Author: Melis Fusco

As planned, I have finished up tattooing in Arizona and settling back in Colorado! Feels good to be home again. Colorado brings me some of my favorite clients and I am looking forward for the busy months to come. I have all new projects starting this July, and I am still taking appointments too so if interested please fill out the contact form. I will be in Denver for the Summer into the early fall, and come September I will add in a few days a month up at Godspeed in Breckenridge. Also this summer I will be traveling often, Off The Map in Oregon mid July, (still have 2 openings) Seattle in early August, (taking appointments now), Hell City in Phoenix end of August (Friday still avail), Mid September Paradise Tatto Gathering in Keystone CO! Cant wait! When I am not traveling I will be tattooing only in Denver.  I will make an announcement when Breckenridge is added into my schedule. Wishing you all a great summer, keep that skin out of the sun, and see you soon!!! 🙂 ~m

At one time or another in every artist’s life, including myself will or have all experienced some type of artist block. There are many levels of creative block,  from just the annoyance  of intrupted flow that is short lived or even deeper resulting in depression, lack of self worth, loss of self esteem and unfortunately self destruction.  An artist block or otherwise known as creative block is the inability to access one’s flowing stream of inspiration and creativity. what was once an overflowing well of ideas may now feel like an endless drought. It can last for days, weeks, months or even years. A feeling of loss in self may arise, and with every forward gaze stands fear, fear of not creating a worthy piece because of all the emotional strain that has occurred. I know with myself that heart ache and change of environment really take a toll on me. In the past I worked on channel my creative energy and feel at one time it would flow uninterrupted; what I envisioned, I produced. I went through a rough creative block due to many situations happening at once, and at times it got the best of me.

Creating is a huge part of my life, and I am sure you feel the same. To be at battle with yourself, takes a bit longer to iron out then if you are at battle with someone else. We are our own worst enemy, but can’t forget we know ourselves the best! Burying fear and self doubt to just keep swimming through without judgment is not easy, but necessary if working through artist block. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and moving forward is the only way to see and reach it. There are tons of ways to keep moving forward through artist block. From handling a totally different medium, experimenting, working on a much smaller scale and most importantly to keep working through fear and not give up. It is an emotional journey, and to sit along side yourself hearing the coach and the belittler battle it out is the confusing part and the most import inner workings of an artist. This battle is the foundatain of what we are; unconforming, expressive individuals with emotions that flare from light to dark just like the array of colors on our palettes. Accept yourself even at the darkest moments and keep swimming through.

I have read an assortment of books over the last few years, some have sparked  neat painting ideas that I followed through with.  As I flip through these pages to find some quotes to share, I see sketches that were the seeds to finished paintings. Such as (self portrait)  These books I wanted to share with you I have found along the way or have been recommended reads by close friends whom I have confided in when I needed a little strength. Those dear to me I take everything they say to heart, and give everything an opportunity. If someone confided in me, and I gave them the energy to help guide them along I would hope that they would take something away from that to help them in any way. So saying that, be open to what your peers, friends or loved ones suggest if you are reaching out to help make sense of it all.

 

“The Creative Soul” by Lawrence H. Staples PH.D.  “We create great relationships only when we fully reveal ourselves; we create great art only when we truly reveal ourselves. Art and relationships require the same nutrients to grow. If we want our art and our relationships to be strong and beautiful, we must feed them intimacy, which is what ames both of them thrive.  THus, the quality of our art and the quality of our relationships depend on the degree to which we accomplish this feat of intimate self-revelation, the more that they reflect ourselves the better they are, THis is why we stimulate both fear and fall in love weigh our relationships nd our art. We see ourselves in both of them.”

 

THE SOUL OF CREATIVITY by multiple authors in multiple mediums. “Ironically creative behavior exists because of uncertainty. It is the means to solving a problem, whether artistic, aesthetic, economic, political, physical, or emotional. Creative behavior orders chaos and structures change. Wishing to live a creative vibrant life, a woman must come to terms with the uncertainty inherent in creative behavior. She must take risks, be patient, be acknowledged, and act upon her need to express that which is unique about herself. She must be able to disregard what other may think about her desire and persevere through disappointment. These are qualities that make creative behavior possible.”

 

Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland “cowboy wisdom: WHen your horse dies, get off. Cowboy wisdom notwithstanding, the Weston’Adams vision continues to support a sizable cottage industry of artists and teachers even today. But this security carries a price: risk taking is discouraged, artistic development stunted, and personal style sublimated to fit a pre-existing mold. Only those who commit to following their own artistic path can look back and see this issue in clear perspective: the real question about acceptance is not whether your work will be viewed as art but whether it will be viewed as your art.

 

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau  “All things equal, we generally resist change until the pain of making a switch becomes less the the pain of remaining in our current situation.” “To break the cycle, the fear of the unknown has to become less then the stale acceptance of the current situation. There are two ways to make this happen: Increase the pain of the current situation. Decrease the fear of the desired situation.”

 

No Storm Lasts Forever, by Dr. Terry A. Gordon. This book or better yet, a mans journal takes you through his life experiences during a very challenging time in his life.  He’s observations during the up’s and down’s have a profound spiritual influence that help understand such hardships in life. Transforming lifes disappointments, heart ache, and suffering into understanding, insight and resolve. Such a great book!

Still have 2 days available, fill out the contact form in interested! 

Travel Tips: DIY Wet Panel Box

 

For those of us who may have the chance of painting away from our home studio’s, you may find this box to be handy for carrying wet panels. The summer of 2011, I attended a week-long landscape painting workshop in the wet lands of New Jersey and built a more simple wet panel box for my everyday travel. I kept the box in my truck and was able to transport wet panels from the days location to my accommodations, where I continued working on each piece. Instead of the jenga like game of panel stacking while on the road, and the stress of limiting the fix ups that may need tending to due to all the movement, or worse ruining a piece all together; here’s an inexpensive, custom, and rewarding project that can be used for multiple trips. I just returned from the Paradise Artist Retreat in New Mexico, and this box really came in handy for all the art work that was created during the week. Other artists liked it so I thought to share how to make one yourself!!

All items can be found at your local art supplier  and depending on size, less the $25 dollars. Making a wet panel box yourself allows you to be able to customize it to the size of the panels you wish to use and how many you wish to bring. This box is not limited to panel use, you can surely build one for 1/4-1/2 inch stretched canvas, just depends on your preference. Obviously the size of the box is customized for your use. I will show you step by step how to build one for yourself, and what supplies are needed. It will take you a few hours if you don’t super glue your fingers together!

 

My dimensions for this box is going to be sized to fit linen panels 14 x 18″ and 11 x 14″ panels, with one canvas board in the back. Notice that in my size choices I picked 2 different sizes, allowing me to use one side at 14″  stacking the panels portrait and landscape  without compromising the fit. Before you head to the art supply store, make sure you know your dimensions of your panels/canvas’s in order to know how much supplies you are going to need.

 

STEP 1 ~ Supplies” 

1/2 inch foam board.

1/4″ 3 foot SQUARE wooden dowel sticks,

yard stick,

Duck Tape (get fancy with it),

fresh razor blade/box cutter,

super glue large bottle,

Velcro,

pointy marker.

work table,

and your panels you wish to fill the box with for size reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 2 ~ Measuring the Width and Height.

First off this is really important, BEFORE YOU CUT YOUR FOAM BOARD make sure you measure the foam board front and back to fit your panels adding 1/4″ extra width for wiggle room (the 1/4 rods you’re going to put on either side will hold in the panels). MAKE the box taller by an inch, allowing room for the lid and wiggle room, but obviously not wider or else your panels wouldn’t stay behind the dowels. The foam board bottom, and sides must sit on the outside for better support and strength. In this photo you will see how I stacked all the goods so that I could measure how deep the sides and how long the bottom should be. I also added an extra inch or so for wiggle room on the sides, this allowed 2 panels to sit back to back comfortably if needed… (dang it, that’s smart!!) I would NOT have them fit tightly.

 

 

 

STEP 3 ~ Measure for the Slots.

Now that you have cut all your foam board, front and back should be the same, sides should also be the same, and the bottom just a hair longer to cover the side walls. Next, measure where the front and back are going to come into contact with each side wall, (1/2 inch on either side) I was able to cut my dowel rods exactly in half (they are soft so a razor cuts them smoothly) and I laid them out on the side wall, with how many I needed and adjusted them for wiggle room. My dowel rods ended up being 3/4″ apart from each other. This allowed One panel to sit really comfortably, but also 2 panels could go back to back if needed. Measure your Marks, draw your lines, center the dowel rods with super glue. The sides should mirror image themselves (remember to leave an inch space up top for the trap door)****

 

 

 

STEP 4 ~ Tape on Walls and Bottom

Now that all the dowels are super glues onto the side walls, (and not your fingers) its time to get some scissors and the fancy duck tape, and put everything together. Start one side at a time,(remember the sides go on the outside of the box) they should fit the front and back just perfectly!! Don’t go crazy with the duck tape just one strip on each joint to hold it together as you work all 4 corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 5 ~Tape Base and Add More Tape for Strength.

Look at that, all the walls are together, time to put on the bottom. this step will make it extra secure. After you wrap 4 pieces of tape around all 4 joints of the base, NOOWWW you can add more duck tape, get crafty with it. Slice the corners like a stencil. Wrap one piece of duck tape all the way around each joint from top front to top back, etc. DON’T finish all the duck tape 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 6~ Finish Box.

Finally time to put a lid on it. Measure the opening at the top, cut it out. Duck tape the edges nicely. Tape it to the box on the inside and the outside like a hinge. fold over a piece of duck tap on the lip of the lid, and add your Velcro!!!!! almost done!!!…….I put stickers on the front and the top to decipher the ends. And there ya go! Now you are ready to travel with as much wet paintings as you planned for, and don’t have to worry too much for their safety.

 

This box really is sturdy, light and should last a few trips. Obviously it is foam board, but the 1/2 inch foam board is pretty tough… though if not too careful it will get dinged or puncture if it falls over. Until then, have fun!!! Hope this comes in handy for all of the traveling painters out there. Feel free to share your wet panel box if you get around to building one!! I would love to see it!! Pull this blog and save it for your future use! You wont regret it 😉