Postcard Sets

 Over the years I have experimented with different ways of making my art accessible to the general public, art appreciators who might not have the wall space or cash for an original painting. I have tried mugs, canvas bags, calendars, and Christmas cards. I also made prints of favorite images. It all resulted in being on a first name basis with my postal clerk, but I never made a profit. Often I lost money, and I still have shelves of Christmas cards. (Just $25 for ten cards!)

Then about six years ago a friend, Cari Jenkins, suggested that I create a set of 50 postcards, each of a different painting. Cari and I were both hosting weekly open table dinners to draw people together, and Cari thought the cards could be community builders.

I selected 50 paintings that depicted very different emotions--couples dancing, women escaping fire, parents embracing children, etc.--and I sent them off to Moo.com for printing. I ordered boxes for each set from U-line, and I printed prompts for using the cards at dinner parties, with team building, in writing classes, for small groups, and for journaling. Some of the prompts include:

For dinner parties:

• Spread the cards out on the table and invite people to select two or three cards that appeal to them. Ask them to share with the group why.
  
• What picture describes a hope you have for the year? 
• Is there a picture you have that represents a desire you have for your life? 

Journaling prompts:

• Flip through the cards until one catches your attention. Pay attention to what you feel as you liok at it. What memories come to mind? Does it embody what you're feeling about life?
• Lay out the cards in front of you. Is there one that feels like an invitation for the upcoming day or the future?
• Close your eyes and draw a card at random, and ask God to remind you of one of his promises. Open your eyes and look at the picture. Is there a promise that comes to mind? Write about it. 
  

Team building  prompts: 

• Choose a picture of what it feels like to be a part of this team.
• Choose a picture that depicts what it feels like to come in to work everyday.
• Have each person select a picture that represents someone else on the team. How does that picture best represent the character of that person?

For teachers and writing groups:

• Draw two cards. Write a story base on the two cards from the perspective of one of the figures. Then rewrite the story based on the perspective of the other figure. Combine the stories with only quoted dialogue, no descriptions.
• Draw three cards.Write a story. Next, write a completely different story based on the same three cards.
• Draw a card. Write a monologue in which one of the characters talks about things s/he has done in the past and will do in the future.
  

For Christian small groups:

• Choose a picture that best describes how you are feeling in relationship with others.
• Choose a picture that describes what you think about God.
• Choose a picture that best describes what you need from Jesus today or this year.

I posted the postcard sets on-line and set them out at open studios, and they have a growing following. It has been an idea that has stuck. Word has spread primarily via word of mouth. They have sold all over the USA, and I've gotten feedback from as far away as Kenya and Australia. Someone in Bolivia is using them with women who have been sexually abused. Based on popular demand, I made a second set two years ago. I ship out a steady stream of boxes throughout the year and continue to be on a first name basis with my postal clerk. This year I hope to make a third set. 

A heads-up to other artists who might consider doing this--these are not a big money-maker. I am breaking even, but I primarily sell the cards because it feels good to have the images out in the world and communicating. It's especially poignant for me to be able to revisit paintings that have sold.

The cards are available for $39.25 if you order them on-line or $30 if you pick them up at my home in Oakland, Ca. Prompts are available for free upon request. To order, go to carolaust.com/carol/content/postcards . If you do not want to do PayPal, you can mail a check to Carol Aust, 655 63rd St., Oakland, Ca, 94609. And if you have any questions, email me at carol.aust.art@gmail.com.

Five Tips for Hosting an Art Salon

 We have hosted many art salons over the years. These have always been a little funkier than the slick salons posted on-line with women in pencil-thin dresses in vast New York lofts, and I don't think Gertrude Stein would see much similarity with her Parisian salons. Ours have always been held at our home with any and everyone on my mailing list invited for an evening of sharing what they've done creatively. 

My favorite salon story concerns a dear friend who bought a new date to our salon, and when their turn came to share, we pushed aside the dining room table, and they danced a sultry tango to a recorded song. At the end of the evening, his date shyly asked to buy a romantic painting of a dancing couple, and a year later, another of my dance paintings was on their wedding program.

Last Sunday evening we hosted our first post-Covid art salon. Unlike our gatherings from 4 or 5 years ago when the house was bursting at the seams, this one was a sedate 13 people, but everyone here seemed to realize how wonderful it was to be together and sharing after years of isolation.

As an artist, I increasingly feel that relationships are as valuable or more so than art objects. Art is a precious way to bring people together. Our world right now is so thirsty for connection and a chance to embrace creativity.

If you are interested in hosting an art salon, here are a few how-to's:

• Cast your net widely--make repeated invitations on Instagram and Facebook and even send out postcards as well as personal invitations to friends. Explain that everyone is welcome to bring food to share as well as a song or poem or story or visual art piece or dance to share. Request RSVP's by a deadline a few days prior, but hold that lightly and welcome everyone.
• Start with a potluck dinner so people can get acquainted.
• Gather and give each person a chance for a brief introduction, noting who has something that they've created. Explain that after introductions, you will set a timer for maybe 10 minutes per person who has brought something to share. If the group is larger that 15 people, split it into two smaller groups, if you have an extra room available.
• If there's time, let people ask questions or make comments after each creative has shared. Applaud each participant!
• Have a mingling/networking time at the end. Keep your feelers out for people who feel ready for more community, who might want to be in a new critique or writer's group. My latest Get Out the Art Group spun off from a couple of salons.
  

8 Strategies for Overcoming Creative Block

 I wrestle a lot with creative block. When I'm going through it, I feel like a failure. I procrastinate and am hyper-critical of what I paint. I am the queen of creative block, but there are a few things I do that help.

The hardest part can be just getting to the studio. Reserving the time to create is hard! Sometimes I just go to the studio and clean.

Draw every day. Draw on scraps of paper and old envelopes. Draw when you're waiting for an appointment or for a friend. Draw at church or at concerts or plays.

As a child, I couldn't leave the dinner table until I had eaten everything on my plate (which resulted in many late nights, eyeing a slab of cold liver). I sometimes harness the waste-not-want-not maxim by filling my palette with all sorts of colors and not leaving until the paint is all used up.

Put a microphone to the negative voices in your head. On a scrap of paper, write down the lies, the negative put-downs from people in the distant or recent past, the ragings of an internal monitor. Then next to the lies, write down the truths. My list might include, "My best work is all behind me," and my response: "God will guide my brush."

I need to remember that I am more than what I make; I am not earning my salvation here. I am a beloved child of God, and my work is as unique as my fingerprint. It helps to tell myself sometimes that what I'm creating right now is for my eyes only. I love this quote by Phoebe Waller-Bridge about writing: "Whenever I get stuck on something, I'm like, 'What would I do if I wasn't afraid? What would I write if I wasn't afraid? What would I say in this situation if I wasn't afraid?'"I think the same applies to the visual arts.

Be around creative people who make it seem normal. In 1985, I went to a Bruce Cockburn concert that changed the trajectory of my life. The music was great, yes, but more than that was seeing the performer on stage just being himself without apology, being creative in a unique way that only he could be. I felt the permission that night to find my own road, to let go of the pressures to conform and please others. 

Another tip for creative block: move your body. Crank up the music and dance in the studio. And then do crazy psychedelic base coats with big brushes and long strokes. And then paint over them, but let a little of their energy peek through.

Or paint pink.

Why Art?

 People who know me well know that I wrestle with this question--why, in this broken world, should people continue creating visual art and music and dance and poetry? I spend three mornings a week teaching children and young adults how to read; isn't that more important?

My answer is that the world needs both. The world needs radical acts of service, and the world also need art. Here are a few reasons why creative acts are so vital:

For beauty

One day years ago I was stuck in heavy traffic on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. It was a hot day, and my car window was down. Just then a street musician began playing a beautiful melody on the flute. I was transported. At that time I was working full-time as a teacher, but the beauty of that song made it possible for me to serve another day.

When I wake up in the morning, this painting is the first thing I see:

 It's like a prayer for my day, giving me the strength to go out and do what needs to be done.

For community  

Art draws people together. My roommate is struggling with chronic pain and a deadening job, but when she plays music with friends, she's transformed. Her laughter joins in with the melodies.

For the prophetic voice

This painting is hanging in an environmental law office. The person who bought it said it was to remind her staff of what they are fighting for.

 

A hospice patient looked at this painting and told me, "I always thought I'd go into darkness when I died, but when I look at this I realize that I'll go into light." 

Sometimes when I create a painting, I don't realize its full significance until it goes out into the world. 

For the joy of creating 

I bristle at the label of "consumer." 

I am the most completely myself when I am creating. Even if what we make is never seen or heard or read by the world, the act of creating makes the world a better place.

 

 

Do you have other reasons for creating?

Leaky Buckets

 I was recently in an art show at my church on climate change. I showed this painting which is titled "Leaky Buckets." Members of the congregation found it disturbing. At a home open studio a week later, a couple looked at it and said, "We need hope. This is too dark."

So be it. Sometimes art needs to give us hope, but sometimes we need to be disturbed.

Creating a Portal to the Heart--Amplification through Simplification

 When I paint a human figure in my paintings, I am attempting to create an entry point, a portal
where the viewer can become a part of the image.

By keeping the faces simple, as opposed to a realistic or photographic portrait, I'm applying Amplification through Simplification, a common graphic novel technigue that I first saw in “Understanding Comics” by Scott McClud. McClud writes, "By stripping down an image to its essential meaning, and artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can't."

 

When someone looks at my paintings, the landscapes might be realistic, at least more so than the faces. But by keeping the faces simplified, the viewer can superimpose their own face into the painting. Often at a show or open studio, viewers will tell me, "That's me!" Sometimes they'll wipe their eyes a little and say, "I really don't understand why I'm crying..." I feel that I've used a secret back door, bypassing language, that gets to the heart of things, at least if a painting is successful.

Shipping Artwork

 I ship a lot of artwork. Many years, my shipping bill exceeds my material expenses. If someone purchases a painting that needs to be shipped, I usually contact Handle With Care on Piedmont Ave here in the East Bay, and they get me an estimate that I pass on the the buyer. They do a great job of packing and shipping. If I'm shipping a show to a gallery and have to foot the bill myself, I pack the work in computer boxes and ship it out via a friend who has a commercial UPS license. (Thanks, Doug!)

I recently had to pack up a 44"x45" diptych to be checked onto an international flight to Australia the next day. Handle with Care couldn't get to it in time, so I packed it up myself. Airlines have a reputation for being rough on oversized baggage, so I had to be careful. I documented the process that I've come up with over time. Many thanks to Rab Terry at The Studio Gallery in SF for talking me through this system years ago.

I first wrap the painting in soft old cotton sheets. That goes with my preference of using recycled materials whenever possible.

Then I create a box within a box, cutting heavy duty foam core to fit inside the cardboard box. 

I wedge scraps of styrofoam and cardboard inside to further protect the painting.

At the time of this filming, I was still using plastic tape, but recently I found a great paper tape online that's biodegradable and has been holding up very well.

Here's a photo of the friendly baggage handlers.

The painting arrived safe and sound! 

This painting was especially poignant, because I had painted it right after I had a bad run-in with altitude sickness that resulted in a grand mal seizure and a 24 hour coma. The person who now owns this painting is a physically impaired dancer who is working on new virtual reality that will allow disabled people to "dance" while wearing headsets and making slight movements with their bodies. This painting is so deepened by being out in the world!

Sanchez Art Center 50/50 Show, 2022

The Sanchez Art Center's 50/50 show is herre! The show dates are September 9 and 10, 2022. for the ticketed fundraiser with open to the public dates through October 9. The Sanchez Art Center is at 1220-B Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica, Ca.

All of the paintings below are on 6"x6" masonite panels and are $125/each or $100/each for two or more, plus tax. I have included some but not all of my paintings in the show.

 

#39--"Connection Point #2"

 

 

#12--"Looking at You"

 

 

#22--"Close"

 

#42--"Adored"
 

 

#11--"Eye to Eye"

 

 

#8--"Coming Home"

 

 

#9--"Backlit"

 

 

#44--"Connection Point #3"

 

 

#38--"Kiss #5"

 

 

 

#21--"Before"

 

 

#24--"Connection Point"

 

#38--"Kiss #4"

 

 

#13--"Look at Me"

 

#36--"Pink Embrace"

 

 

#4--"Comfort"

 

#5--"Comfort #2"

 

#2--"Kiss #1"

 

#48--"Tribe #2"

 

#47--"Tribe"

 

 

#18--"Contact"

 

#19--"Contact #2"

 

Where do paintings come from?

 

 

I am constantly on the prowl for new ideas. One of my favorite spots is the dry dock yard at the Berkeley Marina. I'll sneak past the Do Not Trespass sign with my sketchbook in the evening and draw the beautiful sweeping lines of the boats. I also have small wooden boat models in my studio that I can refer to.

I might start with one image in mind, but I change or my feelings change, and soon the children in the boat are replaced by a tree...

I feel that giving myself permission to draw quietly for awhile is the best source for new work. Also, getting out in nature and grabbing photographs of anything that gives me pause helps a lot. And seeing other artists' work gives me courage to take risks, paint big, paint small, paint risky.

 

Being a Mom and Artist

Parenting is challenging and rewarding under any circumstances. Being a parent as an artist is doubly so.

People who don't understand the artist's life think you're a mom with a hobbie, and why can't you volunteer? Relatives tell you of the necessity of two income families in this era, not realizing that you earned more than your partner that year. There's no boss insisting that you work when the kids are sick, which is quite wonderful, but sometimes you wish there was a boss setting boundaries. 

 

It was so challenging to reserve those few hours of painting time when my kids were small, but then when I got out to the studio, all I could paint was them.

But all of these frustrations pale at the delight of having a tot perched on a stool by your palette, cooing, "More purple, Mommy, more yellow;" the thrill of chasing toddlers through an opening art reception, narrowly dodging neon sculptures; the comfort of having young adults come at the end of an open studio weekend and help load up the cars.

  

My daughter remembers riding into San Francisco with me when she was very small and I had to deliver a show in a storm. Paintings were hanging out the back of the open hatch of the Honda, and the torential rain was blowing in. I held the steering wheel with one hand and gripped a tarp over the canvases with the other while my daughter cried. Upon arriving at the gallery, she happily buzzed about as I did the paperwork.

I remember bringing my children with me when I hung a cafe show after the business had closed for the night. They helped me carry the paintings through the urban neighborhood, and while they did their homework at a table, the staff brought them chocolate.

They have posed for paintings along with their friends, helped with painting titles, shared their opinions on compositions even when in preschool, and guided me throught the perplexities of social media.

My grown daughter told me recently, "It wasn't until I got to college that I realized how unusual our home was. Growing up with artists, I just thought this was the way it was for everyone." It's so delightful now to watch then explore their own creative outlets.