6 Artists who made it big after turning 70

An article in Blouin ArtInfo International Edition features six artists, clockwise from top left Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Etel Adnan, Mary Delany, Carmen Herrera, Grandma Moses, and Alice Mackler who achieved recognition after turning 70. Needless to say they are all women who raised families or had other careers before turning to art. It gives me the hope that I can achieve mastering my art practice.

Use the link to find the complete story with slide show.

"Grow old with me the best is yet to come." -Robert Browning

Lifelong Learning

I wanted to do a MFA when I finished my Bachelor of Fine Arts however life circumstances has altered that goal. I realize that the postponement may be a permanent one. So instead of wishing and hoping, I am working on my own to do the things I might have done within a Masters program. I invite you to join me in my journey and will share with you resources as I discover them. 

While in school the nature of my art process was situated in the classroom. What, when and how I chose to do work was reflected by assignments in any given semester and instructor. As I look back I realize how lucky I was to have a rich and varied experience from which to draw from for my next phase.

My process since finishing my BFA has been exploring new mediums, techniques while at the same time responding to artist calls. It has made the transition exciting. However I am ready to create a body of work that is defined internally from start to finish. I often hear and indeed notice that some artists can be recognized by their work. One looks at a painting and says that's a Van Gogh. I also have been told that this is important to strive toward, I need to settle into one mode to be recognized. My internal response has been "but I like many different mediums and styles. I love to experiment with what a medium can do and I want to learn more by doing". Is this naive? 

"Be Still My Pounding Heart" 

Although I explored encaustic, oil, video, performance, acrylic, and sculpture  my content has remained the same, "What is it like to be human in our world". I am interested in the psychological processes when meeting life challenges. Hence my exploration of carcinoid tumours and my inspiration from Ross Bleckner both in style and content. The first work I saw from Bleckner was his painting of glowing funeral urns in his "Memorial" paintings. I was captivated by the glowing images and the subject matter. I researched him further and discovered "History of the Heart" which was created as a response his father's medical crisis. I was attracted to both his style and willingness to explore those internal physical and psychological life crisis. I think this element is still a constant in my art making whichever medium I use.

My first step to finding my equilibrium outside school is to re-evaluate my process.  I want to tease out details of my process for creating. My goal is to be spontaneous but rigorous in my approach. One area that I am revisiting is the use of the seven elements of design: balance, unity, emphasis,movement, rhythm, contrast and proportion. So this is where I begin - the basics. I found the resource below that I'm sure to use many times over in my travels. 

Resource: Art Dictionary

SHORT Video: Doris Salcedo: Istanbul

SHORT: Doris Salcedo: Istanbul

I follow Artist 21. It is a way I can explore the process of art making while I discover in me what it is that I want to say and how I want to say it. On the one hand art can be playful, gentle, in another it can strike to the core of human existence. It is frightening sometimes to reveal innermost questions that have the most personal meaning. Doris Salcedo's work succeeds in connecting the personal with the larger narrative that crosses boundaries of time and place. To view this interview click on the above link.