ART BY DRAX
Henna Paintings and the Fine Art of Potato Mischief

I'm back from my potato printing experiment! It worked and I'm actually having fun! I've been very busy playing with potatoes and paint. So far I have a pumpkin, a couple of roses, an autumn vine, and I've actually managed to get a few of them listed. I EVEN SOLD ONE ALREADY!!!

But can a potato print be "Fine Art"? I have a degree in that, ya know, but I could really use some feedback here. Heck, I'd be happy right now with "Folk Art". But is potato printing Real Art at all? The prints certainly LOOK like Real Art, but somehow things seem to change when you add a potato into the equation. I mean, does it really matter whether you carved the design out of a slab of wood, a piece of linoleum, or a potato? I guess it really shouldn't. But it's a POTATO. . . it just seems like cheating.

Maybe that's because there's not enough suffering. Real Art requires suffering on the part of the artist, right? Don't they usually go on and on about how they suffer for their art until everyone in the room has quietly made a note that artists are not nearly as interesting as they were led to believe and under no circumstances should they ever invite another one to a party? Suffering is part of the package, isn't it? Hey, wait a minute. . . I nicked my finger with the X-Acto blade while I was carving one of the potatoes, does that count? It was a brand new blade, too, and really sharp! There was actually blood! Not much, just a couple of drops, but there it was. I WAS SUFFERING!!!!! YES!! Maybe it's Real Art after all!

I think I'm going to go get a few more potatoes. . .

I'm back from my potato printing experiment! It worked and I'm actually having fun! I've been very busy playing with potatoes and paint. So far I have a pumpkin, a couple of roses, an autumn vine, and I've actually managed to get a few of them listed. I EVEN SOLD ONE ALREADY!!!

But can a potato print be "Fine Art"? I have a degree in that, ya know, but I could really use some feedback here. Heck, I'd be happy right now with "Folk Art". But is potato printing Real Art at all? The prints certainly LOOK like Real Art, but somehow things seem to change when you add a potato into the equation. I mean, does it really matter whether you carved the design out of a slab of wood, a piece of linoleum, or a potato? I guess it really shouldn't. But it's a POTATO. . . it just seems like cheating.

Maybe that's because there's not enough suffering. Real Art requires suffering on the part of the artist, right? Don't they usually go on and on about how they suffer for their art until everyone in the room has quietly made a note that artists are not nearly as interesting as they were led to believe and under no circumstances should they ever invite another one to a party? Suffering is part of the package, isn't it? Hey, wait a minute. . . I nicked my finger with the X-Acto blade while I was carving one of the potatoes, does that count? It was a brand new blade, too, and really sharp! There was actually blood! Not much, just a couple of drops, but there it was. I WAS SUFFERING!!!!! YES!! Maybe it's Real Art after all!

I think I'm going to go get a few more potatoes. . .