Last night, I spent nearly two hours with artists from all over the country as we participated in a workshop organized by Alison Lee of Craftcast, and presented by polymer artist, Seth Savarick. You may be wondering where the workshop was held. Well, that's the great part -- it was a live online community call.  Some of us dialed in and listened through our telephones, and some of us logged in on our computers. It was truly a bicoastal gig, with a few Midwesterners in the mix.

In advance of the workshop, we were emailed a copy of Seth's outline, which we had the option of printing off and taking notes on, or pulling up on our computers to follow along during the call.

Seth's topic, "From Imitation to Inspiration: Finding Your Own Work in That Which Has Come Before," addressed the fluid process that artists engage in to create authentic work. Since we were in an audio venue, Seth played some music clips to illustrate how artists in the music world often imitate one another's work. Which raised the question, "is copying ever appropriate? If so, when? And then things got really interesting as Seth walked us through four phases of how we can find our own creative voice, whatever medium we are working in.

It got me thinking about the latest series of photos I've been making. They involve using the tiny people props used by the small scale model guys who have offices down the hall from ours. Lots of artists have discovered these "peeps" (as I call them). Kristin Lora uses them in her jewelry. Another artist, Thomas Doyle uses them in fascinating dioramas.

So, I'm certainly no trailblazer with the peeps. But I do have my own way of using them to tell a story.

 Hmmm. I'll close with a quote from Robert Hughes that Seth printed on the title page of his outline, "The only road to authenticity lies through what has already been done." Ciao for now, ;) Jill