Theme Challenge Discussions...Creative Stuff Going On In Here!!

[Rustybucket]

 And just so you can have a heads up and start those creative juices flowing,  I'm  posting a schedule of the themes

Schedule of UpcomingArt  Challenges:  
 #63  April       9         ”Oxymoron”   Free Theme

#64    April     30        “Friendship”  (Bring a friend and each pay 1/2) Pay Theme

#65    May       21           “It’s All Natural”  (Nature Based Art)  Free Theme

#66   June      11            “A Dog’s Life”  (Dog Art)  Pay Theme

#67    July       2             “Then & Now”  (A new take on an old trend)  Free Theme

#68   July      23            “Floral”   Pay Theme

#69  Aug.       13             “Interpret a Famous Painting”  Free Theme

#70  Sept.        2             “The Cat’s Meow”  (Cat Art)  Pay Theme






 A change in the day of the week for the galleries to be posted:  MONDAY and be sure to note that the due date is on the Sunday before

Go to the home page of the Artist Challenge and check out the details (emails are coming shortly).

Thanks for showing up!!!

[Gimnick]

Thanks for having us, Lady Bucket  . Going through the schedule of the first few themes, kudos to you, Rusty. That is a fine piece of planning right there and some excellent choices for themes to kick things off. Can't wait to see the galleries for these!

[Gimnick]

Quick question: If this upcoming Challenge is about what we've been working on during the winter break, it can be 2-D or 3-D, right? Because I've been more working on the shop side of things as opposed to the studio side, and I've got a few wooden chairs I salvaged and re-finished, if that's acceptable...

[ArtisticRhythms]

I like these, too, Rusty...Return to Oz...hmmm, my brain is already churning with ideas for this one! 

[Rustybucket]

Lelan,

You're the artist... "make it work".

[Rustybucket]

Oh Sarah,  I know..."Return to Oz" is a good one.  The possibilities...............................

[Chaotic Tranquility]

Great themes to amp-up that artistic imagery .. brava Rustybucket !

[ArtisticRhythms]

Really, what was with those monkeys in OZ, right?! Anybody else have nightmares from them? 

((Hi Chaotic  ))

[Rustybucket]

Flying Monkeys...Seriously!?!  (way  worse than the witch)

[Gimnick]

Decisions, decisions... a conniving hag whose mortal weakness is water or a bunch of mindless vicious primates than can rip a person's limbs off with ease and drop out of the sky to do it...

 In any event, I also have a mixed media piece I'm working on (shades of "From the Ashes" and a couple sawblades that I've been toying with.... now the REAL decisions begin. 

[Chaotic Tranquility]

I dunno .. no water = one dirty old broad!  No wonder the poor monkey minions were peeved!  I be eager for ANY mission just to get away from that stench too!  And who in their right mind keeps a handy ( NOT a rusty ) bucket of acid-equivalent in their evil castle, pray tell!  Hello, death wish!

(( Hello Artistic, how have you been? ))
(( Ooo .. saw blaaades!! ))

[ArtisticRhythms]

Agreed, Rusty. And how about those little jackets and hats like a bell boy (?) wears...DISTURBING!

I think it was the witch's cackle that was scarier than her appearance to me, although I seem to remember some pretty terror-inducing eyeballs she had 

(Lelan, I really like your sawblade art I had wanted to ask you what led you to it? )

Ha! True, Chaotic...I mean, she must never have bathed...EVER. Now THAT is disturbing. Ya know, I did not immediately connect those dots (no water=filthy stench) when I first saw the movie.   

And was The Wizard of Oz one of your family's movies, like, for example...The Sound of Music (which as kids we could recite whether we wanted to or not!)?

[Gimnick]

Sarah, the saw blade art started way back about a hundred years ago when I was teenager. I was developing my skills in both art and carpentry, so I had access to paint and blades, and I,d seen a few examples of local folk artists doing some wildlife and rustic scenery on old two-man saws, so I started doing snow scenes on circular saw blades pretty consistently in 1992, then brought the support along with me when I transitioned to more abstract themes around the turn of the century 

[ArtisticRhythms]

Thanks, Lelan, for satisfying my curiosity. I have a lot of admiration for carpenters, especially when they are artists, as well. Adding to my limited skills is towards the top of my list 

[Rustybucket]

While you creative minded artists are thinking about Flying Monkeys,what are your thoughts on "Unattainable"?

Were the Ruby Shoes the only thing the Wicked Witch of the West couldn't get? 

Is it something/someone you can't attain or what you keep others from attaining? Intentional?  Emotional? Questionable?  Is it by an act of God?  Or held off by a cruel hand?  Does it matter? Something you need to keep for yourself/by yourself?

[Gimnick]

The only options I'm seeing for Unattainable as of yet are topics that many in here are probably tired of hearing about. I'm trying to see past the heartache and be truly creative by not not going with what for me would be too obvious a choice... don't know how I'm going to do to do that just yet, so I was remaining mum on that theme for the time being.

[Rustybucket]

Oh Lelan!!!     How wonderful of you to be an example of stretching your talent and creativity beyond the obvious.  That is one of the benefits of doing the theme challenges....we might be stuck with what appears to not be attainable for ourselves.  But question yourself with this:  What do you hold that is unattainable for someone else?  Where is your power of holding it out of the reach of another?  See, I know you to be a generous person and that would appear to be out of character for YOU.  But we all hold something back that is ours and ours alone. It's a mistake to only think about what is not attainable to you.

[ArtisticRhythms]

Oh, interesting point, Rusty...what first came to mind is that 'reach for the stars' saying ( cheesy grin), because no matter how high you reach there is always a 'higher' that could be attained. Actually, probably not ALWAYS, but I guess it just reminds me that every person has his/her limits and that you have to be able to realize a high but reachable goal and be able to let go of the 'unattainable', whatever that may be for you.

Rusty, you pose many thoughtful questions and directions...I am going to have to ponder on this awhile!   

[Gimnick]

  but if I share what I hold away from others because it's meant for only me, will I not be essentially making that very thing attainable to others by sharing it in here? hahahahaha... just jackin' with ya Rusty. I agree with Sarah, you've definitely gotten these old rusty (adjective, not proper noun, lest there be confusion) gears turning on that one. I'll have to put some serious though into that challenge...

[Rustybucket]

Not to kill the suspense...but when I was considering different themes, I thought about a gallery of paintings we did not want to sell but keep for ourselves.  Hence, Unattainable. Once I had that title in my head then the possibilities were interesting.  Have I decided what is unattainable? Not yet.  I have too many ideas. 

And Gimnick,  my brain also raced to the personal pile.  I guess that is because my art is personal.  But there are ways to express personal with out being to0 literal.  For example:  When is a tree not really a tree?