Robert The

Usually in these posts I look to artists who work with text in their work. I kept doing that but realized that I had used a lot of the artists already and wanted to see if there were any other artists that I could relate to that used other objects as the subject of their work. I went looking around and realized that there were probably some artists that used books in their work like I am currently doing. That is when I discovered Robert The.

Robert The is an artist who works with books. Often, his work is made out of old books. He uses old books that he finds and sometimes makes objects out of them. He either cuts objects out of the books or uses the rest of the book with the object cut out as the piece, if that makes any sense at all :)

I believe that this relates to me because of the book I am working with right now. This is inspiring because it reminded me that there are so many other things that I can be doing with my book. I realized that maybe I should be trying to get some tips from this artist's work and do some cutting or something. Maybe I can find some objects that relate to our friendship and cut it out of the book or something.

Books (many culled from dumpsters and thrift store bins) are lovingly vandalized back to life so they can assert themselves against the culture which turned them into debris." - Robert The 1995

I really liked this quote by Robert The regarding his work. It made me think about my book project in a way I had never thought of it before. i realized that even though it feels like I am ruining the book because I have had to tear some of the pages out and paint the pages over, I am also restoring it. It was a book that was going to be thrown away, but I have restored it into something beautiful because of what it represents.

Tying Everything Together

At the beginning of the year my statement for this blog said that I was centering my posts around my artwork and the main idea of my artwork, which is using text in my work in a variety of formats. I am still continuing this. Throughout the year, I have worked on several projects, all of which somehow had to do with text. I have explored different ways to form text on each project. I have painted words freehandedly, scratched words into plexiglass with a sharp object, used chalk, pastels, crayons, and graphite to write with, and also have burned words into one of my wood pieces with a wood burner. I have also surprised myself and have ended up working on several different "canvases" this year also. The craziest one was definitely a suitcase. I am currently using an old book as a canvas which has been an adventurous experience, because with that many pages there is so much opportunity! I have loved this project so far because I feel like I never run out of room to add things onto since there are so many pages. I am glad that I have stuck to my original focus point because I just love words and text, and it would be impossible for me to part with it.

All of the artists I have blogged about this year all have one thing in common, and it is that they too all work with text in the artwork. I have enjoyed learning about these artists and their work and seeing how they relate to my work as a whole, too. I have found that some of their ideas were also similar to mine in some of my pieces. My favorite thing about the artists that I have blogged about for inspiration is that a few of them put their inner thoughts into their art. They literally turn the small thoughts in their head into beautiful pieces. I have also done this in a few of my pieces, such as the flower and the two word walls. It is a nice way to free yourself of your jumbled inner thoughts but without having to fully reveal yourself. Although the artists and I have used different media in our pieces, (a lot of them used lights to project their pieces) I thought it was neat how well I could relate to them and to get ideas from them. 

Tyler Knott Gregson

Tyler Knott Gregson is a poet, photographer, and artist who resides in Montana. He mainly writes poetry. He has several poems that he has typed on a typewriter, supposedly without even thinking, just typing whatever comes to his mind. I really like this because I feel like I can relate to this also. The project that I am working on currently as a little bit of this in it. I am going to be writing some things in it that are just my thoughts about my friendship and am going to put those thoughts into letters to go into my book.

Also, some of his pieces are just what appear to be just notes that are simply jotted down. I really like this idea of a simple thought that comes to mind immediately going to paper right when thought of. I may try this in some of my pieces.

Book Continuation

I have been continuing to work on my book for Lindsey. I ended up painting the outside purple and the first part of the inside page yellow. I have decided to use bright colors for the majority of the book because this is a HAPPY project! I have officially decided to make each section of pages that I glue together different. I am probably going to have 8 or 9 sections of glued pages and will use a different technique to incorporate words into it in each section. So far, I am thinking about possibly burning some words into the pages, sewing (once I actually learn how), and painting of course. Also, I am probably not going to paint over every single page of words. I want to go through a few of the pages and maybe circle or highlight the words to make a message or something. I think it would be neat to be able to use some of the words in the book that were already provided to make it more creative. I think that I am also going to write a few small letters in the book for her. For example, like "when you are sad" or "when things don't go as planned" or something. I really want this to be something that she will enjoy and can take to college.

Book

I was trying to find an idea of what to do for my next project. I wrote down the top 5 things that were on my mind at the time, and I chose one to center my project around. I have decided to do my next project centered around Lindsey, my best friend. We are probably not going to be able to see each other as much next year because we probably are not going to be attending the same college. We have exchanged thousands if not millions of text messages over the year and we have had many great laughs and inside jokes. I wanted to continue with the personal theme and I wanted to use words, so I thought it might be a good idea to use an object that represented our friendship and interpret our texts and other things from our friendship on it somehow.

At first, I was going to use a binder from my first year of honor choir where we met to put the words on, but while a binder is semi-significant in this situation, it's just a binder. I wanted to do something more special, more personalized. So, I decided to make a book out of it. I think I am going to make the pages out of something. I really want to use paper, but have also thought about using a fabric of some sort. I really think that I also might want to put the text in there some other way other than just painting it or writing it. I am currently looking for ways to construct my own book.

Bob and Roberta Smith

Bob and Roberta Smith is actually just one man. He currently lives in London. Most of his artwork is in the form of painted signs, which I happen to be a fan of. He views signs as a way of expression. He turns art into political statements to get points across to people.

I discovered him by researching artists that make statements with the work by using text. Lately, I have been exploring with having my voice heard in my art. In some of my past projects, I have used the words in my head and my opinion and have put them on paper for everyone to see, even if I don't want everyone to know why I am saying what I am saying. I feel like he is a good example of this, because I feel like I can relate to some of his pieces without fully understanding why he did them. I feel like I am able to explain. My goal with my art is for people to be able to relate, but only to an extent.

The pictures of the pieces that I attached are some of his pieces that caught my eye. I LOVE bright colors(especially yellow and orange) and I think using bright colors is a good way to get people's attention. I think that the colors you choose to use in your art also affect the message in it. This is why in my art, I use the colors that relate best to the object I am painted on. I also choose colors based on the subject of my words.

I really like the bright colors and bold text in both of these pieces. The colors make each piece pop, but also confirm the mood of a powerful statement and an overall bold piece.

Kelly Mark

I have always loved neon lights. I love the boldness, the brightness, and the shine of them. I never viewed neon as artwork until I came across some artists that produce them and call it art. I was so happy to have stumbled upon Kelly Mark, who is an artist who uses neon lights. She often uses neon lights to construct thoughts and phrases. I really love the way she chooses to express her thoughts. She doesn't always use neon lights, but other materials.

I am happy to have come across her because I have been fascinated with words for a long time, but had never really realized how much I loved neon. I had always thought of neon lights as a way for restaurants to show that they were "open" or "closed", or for them to show what they are serving. But, when I saw the way Kelly Mark combined the thoughts in her head with neon lights, I loved it.

Another reason I got so excited when I discovered her was because I discovered some of her artwork on Pinterest and would often pin it to my art board, but I never knew who the artist was or if they could be discovered. I think this is inspiring because it would be neat if I could find a way to do one of these projects myself.

 This is my absolute FAVORITE piece of hers. I love this because this is something we can all relate to, the obsession with calling "shotgun" in middle school. Plus, its just a simple thought. I love that.

Not neon, but I love this one too. Just because it's her inner thoughts and show us a little about the artist as a person, but without revealing too much.