A couple of months ago, I received a letter from the Canton Special Improvement District about the January 2009 First Friday “Ice-O-Rama”. the letter asked me if I would be interested in carving an ice sculpture for the event. There was nothing compulsory about it–Just a simple inquiry. No was an acceptable answer.

But as I am often want to do, I said, “Sure! I can do that!”

Keep in mind that I am a capable artist, but my realm is typically 2-D. I am not a sculptor. I have never carved wood or stone or even plaster, for that matter. I am a painter.

Why do I get myself into these things???? There are times that I might be wise to abandon my motto, “Life is and adventure!”

Four days from now, I will be carving a block of ice at a very public event, outside of my studio, Art Adventures Studios, in the freezing cold, trying to make sure that my fingers do not succumb to power tools, and trying to avoid making a complete fool of myself. To prepare, I am doing a lot of research through Google and You Tube, to see how the pros do it. I am picking the brain of fellow artist and wood worker extraordinaire Kevin Anderson of Anderson Creative, who has gamely agreed to loan me some tools. I am hoping that I can do it without a chainsaw, the most common tool used by ice sculptors, because I have never used one of those before. We will see.

I have pulled off some incredible adventures before. If I can pull this one off, I guess there will be little that I cannot do. Stay tuned…

Exactly how would YOU describe my artwork?

Cat Art? Dog Art? Pet Portraits? Murals? Contemporary Folk Art? Any of these words would easily apply, I guess. And then, again, none of them could apply, just as easily.

You see, to be a visual artist, it is always a part of your nature to be both seeking and defying verbal description simultaneously. Artists seek to illuminate through a visual language that touches the soul beyond what a simple phrase could say; yet the artist is also perpetually looking for creative ways to speak about his or her vision. Such a paradox.

The paradox deepens when the artist is faced with the modern era of marketing artwork via blogs and websites and social media. Suddenly our verbose oratories have been shunned. We must now find a few “keywords” that will be noticed by search engines, and we must limit our posts to 140 or less characters in some venues!

OK, I confess, I put those words in my title and again in the text copy to satisfy the keyword thing. As far as I am concerned, however, you can call my stuff whatever you want to call it.

I open up my studio on First Fridays and other days that I am there during the day so that people can come in and chat or buy things. Usually it is the animal art that people want to buy, but it is the collage that moves them. I like that. My art professors from college would cringe if they knew how much I was enjoying the more slick and commercial aspects of some of my work. Never they fear, though. I am always just a paintbrush away from digging into the depths of my creative soul.

So, please, do follow me on Twitter and MySpace and even Facebook! I also have a CafePress shop and I am exploring Etsy and other commercial venues. Please check out my website as well. This is all part of the world of finding ways to survive as an artist, and, truthfully, there is a lot of creative potential in cyberspace. Plus, it gives YOU an opportunity to make a favorite image into a favorite shirt or mug!

I hope, someday, though, that you get a chance to look at one of my more introspective pieces, too, and that you take the time to share your thoughts. Those are the keywords that mean the most to me.

It is all part of the adventure.

Life is an Adventure!
BZTAT
www.artadventuresstudios.com