heard, the "8 hours of sleep at night" thing is pretty important.

I forget where I heard this, but the idea was that the "perfect day" is composed of 8 hours of work, 8 hours of play and 8 hours of sleep.

A reasonable explanation for why sleeping 8 hours a night is so important for us to do is because, if we don't, then we won't ever be fully awake when we're awake, and we won't be fully asleep when we're asleep, so instead we're just in this, what I'll call, "Zombie" Mode.

Never having the energy and the willpower to do all of the things that we are capable of accomplishing during the day.

Never getting a full good night's rest.

This is something that I need to change in my own life, or at least improve - and if you're not getting a full night's rest, then we're all in the same boat, so let's get rowin'.

As I type this, I am breaking this rule - it's way past my bedtime and I should be dreaming.

But that's why I'm writing about it - because I'm so tired, that I can't invest 110% of myself in this tonight.

And if I can't invest myself 110% into THIS right now, then how am I ever going to succeed as an artist?

How are WE all going to succeed as artists?

I guess that depends on what we define as "success", right?

But in the conventional sense, we're never going to have the energy or willpower to make the most of our talents.

I am going to start getting more sleep at night - I HAVE to.

Join me on this challenge and if you find something that helps you be disciplined about this sort of thing - share it with me here!

This is probably one of the biggest challenges that I am facing in the physical "realm", and I'm up for it.

Which is why I'm going to bed now!

Goodnight, I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Demolishing And Discarding Discouragement

Something that I have found to be universally true amongst most (if not all) artists, is that we tend to be our own worst critics.

One day, we feel pretty good about our work.

Then the next day, we go to some art exhibit or a concert, or we watch a documentary or read a book about some great artist, or whatever -  and WHAM!

Instant discouragement.

Can you relate with the feeling of leaving an art exhibit half inspired and half discouraged?

Have you ever watched or listened to something that someone else created, and felt like you just didn't measure up?

Do you feel that there's just just no way you'll ever reach the plateu that you know you're capable of reaching, if only you had the time, resources or support you'd need to get there?

Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

It's all in your head.

I'm serious!  This is all about the way we perceive ourselves, or what some would call, our "self-image".

I once read a book about starting a career in music called Beyond Talent, by (I forget, I will find out and update this later).

In this book, the author poses a riddle, and it goes like this...

What do you call a student from an Ivy League Medical School who graduates at the bottom of their class?

A Doctor

Point is, no matter what you think about how you do or don't measure up to other artist's, you can still be an amazing artist in your own right.

For every artist, there are going to be a slew of people who love your work and another slew of people who wish you would just quit already.

This even happens to the best of the best.

All I'm saying is that it's all a matter of perspective, and if you're just trying to be realistic, that's okay - so long as you don't use your "realistic" outlook on things to beat yourself up and make yourself feel like less than others.

I do this all the time, in fact, I did it TODAY.

Something I haven't shared with you yet, is that I am a songwriter.  Well, I was listening to some music by various artists earlier, and I just kept thinking, "If only I could write songs that are this good."

And then I snapped out of it, because I know that comparing myself to others or some ideal example of what I wish I could write like or whatever - is ALWAYS a losing battle.

I definitely think that we need to have realistic perspectives about our work, but only to the extent that it is going to help us continue to evolve, grow and improve along the path.

There are a million other ways to keep ourselves from becoming discouraged, but I hope that this post was a useful starting point - I'll probably get into this more at a later date.

Off I go - I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie

Becoming The Center Of Our "Solar System"

Today, I want to wrap up this theme of aligning our "planets", by focusing on where we stand in relationship TO those "planets".

Let's recap...

Alright, well we've got 4 so-called "planets", and they are:

1. Physical

2. Emotional

3. Mental

4. Spiritual

In my opinion, these are 4 key areas of life, and my experience has taught me that by strengthening and continuously developing each of these, we can build a life that is truly worth living - which, can serve as a solid foundation for our paths as artists.

In our solar system (the REAL one), each planet has its own unique identity.

NONE of them are the same.

However, they all operate based on one fundamental principle...

They ALL orbit the SUN.

The Sun is the STAR at the CENTER of the Solar System, and is basically the Earth's primary source of energy - it supports almost ALL life on Earth.

So what am I trying to get at here?

What I'm saying is that WE need to be the "Sun" at the center of our OWN "Solar System".

WE need to be the primary source of energy for all of our "planets".

WE need to be the ones to provide sustenance to our lives in the arts.

WE need to be that massive shining star in the sky that burns SO brightly, that everyone can't NOT see us!

So how do we achieve this?

It's easy, I've already made a few suggestions based on the "Energy" that each "Planet" needs:

The Physical planet needs exercise.

The Emotional planet needs strong relationships with family, friends and others.

The Mental planet needs a balanced way of thinking.

And the Spiritual planet needs a practice devoted to life and learning.

Even if you work on all of this stuff half-hazzardly, you will experience a sense of fulfillment that can't exactly be expressed by words.

So I won't - I'm going to leave it up to YOU to try!

If you're tying out ANY of what I've been talking about for last week here, I would authentically LOVE to hear about your experiences.

I want you to feel like this is the type of place where we ALL contribute our ideas about how to improve our lives as artists.

The highest accomplishments in history were all made possible by the collaboration of MANY people.

So I hope you'll join me on this journey - with your help, it's going to get VERY interesting around here.

Keep reading!

Gotta go - I'll talk to you soon :)

Eddie

Getting Our "Planets" Aligned : Spiritual

I almost called this post "Getting Our 'Planets' Aligned : Beliefs".

But then I realized that, beliefs are not what this "planet" is about.

It's really about who you are, it's about your very being - in a very real sense.

For example, a high school cheer leader, may be said to have "School Spirit".

In a sense, whether the cheer leader looks at it this way or not, they are being spiritual about their school.

They're participating, getting involved, they're contributing, investing time, energy and effort, sacrificing other opportunities, etc. - you get the picture.

Well, I'd go as far as to say that ART can also be used as a spiritual practice!

If you go to Dictionary.com, and look up the word "Art", you will see that there are at least 16 definitions of the word.

If you look at the definitions listed, you will notice that they list off the most popular or conventional definitions first.

I'm going to key in on the definition that I'm thinking of, so I can connect the dots here in a second...

Let's look at the very last one - at this time, definition No. 16 reads:

"Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship."

What this suggests, is that the TRADITIONAL sense of the word - not the most common, but the most traditional - is that art is about life and learning.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what spirituality is all about?

Being human is about living and learning, no matter who you are.

So is science, art  - and spirtuality.

Another destinction that I often make, is that spiritual does not mean religious.

However, I bear no judgement on you, or anyone else for that matter, if you ARE religious.

In fact, I practice and promote religious tolerance, so I'm totally in support of whatever people want to believe in, including you.

So what I'm saying is that, whether you're religious, atheist, or anywhere in between, you can still be spiritual.

And let me tell you what, art is something that can fulfill you in ways that very few things can, if you let it.

The beauty of this, is that you don't have to be a painter, or a dancer, or write poetry, etc.

You can boil any science down to an artform, and you can break any artform down to a science.

"Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind:  Study the science of art.  Study the art of science.  Develop your senses - especially learn how to see.  Realise that everything connects to everything else." - Leonardo Da Vinci

You can make an artform out of making cars, business strategies, making food, cutting hair, making jokes... whatever you want!

What's YOUR artform?

And how can you start practicing your art as a way of living and learning?

In my post about creating creative spaces, I mentioned that when I make art at the studio I go to, it's an opportunity to step out of my world for a few hours.

I suggest that you practice your artform as a way of disconnecting from the rest of your life, so you become energized by the activities you indulge in when you're being creative.

It's kind of like breathing - you breathe in, then you breathe out.

You go to work, then you go relax.

You go to school, then you go home and spend time with family.

You work out, then you go to your creative space and make some art.

However your life is structured, cool, but make sure that when you're working, you're only focused on working.  When you're with your friends and family, you're focused on them, just them.  When you're working out, only focus on exercising.  And when you're making art, only focus on being creative :)

This is the way I aspire to function in my life, but it takes practice, so try it out and give it time.

I hope this was useful to you, because it is to me and I know how valuable and powerful this concept of art as a spiritual practice can be.  In fact, it's the reason why I started this blog in the first place.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

On my next post, I will be bringing this theme of "Planet" Alignment, full circle - so stay tuned.

Take care, I'll talk to you soon.

Eddie

Getting Our "Planets" Aligned : Mental

Today, I want to delve into the topic of aligning our Mental "Planet".

A model that I think is useful in this context, is the Left Brain-Right Brain model.

Our left brain is where we do all of our logical, rationalizing, reasoning - where we can make sense of numbers, figures, equations, etc.  

In MY life, the career that I am currently working in requires me to exercise this part of my brain a lot more than my right brain, but I'm not particularly talented with my left brain, so I've had to learn how to transmute my perspective, from seeing my job as a struggle, into seeing it as a fun challenge that helps me grow - which is a right brained approach to the situation.

Our right brain is where we do all of our abstract, irrational, nonsensical thinking - where we can imagine shapes, colors, experiences, etc.

Whenever we are developing or applying our own creativity, that's when we're exercising our right brain.

I think that it's wise for us to develop and strengthen BOTH sides of the brain, but a lot of people feel that it's too late for them - that they're too old.

Well, I'm here to tell you that it's never too late, and if anything, you're too old NOT to start!

One day, I realized that my left brain was my weaker side.  For a while, I thought, "I guess I'm never going to be strong with my left brain - that's just the way I was born."

It took a lot for me to break that self-limiting paradigm, and I mean A LOT.

However, once I did, I started looking for ways that I could actually work on my left brain.  I've never been too great at math, so I thought that maybe studying math would help.  I kept coming up with ideas on how to go about this, but then I became aware of something I'd never noticed before...

I realized that my experience with my current career has helped me to develop my left brain, A LOT more than anything else I've ever done or studied before!

And that was the gift - realizing that my current job was actually a blessing disguised as a curse.

Realizing that, by strengthening my left brain by doing left brained work, I was developing a line of thinking that could only HELP me with my goals as an artist!

What I'm trying to say is that I think it's extremely important to strive for a balance in our thinking because by fusing our logical thinking with our abstract thinking, we can then become more powerful and effective in our thinking as ARTISTS.  In my opinion, a "logical imagination" is something that EVERY artist should strive to develop.

My experience has shown me that using our imagination in illogical ways, isn't useful.  That was my Modus Operandi for too long, and it never seemed to help me get to where I'm going.

I'll get further into this at another date and time, but for now, I'll leave you with a few things to ponder...

Where are you strong?

Logically or creatively?

If you are strong in both areas, lucky you.

But if you're not, then identify the area you're weak in and work on its respective side of the brain.

If you're weak logically, work on your left brain.

If you're weak creatively, work on your right brain.

Really spend some time with this one, do some research, do your homework and learn about some things you can do to develop the side of your brain that needs the most work.  After a while, you will begin to notice a shift in the way that you think and perceive, and therefore, you will also notice a HUGE difference in the way you approach your art.

This one takes a lot of time, so don't expect anything overnight, but if what I've been talking about here rings "true" to you, then take my word for it - you WILL get to the point where you have actually managed to whip your weaknesses into strengths.

How GREAT would that be?

How VALUABLE do you think it would be, as artists, to get THIS handled?

I think you know.

Alright, well I gotta get outta here, but on my next post, I'm gonna go WAY out there and take this series of aligning our "planets", to a VERY interesting place :)

Talk to you soon!

Eddie

Getting Our "Planets" Aligned : Emotional

Moving onto part 2 in this theme of aligning our "planets"...

Now I want to talk about our EMOTIONAL "planet".

I think that emotions are very powerful things.  In fact, I think that they are SO powerful, that they can even become OVER-powering.

Now, this can either be a positive thing, or it can be a negative thing - it just depends on what you want.

Do you want to become the best and most powerful creative artist that you can possibly be?

If you're reading this blog right now, then I'm going to assume that you just thought to yourself, "duh".

Right?  Of course we do!

But how many of us are actually there yet?  I know I'M not.

The truth is that I don't think any of us will ever be "as good as we can possibly be" - I think that's idealistic.

Why??

Because there is ALWAYS another level to get to, in ALL of life's endeavors.

So with that said, if we REALLY want to get into the flow of constantly and consistently improving ourselves as creative, effective, efficient and powerful artists, then I can't emphasize just how important it is to make sure that our emotions don't over-power us in negative ways.

This seems like an obvious one, but it can actually be a VERY tricky thing, once you start looking into this.

I would like to get further into this whole realm of emotions in the future, but for now, let me land the plane for ya...

Ok, your emotions are either LEADING YOU to BEHAVE in one of two ways:

1. Constructively

or

2.  Destructively

That's it.

I mean, sure, there are varying degrees of exactly just how constructive or destructive your decisions and actions actually are, but for the sake of not arguing, you're either growing or you're dying (as an artist) - know what I mean?

So what can we do to help ourselves emotionally in a positive way?

Well, I'll give you one suggestion, but let me just tell you - there are ways to improve your emotional life that you would NEVER have guessed.

So here it is:

Develop and improve the relationships you have with the ones you care for the most and with those who care about you most.

This could be family, best friends, your cats, your dogs - it doesn't really matter who, so long as it's with those who already have meaningful relationships with you and you with them.

If you do this the right way, you are going to FEEL like a million bucks - this is not a joke.

How does this tie into art?

If your emotional life is AMAZING, you will have all the motivation and inspiration you will ever need to fuel your creativity, and it will happen in ways that you could never ever have predicted or foreseen in a million years.

There is a catch though.

You can't do it for the sake of helping yourself.  You have to actually be the kind of person who WANTS to strengthen and develop your relationships with others.  If you're not authentically that person, then none of this will ever do you a bit of good, ever.

If you're wise, not smart, but wise - you'll know what I'm talking about once you do this if you don't already have this going on in your life.

I really really really hope that this was an "enlightening" post for you, because what I am talking about here, took me YEARS AND YEARS AND EVEN MORE YEARS to even realize.

Try it out and tell me all about what you learn from your experiences, this lesson is pure gold, for reals.

Alright, I gotta go - talk to you soon.

Eddie