Level 2, Part 2 Exercises

This is a collection of exercises for the entire group to be completed between the first and second meetings.

From The First Meeting

1. Define your personal thematic content as best you can. Write it down and mail it to us.

2. Make a list of what you think are the characteristics of your personal expressive style. To help you do this look at all your work of the last year (say) and see what characteristics dominate. This should and will change over time. However, by writing it down, you create a concrete starting point to grow and explore from. Expect this statement or list to change more slowly as you become more confident and experienced. Mail it to us.

For The Second Meeting

1. Read the support material for Part 2 and write down any questions that arise for discussion in the second meeting.

2. Select the artist that has the most influence on or resonance with your personal content. Prepare a 15 minute presentation for the group on the artist and their work. You may want to treat this fairly extensively as a personal reference. if so, distill it for the group. Some things to consider are:

1. A brief personal history.

2. The evolution of their work:

1. Early training.

2. Early influences and major influences on them.

3. Different styles and different periods.

4. The emergence of their mature style and content.

5. Different periods in their mature work.

6. Influences on these mature works.

3. What part of their work most influences you? What are its dominant influencing characteristics?

4. What if any influence actually manifests in your work?

3. Bring 2-4 pieces of recent work to the meeting for critique and discussion. In particular, bring work that exemplifies insights gained in or since the last meeting. Bring work that embodies new ideas about you personal content. Bring earlier work, if you wish, that we discussed and you have resolved or at least made progress on.