In my recent travels, I’ve visited galleries and museums in Columbus, Ohio and Washington, D.C. One of the joys of out-of-state travel is experiencing the wider world of art and artists. As an artist, there’s great inspiration in looking at art created by others. There’s no way to really copy another person’s work as each creation is through our own experience. But taking in other ideas can confirm what we’ve been doing or inspire us to expand beyond our own current limitations or ideas.

Martha Graham once talked of how we each have our own unique way of creating and that if we miss it then that artistic expression will be eternally lost. I often think of this as I make greeting cards, dolls, paintings or clay sculptures. I love to take in ideas from other artists and other places and then recreate them through my own eyes and heart and hands. I am always happier when I create and less so when I do not. You don’t have to be a professional to experience the joy of making a handmade card or painting or even a doll or photograph.

Often, I take a sketchbook and either do sketches of pieces I like or I write down favorite artists or color ideas. For me, there’s really no such thing as creating in a vacuum. All of our life can be art, really. When my kids were growing up, I would transform their childhood traumas of bloody noses and fights at school into stories. In the same way, my co-blogger Charly Jupiter Hamilton, has translated his life experiences into paintings or poetry.

For the New Year, I’m committing to incorporating art more into my life everyday. Instead of venting so much, I’m going to paint more. Instead of letting myself get down, I’m going to write more about it in haiku. Looking at more art, listening to more music, and even travelling out of town… will all help get to another state of mind.

At the beginning of a new year and the end of a completed one, it is often a time for reflection. What has passed, and what lies ahead? In a recent trip to Washington, D.C., an installation exhibit by Mei-Ling Hom reminded me of my love of the sky. In the pavilion of the Sackler Gallery (part of the Smithsonian), Hom has created from wire an exhibit of hanging clouds. Titled ‘Floating Mountains, Singing Clouds’ and accompanied by music, the exhibit is meant to create a space in which museum visitors can clear their minds as they prepare to view to art throughout the building.

The sky and clouds have always been a way for me to clear my mind. Several years ago, I began painting 100 pictures of the sky. Numbering them, I gave them to friends, acquaintances, clients, family members. The series is not complete, as there may still be 20 paintings left to go. But the point of the exercise for me was to reflect on the sky and encourage others to behold its beauty as well… to look up.

There is a story of a 6th century sage who refused to leave his mountain for the future emperor Wu. Finally, the emperor came to him. When asked why he would not leave the mountain, the sage explained: “On the peaks there are many white clouds. One can only count them for oneself. I cannot take and send them to you.”

That’s what art is for me as well: a mind-clearing activity. It’s a place to go. Creating and looking at art is a way to transcend mundane earthly concerns and explore a more contemplative place where we can enjoy color and form and ideas transcribed onto a canvas — and maybe even find a few answers for whatever questions we face.

It seems there are three things on everyone’s minds lately: getting holiday gifts, watching their budget and being in love. If you think artistically, then all of these needs and/or wants can be taken care of at the same time.

For the love of Santa, consider artistic and music-related gifts for the holidays. Instead of running out and getting a variety of mediocre gifts made in China by children who are worked too hard, consider buying original art locally. Taylor Gifts, at 226 Capitol St., has a fabulous selection of more than 20 artists and a variety of price ranges to fit every budget. The Callen McJunkin Gallery 221 Capitol St., and Gallery Eleven, 1033 Quarrier St., offer even more choices. You get a quality piece of art that someone can really enjoy, and you are helping keep the cheap prints that hang too profusely around town, at a minimum.

The Van Gogh Experience
If you’ve never experienced the joy of looking at original art, do a comparison. Charleston graphic designer and artist Mark Wolfe once said to me, “I always loved Van Gogh, but seeing the original was amazing compared to the copies in books. The color and texture was so vibrant… how people of his time did not see the greatness of his work, I don’t understand.”

Okay, so maybe you can’t afford a Van Gogh, but the idea is the same! Buying art, or even giving someone music lessons, is a value for your budget. One of my friends is getting a family member a ukelele for Christmas (I must be vague for obvious reasons). My oldest son and I are thinking of giving each other lessons - me the accordion and he the guitar. It’s a lot more fun than another pair of mittens.

Love of Art, Art of Love
At a recent FootMad dance, someone recently told Charly Jupiter Hamilton (artist and my blogging cohort) that living in Charleston is easier if you’re in love. Well, if you create art or take an interest in art, then you are always in love. Art is the wellspring of passion, and at all the gallery openings you’ll meet a lot of interesting people - you’ll find out more about someone chatting over a Peter Massing or Paula Clendenin piece of art than you will over a bottle of beer. Well, maybe that’s not completely true. But you get the idea… love is more sustainable if you can talk about art and music and creativity than if you just meet for a drink after work. There’s still plenty of time to get interesting art-related gifts… hurry!

When shopping for the artistic or the art-minded, there is no limit to the possibilities. But some choices are much better than others. Here’s two more picks from your art investigators Charly Jupiter Hamilton and Amy Williams… we’re trying to keep you in the good graces of your gift recipients!

>> Charly’s pick:

European Beret’s from Oregon -
Artist’s berets are a prerequisite for artists, especially male artists, according to art fashionista Charly Jupiter Hamilton. In his former residence of Asheville, North Carolina Charly says, “Yuppy people, pretending art wannabes, would wear them to be like artists… maybe because they call Asheville the Paris of the South.” Charly found a great online resource with several beret selections. His friend, Greg Carroll is one of the few local people who wear berets. “He’s not an artist,” says Charly, “but he is bohemian.” Charly adds, “Usually if you see a guy wearing a beret you think he’s a French Resistance fighter - shell shocked, looking for a German convoy to blow up… or he might be an artist.”

www.johnhelmer.com
(503) 223-4976

>> Amy’s pick:

“Some artists take a lot of time to paint or sculpt, but I like quick results,” says Amy. Hence is born her love of Polaroid cameras. Polaroid photography was invented by Edwin Land, an American inventor and physicist whose one-step process for developing and printing photos created a new age in the photography world. The first camera was sold in 1948, and even though its popularity has waned due to problems in the company and, of course, the invention of digital cameras, there’s still a world of wonderful creation when you photograph with a Polaroid.

Merrill Photo in downtown Charleston — and yes even Wal-Mart — carries a selection. Or you can get great cameras on EBay. Just make sure you can get the film for older models. Charly adds, “They’re great if you want to take nude photos, everybody used to do that. You could have instant results and not get in trouble at the developer. Navy men’s imagination went wild with all the ports we were in. There were lots of photo possibilities.”

By Charly Jupiter Hamilton with Amy Williams

A blues ditty:
Ladies and gentlemen sitting around here eating cookies
and drinking cheer in a warm Christmas chair,
feeling happy and thinking joyous thoughts
taking in their breath
Who’s that sitting beside you?
It looks like Mr. Death.

Where do you go to find the best variety of art in one location? More than 20 artists are included at the annual Holiday Show in the Annex Gallery at Taylor Books. Better known and lesser known artists including works in every medium imaginable are featured — sculpting, welding, painting, photography, scratchboard, fabric and woodcarving. Whether you want stocking stuffers or big gifts, there’s a selection in prices from $34 to over $1,000.

In a recent meandering through the gallery, artist and art commentator Charly Jupiter Hamilton gave a review of what he likes in the new show… take this art road map and see if you can travel the same path as our art adventurer Charly!

“I always like the Christmas show that Ann and Angie work up at the Taylor Books annex… ahh, the Money’s wild folk art figures floating around. And Joseph Lung’s a genius to me. Peter Massing with his Navy man cool prints… Then I see Jeff Fetty’s snakes - one Christmas past I got one for my sister Betsy and she couldn’t have it in her house with so many memories of black snakes on the farm we grew up with. I love that little drunk Capitol dome of Kathy Boland. And I feel like I fell off the New York city fire escape with Vernon Howell… All those memories lying on my back looking up. I wish I would have thought to weld all that stuff together and be so smart like Mark Blumenstein.

“But I noticed a few skulls looking back from the mirror or maybe I am darkly drawn to that jokey other side stuff… which brings us back to the opening ditty. Earl Gray’s ‘Ten Faces and Two Skulls’ is what’d I’d buy if someone would buy all my stuff… Or some of those Mark girl’s ‘youdoo’ voodoo dolls: I want them all. The day I was viewing the show, there was a rather straight-looking blonde doll ornament with a broken hangar laying in the seat of a Mark Blumenstein sculpture right below the ‘youdoo’ voodoo dolls - looking like all-the-world a reject from her fancy sisters’ party on the wall. SR Rothbery’s ‘Stuck in the Grid’ looks like an everyday you get up death mask. Then you have the decayed flowers of Robin Hammer (he paints nudes too, you know?). .. and the ‘please come to the baptism’ scary scratchboards of Mark Wolfe… I got a small Eric Perdue red-rim cracked pot to put my ashes in - in case I die a little.

“As I am walking out, I see this hilltop home painting by Rudy Chamber… is that a pug dog behind the clever couple standing out front? And who could that be riding off to the mystical mountain with all his canvases on the donkey cart? Maybe Merry Pre-Christmas.”