Adventures in Arting Podcast Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

We have a very special guest for this episode of The Adventures in Arting Podcast: Carolyn Dube!















Carolyn Dube is a mixed media art explorer and educator who found freedom through play.













She explores the colors of the rainbow, avoids rules whenever possible, and lets the little kid inside her free as she shares her colorful journey.













You can find her sharing the play at aColorfulJourney.com, designing stencils for StencilGirl Products and teaching workshops.















On the podcast we discuss how to turn inspiration into action. Carolyn has been a guest on the podcast before – back in May 2020 on Episode 99: Carolyn says Oops.  So, if you want more, go back and listen to episode 99.













And don’t forget that Carolyn is the Guest Artist during this cycle at My Art Practice.













This is your reminder to visit MyArtPractice.com on Monday, May 27, 2024 and sign up. 







Ask yourself if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.







Let My Art Practice help you reach your art goals. The sign up period begins on Monday, May 27 and runs for one week. Membership won’t reopen until August 2024.







Links:









* Carolyn’s Website: https://acolorfuljourney.com/







* Carolyn’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CarolynDube







* Carolyn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolyn_dube/ 







* Tip the Artist: PayPal.Me/balzerdesigns







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* Monthly Membership: https://www.myartpractice.com/ 







* Take an online class: https://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/







* Shop: https://www.juliebalzer.com/shop.html 







* Let’s connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balzerdesigns/ 







* Favorite Things: https://www.amazon.com/shop/balzerdesigns 

On today’s podcast, Mom and I are discussing self-care, the Worcester Art Museum, and a mixed media collage class I taught in Hartford.











Links:









* Tip the Artist: PayPal.Me/balzerdesigns







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* Take an online class: https://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/







* Shop: https://www.juliebalzer.com/shop.html 







* Let’s connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balzerdesigns/ 







* Favorite Things: https://www.amazon.com/shop/balzerdesigns 









Thanks for listening and subscribing!

This one is a doozy. Mom and I definitely do not see eye-to-eye at all on this topic and it makes for a very lively conversation!















Maria Popova at The Marginalian wrote a 2013 blog post called “Art as Therapy: Alain de Botton on the 7 Psychological Functions of Art”  It’s an exploration of the book “Art as Therapy” by Alain de Botton and John Armstrong.  I read an interview with Alain de Botton and I loved everything he had to say about the function of art.







“Art can help us with our most intimate and ordinary dilemmas, asking: What can I do about the difficulties in my relationships? Why is my work not more satisfying? Why do other people seem to have a more glamorous life? Why is politics so depressing? The purpose of this book is to introduce a new method of interpreting art: art as a form of therapy. It’s the authors’ contention that certain art works provide powerful solutions to our problems, but that in order for this potential to be released, the audience’s attention has to be directed towards it in a new way (which they demonstrate), rather than towards the more normal historical or stylistic concerns with which art books and museum captions are traditionally associated. The authors propose that the squeamish belief that art should be ‘for art’s sake’ has unnecessarily held back art from revealing its latent therapeutic potential. This book involves reframing and recontextualising a series of art works from across the ages and genres, so that they can be approached as tools for the resolution of difficult issues in individual life.”







This is what he said about the 7 functions of art:







“art works can help us to remember what matters; they also lend us hope; they dignify sorrow; they expand our horizons; they help us to understand ourselves; they rebalance us; and lastly they make us appreciate the familiar anew.”









This is the Matisse painting I referenced during the podcast, “Woman on a High Stool”:















Links:







* Mo Issa’s Desensification of Time article* Tip the Artist: PayPal.Me/balzerdesigns* Sign up for the Friday FREE newsletter: https://forms.feedblitz.com/bco * Monthly Membership: https://bit.ly/JulieMembership * Take an online class: https://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/* Shop: https://www.juliebalzer.com/shop.html * Let’s connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balzerdesigns/ * Favorite Things: https://www.amazon.com/shop/balzerdesigns 







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I stumbled across a post from Dr Louise R Mayhew on Instagram: @louisermayhew that blew my mind.







She shared a post with a cover slide that says: “Did you know that there’s more than one art world?”  There are at least four she goes on to say:







* Experimental* Traditional* Retail* Community







On the podcast Mom and I discuss the details of the categories as Dr. Mayhew lays out and add our own thoughts to the mix. I find it to be a really useful rubric. What do you think?









Links:







* Tip the Artist: PayPal.Me/balzerdesigns* Sign up for the Friday FREE newsletter: https://forms.feedblitz.com/bco * Monthly Membership: https://bit.ly/JulieMembership * Take an online class: https://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/* Shop: https://www.juliebalzer.com/shop.html * Let’s connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balzerdesigns/ * Favorite Things: https://www.amazon.com/shop/balzerdesigns 







Thanks for listening and subscribing!

You guys leave so many great and thoughtful comments. Mom and I wanted to discuss them and I hope to make this a regular feature of the podcast. Keep the great comments coming!









Links:







* Tip the Artist: PayPal.Me/balzerdesigns* Sign up for the Friday FREE newsletter: https://forms.feedblitz.com/bco * Monthly Membership: https://bit.ly/JulieMembership * Take an online class: https://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/* Shop: https://www.juliebalzer.com/shop.html * Let’s connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balzerdesigns/ * Favorite Things: https://www.amazon.com/shop/balzerdesigns 







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Talking about your artwork effectively can enhance how it’s perceived and understood.  Talking about it ineffectively can make people less interested in your work. One of the big keys is to consider your audience. Generally speaking, you’re going to be speaking to: Fellow Artists, Art Folk (Curators, Gallerists, Collectors, Etc.), or the General Public. During the podcast, we go over how to handle each type of conversation so that you’re understood and of interest to your audience.









Links:







* Tip the Artist: PayPal.Me/balzerdesigns* Sign up for the Friday FREE newsletter: https://forms.feedblitz.com/bco * Monthly Membership: https://bit.ly/JulieMembership * Take an online class: https://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/* Shop: https://www.juliebalzer.com/shop.html * Let’s connect on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balzerdesigns/ * Favorite Things: https://www.amazon.com/shop/balzerdesigns 







Thanks for listening and subscribing!