Catalyst Eighty-Two

Catalyst Eighty-Two

October 4, 2009, 8:51 am
Filed under: catalyst

 

As always, thank you to all of our visitors and all the encouraging comments you left for us. For those of you who did, thank you for playing along with us.

 

Ok! Here’s catalyst number eighty-two:

 

What’s your superpower?

 

We’re so excited to have Susan Tuttle as this week’s Guest Artist.

 

If there’s one thing I can say about Susan’s art, it’s that each piece is full of emotion. It might be haunting, sorrow, joy, confusion, curiosity, wonder or millions of others. But each piece is dripping with emotion and it makes it impossible for me to look away when I am staring at one of her pieces.

 

Susan’s first book, Exhibition 36: Mixed-Media Demonstrations + Explorations, was released by North Light Books in December 2008, and her second book, Digital Expressions: Creating Digital Art with PS Elements, a technique-based publication on digital art, will be published by North Light Books in April 2010. Susan is also a frequent contributor to Stampington & Company publications and other mixed-media books. She also teaches digital art workshops on the subjects of photomanipulation, digital montage, and a variety of Photoshop techniques online.

 

If you haven’t seen her amazing art, make sure to visit her site and her blog.

 

 

 

 

Here is Susan’s art with this week’s catalyst. You can click on it to see a larger version and more detail.

 

 

 

Susan Says:

My superpower is inner strength — it is both something that I feel glowing strong inside of me, and something I will cultivate my whole life through. I have had many instances for practicing the “art of inner strength” in my life thus far, and am sure to encounter more. Instead of telling you my personal stories, I wish to share with you what I have learned from the experiences. For every human being, there are inevitably times of darkness in life — trials to go through, hard lessons to learn. We always have a choice, even if we hit rock bottom. We can choose to embrace hope and trust in both ourselves and in a loving Universe that has our best interests at heart, or we can choose fear, anger and bitterness. We can call up that inner strength that resides in our core and it will rise to the occasion as soon as we summon it. We can let go and let our inner strength buoy us along as we learn those hard lessons, moving us toward the light, picking up even more strength as we step forward, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, with the pinhole of light in the distance growing larger and larger still, until we arrive, standing in a room full of perfect light and joy.

 

This particular digital piece which I have named “Inner Light” personifies inner strength. Instead of describing what this piece means to me, I want you to discover what it means to you.

 

Technique Highlight:

The imagery used in this piece is of my dear friend Jessica. When I create digital art, or any type of art for that matter, I must feel a strong emotional connection to at least one of the imagery elements in the composition. Doing so is a powerful experience that allows me to infuse the work with personal meaning, feeling, and even love. For me, using personal imagery immediately sparks an authentic, creative process.

 

 

Thank you so much Susan; we’re so very very honored.

 

 

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Here are some interpretations of the catalyst from members of our team.

 

Amy:

Amy Says:

My concept for this piece, and my “superpower,” is that I “juggle” many things, many aspects of my life, many roles, many interests, and many threads that make up the day to day. I don’t think of it as a superpower. It is just “me” and how I respond to the forces around and within me. It isn’t even something that’s obvious or visible always in the world of surfaces in which we live. As I worked, I began to question if maybe I should have termed my superpower the ability to multitask. But, in the end, juggling and multitasking occupy a similar space. It took a while to settle on an approach to this set of panels. I started out seeing many dialogue strips surrounding a central panel, spelling out all the things that vie for my time and attention, all the things I keep in the air. But as I sketched out the panels, I moved away from the text. I stripped the piece down to a visual essence, letting the balls speak for themselves. When I inked the large panel, I decided at the last minute to leave a space for a caption, and for several days the piece sat, finished, but the caption blank. With only one space for text, finding the right words to explain this piece was difficult. Many words would have worked. Many words would have stated the obvious.

 

 

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Wilna:

Wilna Says:

If I can have a superpower, i would love to be a heart reader. It’s just something I made up and someone who can: Discern heart motives. I think it would be totally awesome to know how someone feels in their heart. Even to be able to know + understand my own heart. But even though I cant do it, i have a heart reader with me all the time: He is called my Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and my Standby. And for that I thank you my wonderful God.

 

 

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Opal:

Opal Says:

I see my superpower as not one thing, or word, or concept, but a blending and melding of my life’s experiences and faith. The people I have known and admired, my family and friends..those select few who I considered “my people”.. are in my balcony cheering me on, giving advice and nudges, suggestions, strength, and encouragement when I need it. My superpower comes from within. This piece is done in fabric with strips of vibrant color and line filling and weaving into the O (for Opal) that represent all those experiences….the circles represent my balcony…hand appliqued, hand and machine quilted.

 

 

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Severine:

 

Severine Says:

My superpower was in number, i love numbers, I have some ease with numbers. “40” is the departement i was born, and i don’t have any superpower without my “origins”.

 

En Français:

On va dire que mon superpouvoir réside dans les chiffres, j’ai toujours aimer les chiffres et le calcul, j’ai quelques facilités avec. Le “40” est pour le département où je suis née, parce qu’il n’y aurait pas de pouvoir sans mes origines.

 

 

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Karen:

Journaling Reads:

i’m not sure if it’s a superpower if it’s also something that ends up hurting me the most. can it be both? it must be.
because my ability to love wholly, fully, with all my self and all my heart is my super power. the one thing that makes me, me.
and it’s my magic, my genuine-ness, my ability to give you all i have and ask for nothing in return because once i love you, once i trust you, i am here for you, forever, all of me. forever.

 

 

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Lori:

 

Lori Says:

I don’t like the notion of super powers. I don’t like society saying women need to be “SUPER”. Women are beautiful just as they are with all their weaknesses and strengths. I’ve spent a great deal of time trying to find my balance and live in the now. I want to be at peace with who I am and what I have. This is a difficult goal, but very worthwhile to me.

 

Journaling Reads:

I have no super powers. I just try to do the best I can each and every day. I’m finally learning that life is about being joyful with all I have and being at peace in the present day.

 

 

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Anita:

 

Anita Says:

I guess I never thought of it as a Super Power but I believe I have the ability to “read” people upon first meeting. I usually am a good judge of character and can tell upon first meeting whether I am gonna like that person or not. Whether they are happy or sad. Have a good life or a troubled one. I can usually sense these things about people.

 

 

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Rachel:

 

Journaling Reads:

“Please.” “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.”

 

Phases that are heard all too seldom now a days. Common niceties tossed aside for a me first, gimme attitude that is so prevalent in this day and age. I often find myself wondering what happened to good manners, common courtesies and respect. I refuse to fall into the lazy and bad habits of not being polite and manner-ful. So my super power? You can call me Ms. Manners,

 

Thank you.

 

 

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Now it’s your turn: show us your therapeutic art around “What’s your superpower?” I urge you to give it a try. It can be any form of art as long as it speaks to you.

 

Leave us comments with your work and you will qualify for the RAK we offer to a random participant. If you don’t have a community or blog where you upload photos, you can upload them on our flickr group.

 

 

Remember, this is not a competition. If your art makes you feel even a bit better at the end, you’ve won.

 

Until next week, enjoy each and every moment.

 

 

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