Deborah Roberts

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/12-pieces-of-advice-for-artists-more-practical-than-follow-your-heart_55ad681de4b065dfe89f27da?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000030 Follow me on twitter @ deborah191

Deborah Roberts: Nina Simone: Notions of being a Black artists in t... : As an artist whose artistic practice draws on the notions of acceptance and inclusion when it comes to race, beauty and gender I feel so ins...

As an artist whose artistic practice draws on the notions of acceptance and inclusion when it comes to race, beauty and gender I feel so inspired by Nina Simone's thoughts and actions during the fight for civil and equal rights! Here's a quote from the documentary What Happened, Miss Simone that is so prevalent today.  "I chose to reflect the times and situations in which I find myself in... that to me is my duty! And at this crucial time in our lives when everything is so desperate and everyday is a matter of survival... How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times? "                                                                                                                   Nina Simone

Life can be very distracting, but if you want to succeed as an artist, you have to have a consistent artistic practice.  Having consistency in your studio practice is very important. I always find it funny when artist tell me that they haven't work in a while. I get it, It's a struggle to create time for your artwork while having to work, manage a family and your social life. I'm only writing about this because I haven't done any work in about a month in a half. This hurts me and the more time that flies bye makes it even harder for me to get back to work.  Last week, I went right back to work full throttle! Working on my new text pieces and preparing to do some large scale screen printing projects. I feel stronger as an artist when I work out my problems by creating huge amounts of art. Even though, I wasn't painting during my "hiatus" I was doing research, writing, grappling with language and thinking about whats next for the work. Having a creative

Uh- huh ... metal surface, let's see what this brings.

Deborah Roberts: Be a creative superpower! : I can't wait to go to the junk yard today, it's the best place to find great things for your studio practice with little cost to yo...

I can't wait to go to the junk yard today, it's the best place to find great things for your studio practice with little cost to your budget. I love doing mixed media collages and you can find tons of things there for changing, challenging and aging surfaces. Recently, I found some weird metal tools for applying different textures. What I'm realizing is that there are so many ways to do art, no longer are limited to one tradition, one set of tools, one identity or one discipline. The relationships that you form in your practice can be versatile and multi-dimensional which is key to having a long and rewarding artistic career. It use to be unthinkable for an artist to have alternative ways of creating works. If you did film, then you had to do only film.That's so last century!  Lucky for us you can do anything you want in your practice as long as it's working and making the work better. Working like this gives your work time to blossom, because allows the work to

Deborah Roberts: Art Mags! : I love art magazines! Whether it's ARTNEWS, Art in America, ARTFORUM or Modern Painters I can't have too many. They are a great sour...

I love art magazines! Whether it's ARTNEWS, Art in America, ARTFORUM or Modern Painters I can't have too many. They are a great source of inspiration, knowledge, creativity, and a tremendous resource tool. When I'm in the studio and I've hit a wall I normally take a minute and thumb through a couple of books. It gets my mind off of my work and helps me to gather my thoughts. Also, they help me to focus on my own personal goals. But have anyone else noticed that the prices have shot up? Dam! I don't really like reading them on line, but I think that maybe the way of the future. It's not as exciting as getting a clean copy in the mail, but times are a changing. Here a new one I spotted today... It's so cool.