Shelby Rodeffer introduced us to the reviving art of sign painting and went into detail about her own process of becoming a professional in the field. I especially enjoyed her frank discussion of the challenges she has faced (and continues to face) in pursuing a creative career while also needing to give up a certain amount of that creativeness to make ends meet- Rodeffer talked about the frustrations of having so many creative ideas for sign art and typography, yet having to comply to the wishes of clients when being hired to paint store windows or signs. Rodeffer also had a certain humor throughout the presentation which I appreciated- one of my favorite pieces which Rodeffer showed was a notecard that sneers at the sudden popularity of generic phrases being aesthetically pasted onto household objects until they are almost meaningless. Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate a picture of it, but the notecard is a simple blue one with a fancy cursive script which reads "A pithy phrase carefully printed on archival paper."
Something which I appreciated in Rodeffer's talk as well was her honest admittance of sometimes "faking it til you make it." She told the story of her first real commission to paint a storefront window and how she had no idea how to use the materials but powered through until she had a finished product. As someone who always feels as though I'm flying by the seat of my pants, even when I have a plan, I appreciated knowing that other artists who are actually "out in the real world" feel the same way.
I really love the fact that you took note of her saying, "faking it til you make it."
ReplyDeleteI also really appreciated her honesty about the challenges of making a living as an artist, nice to see that you included this in your reflection!
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