Lindsey Bailey is a brilliantly ambitious artist. Her work is grounded in the techniques of traditional crafting, but lives in the realm of art galleries and installations. Her current project has her collaborating, but unlike most high artists, she is working with elementary school students! The pieces are not static, instead they are performance based. Yet even Lindsey’s work that wasn’t created with the help of 75 children is filled with life and color and vibrant whimsy. I would like to encourage you to support her efforts and support arts education by visiting and contributing to her kickstarter campaign.
One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of:
The one I am currently working on: Deliciously Happy. I am collaborating with students from 3 schools on an installation being featured at Belmont University. The schools are in 3 different areas in the city, so each of the schools bring a distinct approach to the project. All of the work is performative: the 4th graders are making bobble heads, the 7th/8th graders are making a carousel book where they can actually become part of the pages, and the 9th/10th graders will be working on paper puppet animations based on human interaction and movement. I am creating pieces that directly respond to their work. So, I will be incorporating a lot of costuming and set-making elements: fingerweaving, googly eyes, and large paper mache’ objects. And, working with 75 youth: everyone brings a unique perspective to the project, making for exciting conversation and creative energy!!
A short video about the project can be found here: http://kck.st/unJK6l
Two Mistakes You’ve Made in the Past:
Only 2? Ha! This is a hard one.
Creatively, I roll with the punches. So, I can’t really think of anything that I would’ve thought of as a mistake. I tend to look at everything as “happy accidents”, rather than mistakes.
For me, this question is less about creative mistakes and more about personal choices: not doing something again that you made the mistake of doing in the past. So, here are my answers:
1. Listening to people tell me that I should get a “real job” and stop trying to make creative work all of the time.
2. Having a “real job”.
Three Things That Make Your Work Unique:
1. Sense of humor (through color and shape)
2. Collaboration (I love working with lots of people!)
3. Craft-based elements (Hobby Lobby is my best friend.)
Four Tools That you Love To Use:
1. A glue gun
2. A drill
3. A staple gun
4. Watercolor brushes
Five Inspirations:
1. Youth. The imaginations of my nephews and my students are so diverse and naturally creative. It’s so important for this type of thinking to continue on, as they age.
2. Music. Music is such a visual source for me. When I play music while I am working in the studio, I can completely visualize where the pieces are going and what the final product will look like.
3. Friends. My friends are very creative. I love to watch my friends make things and have shows. We all work so differently, so it’s really great to see how we each approach a project.
4. Nature. Lots of the shapes that I work with come from plants, flowers, and sea life. Of course the shapes play very different roles in my work, but everything is always based in nature. I spend a lot of time looking at things in the world.
5. Color. I am very inspired by color. I like a lot of color, all at once, in various shades, values, and textures. I can see a color and know exactly where it belongs in my work and can recreate it.
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