Dear lovely students,
As promised here it is, below!
Guided reflective art writing exercise
I would like you to do a piece of writing that has several functions, some of them optional. In fact the whole exercise is optional but I think it’s a good exercise to do periodically, to reflect on your progress! The aim is progress, not perfection, after all. If you were to aim at perfection then once you’ve reached the peak of X you’d have no place to slide down to except the slow decline into decrepitude, and from the top, you’d only briefly glimpse the other mountain peaks of Y, Z, and, oh crap, A, B and C in the distance that you’d forgotten about too. Don’t aim for perfection - aim for progress. Keep climbing, and periodically glimpse the wonders of all the mountain ranges among you and around you that you are a part of.
Don’t look down, look up. And yet - do look down! Pause and reflect on the past when you’re in a safe nook. It’s a good time to catch your breath as you need to gather energy for the rest of the climb. Writing can be daunting but it’s also an essential communication tool for an artist as you may need it in the future for statements, etc. Even if not - like writing journals, it’ll help organise and clarify your thoughts. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it via questions and thought prompts. Maybe if you don’t like writing you can record your voice so you’ll have an audio version of the same and use a transcribing tool. It’s best to set aside an hour or two of unbroken time with tea to do this if you can as it’ll get easier once you’ve got going. This is open-ended so write as much or as little as you want.
This is mainly for the end of year show in December but doing a reflection halfway through, ie in the summer, makes sense. So just to check in with yourself and where you feel you’re at. I’d like to put some student profiles on my teaching website. I’d also like to, if I may, use a portion of this writing for a teaching review (more below). Additionally, it’s useful material for future artist statements and that can be used firstly for your bio in the end of year show if you’re participating. Also as the groundwork for your future bios and statements and reflections. It’s a good idea to do these at least annually if not half-yearly. I’m really excited about the end of year show as for me it also marks the memories created during the pandemic, and signals what is possible beyond, too.
Questions and thought prompts:
The following questions can form part of your student profile, bio for the end of year show and the basis for future versions of the same
1. The past - before: this question helps form your bio of your artistic journey
What’s your previous experience with art?
This is perhaps an easier question as is simply factual, eg. I studied/didn’t study, etc. It can also include art you’ve seen, artists you’re inspired by, encounters with art, basically; if you haven’t been practising for long you’ve certainly been exposed to art in some form or other for a goodly while. You’ve also already answered this! I ask all my students at the beginning when getting to know them: ‘Where are you from, what’s your previous painting experience and what drew you to miniature painting?’ Also where you’re from, however you feel you want to answer this, as background is important for bios.
What drew you to art in the first place?
This question is deeper. Think right back to early childhood. Barbara Hepworth said that perhaps what we want to say is formed in childhood and the rest of our life is spent in trying to say it. I firmly believe this: that there is something essential formulated in childhood that you can’t put into words - at least I can’t put it into words - which is why I paint and make art. But: try to put it into words anyway! You’ll skirt around it and although you may not be able to hit the bullseye (verbal language is inadequate), you can still circle around it. At least we’ll know which tree you’re aiming at in the forest. And then from there, think through your life up until the 2020 pandemic, basically!
The following questions are about teaching and my relationship with you; if it is ok with you, would I be able to use your answers for a review on Facebook/Google for my teaching website?
2. The past - previous courses we’ve done together this year
In what ways do you see that you have progressed?
Spread out in front of you all of your paintings you’ve done or started! This is a really enlightening activity in itself. You’ll ‘see’ the answer to this question through this activity. I hope my teaching has helped too.
In what ways do you feel you have progressed?
This requires more contemplation; think about its impact on your life, wellbeing, philosophy etc.
3. The present - now now
What are you working on at the moment and how do you feel about your current painting?
Talk about your current painting or paintings! Have it in front of you as you write and think.
What do you find hard?
Something specific, something general.
What are you enjoying?
Specifics and generalities.
What’s your favourite colour?
Super essential question.
The following questions are open and will continue! Don’t worry if there is nothing concrete yet - there is likely not - just blurt out whatever is bubbling away underneath and treat it as a stream of consciousness. Don’t edit - just write and flow: use words like paint!
4. The future - later
What do you hope to paint next?
This can be a grand vision of future paintings or a simple next painting on the list, specifics or generalities.
What would you like to learn in 2022?
Specifics or generalities.
5. The why - why oh why?
What do you hope to do with your art?
Practically, what would you like to do, become, make, create, imagine?
Why do you paint?
Haha! I look forward to your answers ;-)
Bonus question from my eldest son. I asked him if there was anything he’d like to ask you and he said yes:
Can you paint me a yellow lotus?
Expansion: he said that when your students come to London and they visit me can they bring me their painting of a yellow lotus and give it to me and I’ll be so happy!
Haha! I replied that we cannot ask people to paint for free, you can ask your mama to do this but nobody else really. Also, he may have conflated the yellow sunflower (which I’m making for him!) with the blue lotus. So there you go! If you like, you can answer this question in words as above and I’ll feedback the answer to him!
The End
coming back to reflect on question 3!!!
3. The present - now now
What are you working on at the moment and how do you feel about your current painting?
I'm currently working on this pciture of a woman with a sitar, along with the tarama border of flowers around her.
I LOVE this painting but i am struggling with her facial expression not being the way i want it and the positioning of her top hand. also this is my first time experimenting with doing a miniature painting on lotka paper, and i'm not sure it's the best fit without a heavy application of size first. I think I want to go back to working on hemp paper.
What do you find hard?
specifically, I struggle with dry- and almost-dry brushing. getting that consistency right is so essential for getting the blending and final details to work!
generally: putting in the time to really get work done on paintings has been hard for me at the moment. I really just need to get back to sitting myself in a chair and doing it! actually I think the chair itself might be the problem--I would prefer to be floor-sitting but I don't have a space with enough natural light right now to make that possible. I may need to re-arrange my art spaces so that it is.
What are you enjoying?
I feel like i am currently developing my own "style" of painting miniature women. I've discovered that I really like dark paper, and I also enjoy giving the women i paint a bit of an outline, as you can see above and in some of my paintings from last fall:
What’s your favourite colour?
i vary between various shades of blue and green, but right now it's definitely malachite.
2. The past - previous courses we’ve done together this year
In what ways do you see that you have progressed?
On the technical level, my brush control for fine details has gotten much, much better. This is a direct result of slowing down my work and also the hand strength which has developed (both in these classes and in my studies of Tezhip). My colorfill consistency, blending, and pardakht have also gotten a lot better. My outlining skills and ability to do a fine line with consistence have gone up and down over the course of the year and that probably has to do with my painting practice (how much I do every day, as well as practice lessons learned in side course on drawing and tezhip).
My ability to finish paintings has also gone way up, which probably due to the way @Vaishali Prazmari has designed the faces course---classes are designed to not have much homework, and to frame our images and work focus on faces in a way that they can be completed in 8 hours. it's a great practice---other teachers assign work that only gets completed months after the course is finished.
In what ways do you feel you have progressed?
I think the biggest way I've progressed around painting has to do with commitment -- I have a regular painting practice where I sit down almost every day to paint-- as well as much deeper stores of patience with my work, as I now have tangible evidence that continued work leads to an increase in skill. In particular this helps me persevere when trying to reach increased mastery in artistic skill--it's ok to have one painting that doesn't go well, as it will be practice for the next one. As for spiritually and emotionally -- I'm enjoying really *being* a painter, as well as the discipline of treating painting like work that I show up for whether I want to or not.
Coming back to these questions in preparation for our public private viewing next week..... @Susan Dobrian @Sara @Anastasia Doran @Merve B.
Your 2nd answer was surprising and unique - surprising because I didn't know that about you and what first drew you to art! So it's great to find that out. See, everyone has their own particular and unique journey that is shaping your voice and is by default unique to you. Thanks for sharing Nadia!
I think your current Bio is brilliant as it is. I'd love to hear more about the atmospheric physics as you really are an expert in this and it's also quite unique. I know that the Clouds and Water classes spoke to you quite a lot and also that the wet blending 'watery', liquidy technique you love as well. It also looks like you've experimented a lot with different art mediums so maybe that has given you an open-minded approach, yet you've also got the rigour and discipline of the traditional training too!
Getting started on these, beginning with the past:
1. The past - before: this question helps form your bio of your artistic journey
What’s your previous experience with art? I have been practicing art as a serious hobby since childhood, starting with doodles and fashion design with pencils and markers, expanding to acrylic and oil painting with classes in high school, expanding to mural and film-making in college, and continuing to work on paintings and drawings as a form of self-expression throughout my lifetime. my bio from my website:
"I have been putting my inner visions on paper for as long as I can remember. My work draws from diverse sources including atmospheric physics, Persian and Indian miniatures, lyrical abstraction, and religious iconography. I am inspired by the patterns that shape our world and my search for a reality that transcends time and space. I have studied painting, drawing, and printmaking at the Massachusetts College of Arts and Islamic arts at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London."
What drew you to art in the first place?
I think I was always drawn to being able to shape ideas from imagination and bring them into reality. In Islam we have 99 names for God, and one of my favorites is Al-Musawwir, which means "shaper of flawless forms". Of course this has also been one of the reasons some Muslims are opposed to representational paintings -- because it runs the risk of hubris!!! For me the process of creating art is a way of getting closer to the Divine, in that I myself out to create a vessel to channel the energies flowing through the universe and attempt to create something that reflects the beauty that I see in it. Nothing I make is is ever perfect, because I am human, but the feeling I have while creating gives me a sense of connection to something beyond myself and my own limitations. tagging a few friends from our classes to start refelcting as well: @Alison Guest @Susan Dobrian @Nadia Bouhdili @Sara @Anastasia Doran