Jess's response to the reading

I liked JoAnna's question about the line artists feed critics. It was something I also pulled out from the reading and have wondered about when I hear artist's talks. I would agree with the saying that the more worked out the line is the dumber the art (or maybe the artist) because art should be able to speak for itself. If an artist finds themselves trying to “talk up” their art it usually means the work isn’t strong enough to stand on it’s own. However it is important to be knowledgeable and talk intelligently about your art. It is very easy to say too little and too much about your work.

The others asked questions about criticism and I did have some thoughts on that too. Criticism is generally thought of as bad. Like Kasey said we have to say constructive before it to make it sound okay. No one wants to be the person to say they don’t get something or that it doesn’t feel right. No one wants to ask, “what made you do that?” However if these comments aren’t said the artist will not improve and grow. I agree with the opposite too. If all you have to say is that something is nice or that it’s working then will an artist move on and progress if what they are doing isn’t being challenged. How many people get stuck in a rut and don’t move on until a teacher or another artist tells them it’s getting old? And while I do agree that more experienced artists do have a style it is very easy to get stuck only doing the same thing and making your art look like it hasn't changed if you don't have someone tell you okay time to do something different. Maybe it is more important to have a person there telling you when you need to refresh your ideas.