Just Make Art
A conversation about making art and the artist's journey with Ty Nathan Clark and Nathan Terborg, two artists trying to navigate the art world, just like you.
In each episode, the duo chooses a quote from a known artist and uses it as a springboard for discussion.
Through their conversations, Ty and Nathan explore the deeper meaning of the quote and how it can be applied to the artists studio practice. They share their own personal stories and struggles as artists, and offer practical advice and tips for overcoming obstacles and achieving artistic success.
Whether you're a seasoned artist or just starting out, "Just Make Art" provides valuable insights and inspiration to help you navigate the creative process and bring your artistic vision to life. With their engaging and conversational style, Ty and Nathan create a welcoming space for listeners to explore their own artistic passions and learn from two artists working hard to navigate the art world.
Just Make Art
JMA Update. What We have Coming Up and a DeKooning Treat.
Ty Nathan Clark and Nathan Terborg are taking a moment to reflect and recharge after a whirlwind week filled with residency applications, art making and family milestones—Nathan's oldest daughter just started college! But don't worry, we're gearing up for some incredible new content on Just Make Art. From artist features to Q&A sessions, and even guest co-hosts, there's a ton of exciting stuff on the horizon. We're kicking it off with an in-depth discussion on "Art and Fear" by David Bayliss and Ted Orland, a book so pivotal that it's a staple in our studio practice and teaching. Grab your copy and share your thoughts with us; who knows, your insights might make it into our upcoming episodes!
We're not stopping there; we've lined up a series of must-read books that have profoundly impacted our artistic journeys. Titles include Jerry Saltz's "How to Be an Artist," Bianca Bosker's "Get the Picture," Nick Cave's "Faith, Hope, and Carnage," and Rainer Maria Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet." Plus, don't miss our video podcasts on Spotify and YouTube where we add fun B-rolls and Easter eggs. If you love what we're doing, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it really helps us reach new listeners. And as a special treat, I'm sharing a passage from the Pulitzer-winning biography "De Kooning: An American Master," an absolute gem for art lovers. Thanks for tuning in; we can't wait to share more with you soon!
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Hey everybody, this is Ty. Nathan Clark and I just wanted to jump on here with a special short little episode, more of an update, just to let you know why there wasn't an episode. This week, nathan and I have been extremely busy prepping work, getting work ready, working with other artists. We've had family things come up. Nathan's daughter just left for college, so he's been busy with family stuff. I've been busy with some family stuff, all good things, but we decided we didn't want to rush an episode, so we're taking some time, took a little break in between before we start the next chapter of Just Make Art, and we have a lot of really fun, exciting things coming to you and I cannot wait to absolutely dive into those in the forms of artist features, guest co-hosts, question and answer episodes, and I think this is going to end up being our favorite of Just Make Art coming in the future is book reports, where we dive into books that were absolutely foundational for us in our studio practice, in our lives as art makers, and the first book we're going to start with is the book Art and Fear by David Bayliss and Ted Orland. It is a must read. If you don't have it, go get it, order it today, read it and if you have read it and you have questions and thoughts that have come from your reading in the past, send it to us and maybe we'll be able to incorporate them into the episode. You can either email or Instagram message us. At Instagram, it's at just make art podcast. Via email, it's just make art podcast at gmailcom. So art and fear. We're going to break it up into three episodes and part one is coming next week. This is also a book I teach in my artist mentorship program because it is, like I said, absolutely foundational for me. We're also going to probably go through how to be an artist by Jerry salts get the picture.
Speaker 1:By Bianca Bosker. Faith, hope and carnage by Nick cave and letters to a young poet by Rainier Mariaker. Faith, hope and Carnage by Nick Cave. And Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Maria Rilke, one of my favorite poets and an absolutely influential book as well. All of those are so, like I said, if you've read any of those books, or if you get them now and read them, send us your questions or thoughts that have arrived and we will try to incorporate those into the podcast.
Speaker 1:Little reminder you can also watch us in video on Spotify or YouTube. So all of our episodes have been videoed. I have a really fun time editing them and putting B-roll of the artists. We're talking about moments or stories, photographs, video of them in the studio or little Easter eggs of things where I like to make fun of myself and Nathan at times in the video. So if you're looking for something to bide your time in between the next podcast episode, make sure to check us out on YouTube or on Spotify.
Speaker 1:One more thing we would love your reviews. We know we have a lot of listeners. We would love to hear from you. So, either on Apple podcasts or on Spotify, we would love to hear from you. So, either on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, we would love it if you would just leave a short review and even give us a rating. It really does help push the word out and spread the podcast to new listeners.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm going to read something to you before I jump off here, and this is from my current readings as I am studying De Kooning, an American Master, by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, which won the Pulitzer for biography. It might be my second favorite artist biography ever written, second only to Mary Gabriel's Ninth Street Women, which is by far and away my favorite art biography ever. So if you haven't read it, nathan and I reference it all the time I would highly suggest reading it. But you can also listen to it on audio book as well. So this little section from de Kooning, an American Master, is right after a young Willem de Kooning met the artist Arsha Gorky in New York and became super close friends. And Gorky became a hero also to Willem de Kooning and looked up to him. And this is when de Kooning first went to the studio of Arshile Gorky in the 1930s. When de Kooning walked into the studio he was overwhelmed and made dizzy by the atmosphere. He had this extraordinary extrasensory perception. De Kooning later told Gorky's nephew this gift.
Speaker 1:De Kooning's epiphany in the studio was almost religious in character, as if he had finally reached the end of the pilgrimage. Here he found the true metaphysics of art, where its principles were understood and its sacraments faithfully practiced. Certainly Gorky, an Armenian who came from the land of religious passion and revered ritual, treated his studio as a sacred kind of space. To begin with, it was quite unusual at that time to have a place outside one's apartment consecrated to nothing but the making of art. The artist Stuart David said he was the only artist I can recall who always had a real studio. Most including myself painted in their bedrooms or temporary makeshift quarters. In addition, he also managed to keep these studios stocked with a supply of art materials worthy of a small retail store and he used them up with abandon and unconcerned for cost, in accord with his temperament. In brief, he galloped around the village like a mountain goat with his pauper peers and he got off quite better than most.
Speaker 1:De Kooning said when he came into the studio he was bright enough to take this hint immediately. The hint was that a serious artist did not kid around. A serious artist made art the center of their life, treated it as a calling and sacrificed everything else to it. If they didn't, they were just an amateur. Presence of the paint intoxicated him. He used paint more than anyone. He outdid everybody. He had that fire of burning.
Speaker 1:In the early 30s, gorky became a devoted disciple of Picasso. In his still lifes of the time he copied Picasso's work in order to understand the master's art not just from the outside but from within. Gorky's approach to Picasso had a great impact upon de Kooning the decision to paint Picassos, to make Picasso part of a studio gave life to the abstract formulations about the painter, conveying a feeling of closeness, almost intimacy, to modern art. As TS Eliot famously wrote, immature poets imitate, mature poets steal. Gorky hoped to one day steal. His intimate approach to tradition was a revelation to de Kooning. It helped him close perhaps steal is the better word a breach in his sensibility, leading him to reconcile his love for the past with his passion for the present.
Speaker 1:According to the critic Harold Rosenberg, gorky's challenging remark about having your own ideas transformed de Kooning's entire attitude towards painting. If you have your own idea, that was it, you're stuck with it. The history of painting, however, contained endless inventions which the living painter could make their own. Even inventing a thing that had already been invented was an act of creation. De Kooning likes to call this inventing the harpsichord. The fact that the harpsichord, and even the piano that superseded it, does not prevent the invention that brought it into being from being legitimately repeated.
Speaker 1:Art belonged not to history, gorky thought, but to the present. What de Kooning found liberating was that Gorky treated the past as if it were alive and speaking to modern artists as if it were news that stays in the news. In Ezra Pound's famous formulation. They also were not afraid to criticize the greatest artists. Even the best had weak moments. Analyzing the masters in this fashion fired both artists' imagination and ambition as they struggled to find their own voices, the painters of the past became colleagues and contemporaries, which allowed them to think of joining their August circle without being awed into silence or timidity.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's one of the reasons why Nathan and I push so hard to study and research and dive into the past. My contemporaries, who are in the studio with me regularly, are artists of the past. I've learned their ways. I've learned their life. I've learned their techniques. I've learned how much they wanted this and I bring them into the studio with me every time I'm making art. They are a part of my journey. They may be long and gone, but they're a part of my journey. So I hope that gives you a little inspiration this week in the studio. We will see you next week with art and fear, part one. So excited to dive into this book. It's a monster. It's a super easy read, it's not very long, but it is foundational. Hope you have a great week. Go make some art, get in the studio, even if it's one mark or one stroke. Whatever you're going to do, get in there and make something, and we'll see you soon. Bye.
