Alicia Hauff Studio

Mixed Media Fine Artist in Fargo, ND

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Creative Journey

Inspiration Behind the Desert Botanical Series

Sonoran Desert

Taproots

"I don't see the desert as barren at all. I see it as full and ripe. It doesn't need to be flattered with rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has, and creates amazing beauty."

- Joy Harjo

But first, a desert nature walk...

Desert Nature Path

Sonoran Desert

Maybe it's imprinting with early memories. Perhaps it's that I love and need heat, warmth. Maybe a more profound archetypal language is speaking to me.

The inspiration for this small series began with recognizing the above and a desire to look further. My creative process often starts with reflection and research. How has the desert archetype shaped me? Why am I drawn to the desert? The harshness of the desert poses a sort of stripping down, of adversity. I find immense beauty, diversity, and lessons of adaptation and resilience in the desert.  The juxtaposition of stunning blooms and prickly, sharp "leaves" interests me. I get a sense of the differences in lifestyle, survival, and ways of life every time I travel back.

And it occurred to me that we experience similar adversity in this northern climate I have called home for some time. Winter will have its own time in my art studio!

Creating art comes down to the question: what makes me feel alive? How can I translate that?

New Technique

As the idea of creating pieces with desert botanicals grew, I needed to figure out how. I learned how to do image transfers using a laser-printed image and soft gel a few months ago, and this was the perfect opportunity to try it. The first transfer was done with a doodled botanical on deli paper (any transparent paper would work) and printed a few more times in different sizes. I trimmed them and 'glued' them with the gel where I wanted them on the canvas, then let them dry for a day. The next day I gently scrubbed away the paper to reveal the image. I kept layering until it became the fanned botanical in the top left of "Arid Beauty." I am thrilled with it and have since successfully used it for a bleeding heart botanical commission.

Alicia working
Alicia working

The Desert Botanical Garden

My research of desert botanical species led me to the Arizona Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Set in the Sonoran desert, it offers nature trails to explore, ways to learn about the desert, and opportunities to get involved. Their website states, "The Earth's deserts are home to over 1 billion people. The delicate balance between humans and the unique biota that thrive in these habitats depends largely on maintaining a healthy and stable desert environment...Biological and cultural diversity influence each other."

Interconnectedness. Resilience. Interdependence.

I sense there are some themes and visions here to explore further.

The Desert Botanical series was featured at Atomic Coffee in Downtown Fargo July 2022.

Do you have a connection with the desert? Or nurture succulents at home? Let me know in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

Work of Art: 5 Skills Needed for Professional Art

A Word

I enjoy the discussion of ideas; I do not enjoy sugarcoating anything. The heart of the matter is where I live. What I write can only come from my own experience and learning in this space and time. I might know something better tomorrow, but for today, this is where I am. We can share our honest thoughts, intentions, frustrations, and learnings. I share my story with the hope of connection, insight, and elevating the arts. 

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The Work of Art

     One limiting belief about creating art is that "it isn't real work." While I think the 'starving artist' trope is changing, we could use more discussion about the arts and artists alike. Professional artists wear many hats to connect their work to the community and sell it successfully. There is pressure to be proficient in writing and communication, marketing, design, finances/accounting, research, archiving, technology, and social skills. Artists bring beautiful things to the community table with different viewpoints, perspectives, and talents.

However, I have gathered there are five other skills needed for a professional art career. This is where one's art career blends with personal development and growth. This is my view about eight months into my professional art practice, and I hope to hear from other artists alike on this one.

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Five Skills You Might Not Know Are Needed for Professional Art

1. Grit. 

This term has been synonymous with tenacity, 'stick-to-it-ness,' and resilience. While that is all true, it means showing up in the art practice world. Showing up is about 75% of an artist's work. It means I come to the space where I create, wherever that may be, and do the thing. Even if I do not know precisely what I am doing, I know I always figure it out, that the answers will arrive. I show up however I am. Self-love is to show up for yourself and is connected to the growth mentality. Growth is complicated, messy, and humbling, but a professional artist understands that you must go through it. To quote a company slogan, "Just do it [the work]."

2. Trust in the process. 

There is an array of information about how to do every kind of technique and run an art business. I researched quite a bit before even coming close to launching, wanting to be prepared. It was overwhelming how many things I did not know how to do besides art and finding my style. Even artistic style and voice are these nebulous things that I wonder if I will ever reach or have reached. The one thing that keeps me going is trust in the process of becoming whatever artist I am supposed to be, the unfolding, the evolution. It comes with time and practice.

3. Intuition. 

Yes, I count intuition as a skill because everyone can strengthen it with practice. We all know what it is, but do we understand what it does for us? Beyond the "gut feelings" and "little voice inside," intuition is an internal guidance system and form of intellect. In art practice, I can best describe it as an inner, bodily knowing of the next right thing to do when creating. A painting is a series of decisions about many things and a mixture of planned and spontaneous. If you are an artist, you know the scenario of being stuck not knowing which direction to take a painting, waiting for the answer. This skill also comes with time. 

4. Organization. 

I would bet you have heard of the other artist trope--they are typically scattered, always late, and disorganized. A quick confession: I was usually running late, daydreaming about something, and loaded down with homework growing up. There is a long story there, but I learned time management skills in college (a little more mature).  Professional artists juggle a lot, wearing all those hats--commissions, working with clients, exhibits, volunteering, managing a website, marketing emails, and newsletters, to name a few. Every artist has their workflow, depending on the type and scope of work. I learned things like time blocking and creating a rolling to-do list. 

5. Nurturing.

I am sure you have heard of the expression, "You can't pour from an empty cup."  As the artist wearing all those hats, you are responsible for making sure your needs are met, whatever they are, so you can keep going. Self-care looks like various things that positively impact your relationship to self--mind, body, and spirit. For myself, I cannot create if I do not get the sleep, exercise, or outdoor time I need regularly. Meaningful connection with others also fills our cups--we need each other.  Artists influence and inspire each other in community with each other. Bottom line: do what serves you regularly to maintain your art practice.

What do you think?

Share your story or thoughts below! 

Welcome to My Corner of the Universe

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Welcome!

I welcome you to my corner of this big, wide universe! Think of this space as dipping your toes into a current of conscious wonder, experimentation, and creative life. Art is life, and life is artful. Color, texture, line, design, and value are the tools I use to speak my visual language, which is still developing.

I am a mother to three sons who keep me on my toes, share with me their wonder and woes, and inspire me to nurture my own inner child. I am also married to my soul’s mate, Matthew, who was the catalyst for this leap.

little Alicia

Take a good look at this photo. What do you see?

I see my artist child there. She is filled with joy and having fun, carefree. Picasso was right, every child is an artist, and the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. We are actually all creative beings. Read that again: we are ALL creative beings, with things that light us up inside and connect us back to the joy in this photo. To create means to "evolve from one's own thought or imagination," and to "cause something to come into being."

Creative Vision

I have learned in my own ‘creative recovery,’ as Julia Cameron calls this journey in her book The Artist Way, that connecting with the things that fill us with joy and sense of adventure helps us remember who we are. Julia says, "as a culture, we tend to define creativity too narrowly and think of it in elitist terms, as something belonging to a small chosen tribe of 'real artists.' But in reality, everything we do requires making creative choices...expressions of our creativity." Creative expression is unique to each of us, down to the how, where, and when. We are human beings, not just human doings. We are meant to be in community, to be whole, to be nurtured as much as challenged, and doing what it is that sparks us alive.

My work in healthcare taught me a lot about the human condition. I witnessed a lot of pain as well as joy, isolation and community, and the nature of systemic (man made) challenges to actual care. Even though I do not practice in the field, I am still very much a heart-centered healer and nurturer. I look forward to how this unfolds with my art practice, such as commissioned meaningful works.

Adventure Is Indeed Out There, and Within

Remember Ellie from the movie “Up?” The first time I watched that (yes, I cry in the first 8 minutes every time) I giggled because I saw myself in her. “Adventure is out there,” every day, and I seek it whether it’s artistic exploration or otherwise. Each piece to me is an adventure, and I embrace the spontaneous unfolding.

This studio blog will run the gamut with stories, imagery, insights, and topics, but I will connect it back to living a creative life. Some posts will share my creative process more in depth than the soundbites on Instagram. My priority is sharing what is meaningful in an honest way.

I will leave you with one more photo, evidence that my artist child envisioned this future long ago…

 

young Alicia art

Tell me in the comments, what sparks you alive? What is something you could reconnect to or remember about yourself? I would love to hear from you!