Art Everywhere

I believe that when it comes to art, all your creation efforts are worthwhile. When you play with paint, mix colours, draw shapes and forms, practice mark-making, the time you spend doing is all valuable. You are learning new skills, developing artistry and stretching your creative muscles. Process is important. Not only that, the products that spring forth from your efforts, even in practice sessions, are also valuable.

Aside from making art, I also teach. A common hang up my students have when they first start class is that they believe each time they make an effort to create something, that something has to be good — usually meaning good enough to display on a wall. I then have to explain that not everything they make will be up to their standards. Even artists that have been making art for many years make a few stinkers they won’t show to anyone. I also let them know that even if they feel their work is not good enough to hang, it may be good enough to display in another way.

In a previous blog post I wrote about my series No Art Wasted and that it came about because I hate waste, encourage recycling/up-cycling and believe that even my “ugly” paintings and other discards from an art session can be transformed to be useful. This blog post goes a bit further with the recycling/up-cycling aspect via displaying your work in other ways through DIY (Do It Yourself) craft projects and POD (Print On Demand).

Similar to how I used old paintings to create my No Art Wasted art series, I cut up my old rejected paintings and had them sewn into a one-of-a-kind tote bag. I scanned other work and brought them to my local print shop to create decals for my laptop and iPhone. Other art I photographed and used my inkjet printer to create transfer sheets to be able to display my work on t-shirts. Even if my rejected art pieces don’t look great as is, they can be cropped. Picking out the areas in the individual pieces that are good can be salvaged and transformed into something new. If you are crafty and have the time, the above DIY projects are simple enough to do at home. But if you are not interested in these DIY projects, there’s always POD.

If your work is able to be photographed or scanned, and if you are not precious about how you want your work to be seen, you’ll be able to find many ways to create something new with your art. There are a ton of POD websites out there (such as Zazzle and Society 6) with offer a wide range of products to print your art onto. Mugs, blankets, pillows, shower curtains, bookmarks, leggings, shoes, you name it, they probably have it. Upload the images of your art, choose your product and follow the site’s instructions and voila, you can have your art on your chosen item.

Aside from making the most of our efforts in art, I find it extremely satisfying to be able to see and appreciate my work in all forms. Having my work displayed on the items I see often, everyday or even severe times a day (like on my iPhone case) gives me great pleasure and reminds me of what I have made and achieved despite them not being “perfect.”

• Interested in seeing other artworks from MTM Hobbes? Interested in a workshop? Visit her site mtmhobbes.com.