Collaborations
From my own experience, group projects are fun and have helped birth new ideas for future paintings. My series Ancient Boats developed from one such collaboration with the painter Ryan Goodwin (www.goodwingallery.com). We bought thirty small, beveled pieces of wood from an art store and painted the surface with gesso. Then, we split the group in half, laid out all of our acrylic paint and each completed fifteen small works. As a challenge, we agreed upon the subject Ocean. All the paintings were either based on a literal, symbolic or abstract meaning related to this topic. We could paint in our preferred style or something entirely new.
As we created each piece in the Ocean series, it was fun to work with someone else in the room. For most painters that have left the college environment, we are accustomed to creating our works in a solitary place. This experience allowed for comradeship and talk about our craft, as well as an excuse to order pizza and turn up the music!
Another project idea is to make Christmas ornaments. One year, Ryan and I bought several round, glass ornaments, painted them and then gave them as gifts to friends and family. Before splitting up the group, we took a photo of all the ornaments together. Since a Christmas tree environment would be too stereotypical, we arranged the ornaments in the refrigerator.
In other cases, collaborations have spear-headed art exhibits. When I first moved to Chicago, a group of painters secured a place for an exhibit, created all the advertising, and hung the show. For an artist that is just starting out and looking for a simple venue, this can be one of the easiest solutions.
Whether the collaboration yields a breakthrough idea or an art exhibit, it can add to a general sense of well-being. It is difficult for anyone to produce good art year after year, and it is most certainly not as fun alone. A collaboration for the sake of entertainment, to keep one’s ideas from going stale, to encourage or expand one’s thoughts and craft, are all worthy reasons to engage in such a project.
To view the complete Ocean painting series, visit Ryan Goodwin’s site at http://geocities.com/goodwingallery/23.htm.