I am so excited to announce that my work is now represented at Salmon Falls Gallery in Shelburne Falls, MA!

If you have never been there, it is worth the trip. The gallery is beautiful and rich in great art. I was so pleased that when Donna came out to my studio, she chose work of mine that is abstract and my more serious work, including Janus- shown below. 

I am completely inspired by the affirmation. I hope to get some new work to the foundry before my Paradise City show in the spring.

If you happen to be going to Maine before then end of November, my work is there too! Check out the Green Heron Gallery in Ogunquit. They have more of my figurative bronze work including the Head of Man, shown below

​Why is it essential that you are making your art now?
And why it is so darned hard to do it now?

Have you noticed that there is a lot of crap going on in national politics right now? And that it causes fear and anger and that it is easy to feel dis-empowered and disheartened?

​There is so much that can be overwhelming and cause us to stick our heads in the sand. Better than pacing around the kitchen fuming and not knowing what to do.

I don’t know about you, but I have been carrying a lot of extra tension and anxiety feeling like I am not doing enough and I have no idea how to take it all in. I do not want to live a life of anger. I did that in my 20’s and I made a conscious choice not to live that way. So now what?

This is the thing, as artists and creatives, we have two essential roles to play:

We nourish the soul- our work nourishes the soul. Our souls individually, but also the souls of the people who connect with our work, and by doing that we are nourishing the soul of our culture.

And we speak the truth- the difficult, unclear, complex truth that underlies all of the words that are being flung around.

When we do our work honestly, we are giving voice to the very real but inarticulate places in our being, the places of complex and challenging paradoxes that need growth and healing. By falling in love with those places- caressing them into visual form, we are bringing compassion to them and it is compassion that is the beginning of healing. And boy does our culture need healing right now!

We are in a time of fear and anger. There is massive distrust happening and being fueled by certain politicians. We are losing sight of our shared humanity.

Fear is not a healthy place to live, nor is it a wise place to base our actions and words. When we are in fear we can only see the surface of things, the simplistic versions of us and them, right and wrong, perpetrator and victim. When we are in fear we are not able to move with compassion and love, and we make the divisions deeper. We aim at retribution and punishment. Is that really what we want?

In order to live in a culture of compassion and healing we need to do our art work. We need to speak the truth with concern for the well being of the entire community. We must let ourselves tap into the creative unconscious, muck around in the unknown, unclear stuff of our collective unconscious, and draw out those most needful truths. It is essential that we bring all of our love and patience to this work. And that we do the work of getting it out into the public sphere.

Let me just say that I understand that this is vulnerable work. When the whole world wants us to act now, when fear and anger are pushing on us, to take the time to dwell in the not-knowing seems like inaction. It seems selfish. It seems too darned slow.

And yet we need to do it. We need to nourish our souls by being present with our very particular sense of what is compelling, and we need to allow time for the discovery of truth. Our very particular truth.

The hardest part of this is trusting that you have something of value to offer. When you allow yourself into that place of not knowing, are you really going to be able to find something in there that is worth it? Do you have anything to say? We doubt ourselves. Of course we do.
 
In order to do this work well, you have to let go of the surface knowing. And when you are in fear and anger you cling to what you think you know- clear, simple, didactic things that other people are telling us is the truth. It is the nature of fear and anger.

Our job as artists is to put those things that we think we know off to the side, and tap into a place of deeper knowing- a place that has no words and speaks in the subtle language of color, shape, texture, rhythm and line.

You will know it when you are getting there. You have been there before. You will recognize that place of quickening, of deep connection, of oh my god did this come out of me? It is a humble feeling even as it brings more confidence and clarity of self.

We do not need to make overt political art work in order for it to be of value to the culture. We need to make work that brings us back to our shared humanity. Maybe it is overt political work, and maybe it is a reminder of the beauty that we live in- a respite from the anxiety and fear- a place of gratitude and nourishment that helps ground our audience in the love and compassion that is so essential to healing.

Or maybe it is playful and light, another way to open the heart. Maybe it articulates the pain or disquiet of the inner being, and brings a sense of awareness and compassion to it.

Art functions in so many different ways, and you really do not need to know ahead of time what your intention is. All you need to do is let yourself be in the process.

It may be that on Monday you need to nourishment of yummy beauty and on Tuesday or later that afternoon, or a month from now, you are ready to let that anger and frustration come out with clarity and purpose. We are complex human beings- we have a full range of emotions and they are all real. We need to express all of it in various ways.

And others, (think of all those people who do not know how to access that deep creative place) need to be moved and challenged and held and nourished by your work. You need to find a way to let it be seen. When you are ready.

So please, Keep making art! 

If this speaks to you and you would like to know more, please check out my web site, Taproot Arts and Insight.  (https://taprootartsinsight.com) I am a coach for artists who want to make work that matters and I work with individuals and with groups. I am also available for speaking engagements.

And please help me spread the word by liking and commenting and sharing!!

​There is still time to register for Taproot Studio Group!
There is a limit of 8 participants- so reserve your spot now!

Tuesdays 9:30- 12:30 in Hadley

(I may open an evening section if there is enough interest- so please let me know!)


Tap into yourself with visual art! Inspiration, community and freedom  for artists and creatives. Nourish your soul and come back to a solid sense of self by investing in your creative work.  Find that you can move in the  world with more confidence and ease because you  are taking the time to listen deeply to yourself through your creative explorations. Experience the sense of generosity and compassion returning as you feel fed, heard and valued on a deep level. 


​This is a group designed specifically for people who have some experience with visual arts, who remember how nourishing it once was and yearn to get back into it. ​You care about people, our culture, the environment and you are finding yourself disheartened. You have made a life or career that is about others, teaching, alternative healing practices, therapy, social work- and it is good work, built on your passion to serve-  but it has drained you and now you find that you hardly know yourself. Life has become hard and your motivation and direction does not seem intact. Maybe you have a hard time speaking your mind. 

It is time to come back home to yourself. Come to the Taproot Studio group, and give yourself permission to nourish your soul with your own creative practice. Bring your own materials- and an openness to play and find new doorways into your creative unconscious. I will provide inspiration for exploration in a very open ended way- developed to help you open up to your own creative source. I will bring my training as a life coach for artists, my experience as an artist and as a college professor to create a safe space for risk taking and open exploration.

You art work matters. It is essential to your own well being and to your ability to offer the world your gifts. 

Register for Taproot Studio Group

Warmly,
Val Gilman
​P.S.- please contact me if you have questions! ​

​
 Creative Rhythms

Fall is in the air, I can feel the quickening and excitement as if I too am going back to school. It has got me thinking about this question of creative rhythm and the assumptions we have about what we “should” be doing.

Do you have those nagging internal voices that say you should be in the studio every day, or that you are not a real artist if you are not making stuff all the time?

Ernest Hemingway famously wrote every morning first thing for a few hours. This is a model that gets held over our heads a lot, and I am sure it works well for a lot of people. But not everyone.

The question is, what works best for you? It is painful and demoralizing, not to mention unproductive to try to fit yourself into someone else's concept of the right work rhythm. 

And let me just say that if you have not been working in the studio for a long time for whatever (usually very good) reason, I have another blog coming soon to address this issue. 

If you are feeling cranky and irritable for no good reason- and everything seems hard, like there is added friction- it may be your need to tap into your creative work that is making itself known. Don't beat yourself up, just listen to the need and see what you can do to make space, without too much pressure, for your creative work to come alive again.

I am deeply aware that there are rhythms to my work, and that it is not static. It is like time, there are seasons with their varied qualities and foci, and there are phases of the moon, and times of day, and the filling and releasing of breath- that is there are cycles within cycles within cycles, and they all breath in and out.

This all seems obvious, but the point is that rather than berate yourself for not being in the studio all the time on schedule, maybe there is a way to become aware of what part of the cycle are you in right now and what feels right to support your creative needs in this moment?

You notice the beauty of the leaves changing and you relish the air becoming crisp even as you mourn the passing of the glorious garden, or note what you would like to do with it next spring. 

Similarly, there is a way to bring a grateful awareness to the fallow times in your creative life, a time of taking in or resting, as well as the productive times when you are focused and dedicated and on a roll.

Try this: Look at your past- think about the art that you have made over the years. Now name the times that you have created a body of work- or completed the body of work and shown it. You might even make a time time line with events marked with strong verticals along the time line.  Now use one color to denote  when it felt like you were really productive, another when you felt like you were just poking at it, and  a third when it felt like you were not doing anything. See if you notice a pattern. Are there other kinds of flow that you want to denote?

I have to admit that often when I finish a body of work and have a show, I realize that all that time that I had been thinking I was just poking at it, I was actually making work that ended up being essential to the show. And usually after a big event, I have to take some time off to regroup and re-calibrate

Recently, as I rushed toward a craft show with new pottery in production, and I was loving the sense of productivity and energy. Now I am breathing out- re- calibrating, and I am aware that soon I get to settle into a quieter kind of internal work, making sculpture with a sense of meandering and enjoying the not knowing. And I am aware that having just accomplished the craft show, I need to rest and take care of my nest. I love the variation.

And it can be challenging to start up again after a fallow time, and how do you know if you are ready to start again. That is the stuff of another article. For this one, just remember to be kind to yourself and allow yourself to notice where you are right now in your rhythms. Breathing in and out, sleeping and waking, and having a cup of tea.

I am very curious about what you notice in how your rhythms work.

If you feel inspired to reply- I invite you to add your voice to my blog!

As artists, we often need to write and speak about our work. I get it that it is hard. And vulnerable. And it usually feels like we have nothing to say and we have no idea why we are drawn to do the things we are doing. And let’s be honest- this culture of ours does not appreciate mucking around in the not knowing (i.e. creative work).

We live in a culture that believes in logical linear thinking, step by step plans that get to goals and clear minded projects. Yes of course… and under all of that is the mucking around in the not-knowing for a while. Creativity is messy- and writing about our work is scary because we don’t like to appear so messy.

But here is a story about writing to inspire you.
​
I just wrote an artist statement for a piece that I am submitting to a competition. It took a few days of letting it stew in the back of my head while the front of my head said I have nothing to say. And then early one morning, with my first cup of tea, before I could get in my own way, I let it flow.

And it turns out I did have something to say. It also turns out that this thing that I made really does have something to do with what I think and feel about what is going on in this culture. Infact it turns out that it would be a good thing if this idea can get out there in the form of a piece in the show that I am submitting it for- it matters more than just another notch on my stick, line on my resume. (Nothing like feeling that I am working toward those lines to slow me down with a sense of drudgery and resentment, but that is for another article)

It wasn’t until I wrote the statement that I realized what I had been doing in my work and that it feels important to get the idea out into the public discourse. Yes, my work matters! (so hard to believe most of the time!)

The funny thing about this one is that I thought I was just doing a portrait commission- a bust of a man because his wife wanted it, but as I did the piece and connected to the woman, who I like a lot, and her appreciation of her husband, I was tapping into something deeper. Something in me about what is important in a man, and how challenging it is to be a man of integrity right now. This is something in our culture that needs to be attended. And I want to add my voice to the conversation.

We are not separate from our culture, as artists we are part of the culture and all of what we think, feel, want for our culture will come through when we do our work. Our culture needs us to tap in to ourselves and find those difficult truths and articulate them. It’s our job.

We need to not only make the work (without necessarily knowing what it is about as we make it), but we also need to write and speak about it. The act of bringing words to the work is an act of taking what we have been creating below the surface of our conscious thought- and bringing it to the clarity and focus of consciousness. It helps us to see the value of what we do, and it helps us to deepen our understanding of our convictions. And it is our job as artists in our culture to provide this deeper insight both in the form of the art work and in the form of our words.

If you are an artist or creative and could use some help believing in the importance of your work, finding your rhythm, getting the work out there, just making time and space to make work, please take this quiz to see if I might be the right person to help.

You can find the artist statement I am referring to on the portraits page of my web site.
 

​It was a thrill to be exhibiting at Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton last weekend- October 7,8, and 9 - Columbus Day Weekend, and a huge part of that was being able to talk to so many folks about my work and how it relates to their own lives. I loved hearing reflections on those tiny cups that I have everywhere, that they seem like a sacred space for the human element in the swirl and confusion of life, and how nice it is to have that reminder to take a moment of stillness and reflection, to nourish yourself. I loved knowing the very individual ways that people related to the organic abstract forms that I have been making- in a basic way it is the connection between the body and the psyche, but that only touches the surface as they are really expressions of parts of us, that have no words.

I also loved hearing how people connect to my figurative sculpture. I was deeply moved to be present for the very careful consideration of how my sculpture could or will fit into your home. It made me reflect on how the home is an extension and expression of the self, and if there is more than one person creating the home, then it is also an expression of the relationship. I am honored to have my sculpture be a part of that. I have always felt that the viewer serves to complete the piece- bringing your own life and perspectives to bear on the meaning of the piece. I felt like I got a good dose of that last weekend and it is beautifully humbling, and inspiring to keep me going with making work!

I will be back at Paradise City, Northampton in May, and I am still deciding about Marlboro in March.

In the mean time I have an open studio event with the Shutesbury Artists Collective coming up on November 4 that I hope you will come out for!
​
And I have put a few things up on Etsy- more to come!

I wrote up some thoughts about my work for my Artist Information Page on the Paradise City site.

Please come to Paradise City Arts Festival on Columbus Day weekend in Northampton and look me up!
I will be at Booth 327. Get a coupon for $2 off tickets. You can bring that coupon with you and buy tickets at the door- or you can save yourself from standing in line and buy your tickets on-line here.

And check out my artist profile on the Paradise City site.

Where: Val's house- 85 Baker Road, Shutesbury, MA 01072
and
Leslie's house- School House Road, Shutesbury


Its our third time! The Shutesbury Artists Collective is going to have an open studio sale again on November 4, 2017. Look for our fancy new signs- we are getting official and having them printed! 

I will have pottery and sculpture. Hope to see you there!