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Spring Quarter Essay — March 2006

On Maintaining An Art Practice
by Andrew Rush   ©2006

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"It is the capacity for maintenance which is the best test for the vigor and stamina of an organization."
— Eric Hoffer, Longshoreman (Author of The True Believer, Harper & Row, 1951)

Of the studio subjects I teach at The Drawing Studio, I am particularly fond of our first course called Drawing Fundamentals. Over the years I've taught hundreds of beginners, so one might think I would tire of it. But to get a sense of what keeps me engaged, you have to imagine being witness to an eye operation, as the surgeons take the bandages off a good friend who has just had life-long cataracts removed. I think maybe I am now an addict to such awakening moments in our Fundamentals courses, as yet another fortunate person realizes a breakthrough in his/her ability to see.

Like all adventures into a new subject, learning to draw has its stages. Usually one begins with excitement and anticipation for the new experience. Then the journey itself unfolds, with its ups and downs, 'aha' s and setbacks, periods of progress and occasional discouragement. But with persistance of effort, there almost always arrives a watershed moment, when what seemed confusing and alien is suddenly and clearly yours, inside you, a permanent part of your vision. There is no doubt when it happens, because there's the evidence, right there in the drawing, which came directly from your hand and no one else's.

What follows such an experience is a little like a honeymoon, as the student basks in the glow of this euphoric state of expanded vision, so alive with new possibility. Inevitably the obvious next question will be "Ok I've got it, I am very excited and really like this state. So how do I maintain it?"

Well, now you need to practice," says the teacher. So the student, armed with new eyes and fueled by a glowing resolve, goes off to find a pleasant hillside and sits down with a pad to draw. With new skills, he sketches in the various elements from what he sees. Now, though, the glow is starting to dim because things seem a bit of a mess. How does one render large areas of bushes and clouds so that they don't look like bubble gum? Indeed, how does one conceive a general work plan that deepens the first 'idea' into a more substantial image? How does one stay alert after three hours, so that the marks remain fresh and energetic? How does one actually know what to keep and what to leave out? Is it time to try some new tools? Is it time to introduce color? Suddenly it all seems much too confusing. It is not so fun anymore.

Just as most of us have discovered about honeymoons in our relationships, they are often disappointingly brief. The honeymoon does have an important purpose, to set up the vision of a possibility. But sooner or later, one realizes that the work that will actually sustain a relationship looks more like doing the laundry, washing the car, talking out problems, working out, picking up the kids and taking them to the dentist-what we sometimes call maintenance.

So what does maintaining art skills really look like?

Well, just as the the teacher said, it starts with committing to a regular schedule of practice, so that the 'muscle' called seeing is exercised regularly. Long term practice, however, needs to be redefined, since it naturally opens up new and exciting questions that call for a learning program of new skills, tools and methods. Each person needs to find the best way to create a sustaining practice, either by individual discipline or by using the support structure of a tutor or advanced coursework. For example, each of the studio disciplines-- drawing and design, painting, sculpture or printmaking-- expands one's visual vocabulary in different ways, while building upon one's new foundation of the skills of observation.

Art maintenance really has several parts: a) regularly drawing from life, which keeps the channels to the world open; b) acquiring and expanding art tool vocabulary; c) periodically refreshing one's art practice through advanced courses and workshops; and d) staying interested and connected with the work of other art-makers, past and present.

Just as each individual commits to his/her practice, the Directors of The Drawing Studio are committed to maintaining our cooperative organization as a bedrock of support to our students, our associates, and our community in the practices that support visual learning. At TDS we well know that if left to oneself, even with the best of intentions, the entropy of life takes over unless it is counteracted, as Eric Hoffer points out, with a program of maintenance, which is our physical commitment to keeping what we want in our lives around after the honeymoon is over.

As an added note, a generous contribution to the 2006 Annual Fund of TDS expresses your intention to maintain TDS's ability to do the job of being here for you. Please send or pledge your gift today.

©2006 Andrew Rush. May not be copied or reproduced in any form without permission