Tag Archives: san francisco

i recently visited the museum of craft and folk art here in san francisco’s yerba buena center for the arts. the exhibit, inside/outside sought to share the environments of the artist; to show how ones art can surround them.

artists like mike shine, a commissioned artist for this exhibit, has identically recreated the shine shack, his home in bolinas, ca.

it all started with one painting on one wall, but over time the shack became his canvas, creating pieces here and there and painting directly on the walls, inside and out. he created an environment that both was his art and displayed his art. he made the creation of his colorful home a group effort, involving friends and family.

also included in the exhibit were many other artist’s environments in various locations in california. each location had a few photos and the history of how each structure came to be. my favorites:

NittWitt Ridge, Cambria CA

ol’ captain tinkerpaw, as he was lovingly called, bought this bit of land and set a goal for himself that he would not buy any materials but cement for the construction of his home. he collected things from local dumps, and on the beach (eventually the place was covered in seashells) and got a job as a garbage man, which he was eventually fired from because he spent too much time looking for materials for his personal project than on the job. he was hired to remove scraps from the building site of hearst castle and used their discards as pieces for his home. it started as one room then just grew and grew. he spent all of his free time on this project.

(travel channel-esque video here)

Grandma Prisbey’s Bottle Village, Simi Valley CA

tressa ‘grandma’ prisbey and her husband bought a plot of land in simi valley, plopped their trailer down and prisbey set to work. she claims she just needed a place for all her stuff. she had numerous eccentric collections that needed houses so she built them herself. prisbey’s life prior to this had been difficult and filled with loss. she had 7 children, 6 of whom she outlived by decades. she had married her sister’s widower at a very young age, spent her life moving around and having odd jobs. finally settling in simi valley, she sought to distract herself with her creative hobbies. her advice to others was that they do the same; find a creative hobby to give you something to look forward to everyday.

there were many other locations shown in the exhibit such as the watts towers, hubcap ranch, cayuga park, and romano gabriel garden, but what all these places had in common was that their makers had a need to create. they, like prisbey advises, found a hobby, something that gives their lives purpose.

perhaps the most incredible thing that i observed in the histories of these folk artists were the dates of birth and death. out of the 8 environments shown, 7 of the creators lived to be over 90 years old and they spent the better part of those 90 years making something that meant something to them. i imagine that giving youself a distraction like this, a reason to look forward to each day, leaves little time to think about dying: they were too busy DOING THINGS. this is the biggest inspiration to me through this exhibit. it’s not that i want to live forever, but i am reminded that life is not going to give me a meaning, but that i must make my own, and if i create that meaning for my life perhaps i can come to the end of my life and be satisfied or even that life will have to leave me, for i will not leave it. this also shows me that i must surround myself with my meaning, whatever that may be. these artists have not made art to hang on a wall but made their art their home, surrounded in the things they work hard to produce. they did not seek fame or fortune, but just simply wanted to make an environment that was more than just a house, more than just a place to live. we decorate our living spaces according to our own tastes, but rarely are our walls covered in our own creations which is a truly amazing form of ownership.

and no one has to go out into the middle of nowhere to build an artshack to live a long and creatively successful life; i simply express that you must put yourself into your work. give yourself some reason to wake up everyday. make art, make music, make food, take photos, write, sew, knit, teach–just make sure to DO.

AND WE WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU DO! if you have an art or a craft or anything that gives you meaning in your life, share it with us. inspire us. and we promise to share what we do with you.