Super Spring!

Spring is in the air! It is bright and warm outside (though still freezing in my cubical) and everyone is in a better mood because of it. We product designers work a year ahead of time at Darice and I've been happily drawing spring things all week. This is a much easier task when I can look out my window at blue skies anytime my eyes need an LED break.

At home this weekend I drew this piece of Ralph McQuarrie (RIP) fanart for the RBMC:

I've been in cute-mode lately, what can I say?

This week I plan to:

• Work on a few more charcoal drawings
• Finalize my curriculum for my Costume Cabaret figure drawing class (Space is still available, so sign up now!)
• Do a Moebius tribute illo for the RBMC
• Get back in the pottery studio on Saturday (for the first time in months - hooray!)
• Art Club / Group Therapy on Sunday - YES!
• RELAX

What do you have on your plate?

Art Club

Home Sweet Home!

Cleveland is an incredible city to live in if you are an artist. It is large enough to have several thriving art districts and small enough that a newcomer can have a shot of showing in one. More importantly, the people here are amazing. I am constantly blown away by their talent, warmth, and camaraderie and the way that they welcomed me in with open arms. There is a feeling of "we're all in this together" unique to rust-belt cities. It's something special and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Once a month, I attend Group Therapy Art Club at a local wine bar. There, both amateurs and professionals alike come together to talk about what it means to be an artist. We also draw too, but that really isn't the point. As it turns out, we all have the same thoughts, neuroses, insecurities and awe over what we do. Discovering this and having a group available to talk through tough issues has made me a better artist and person.

Here are a few things I've learned:

• The only competition that matters is the one against yourself
• Artist need other artists to thrive
• It is destructive - on many levels - if an artist stops making art
• Everyone has something to teach; Everyone has something to learn
• It is OK to have multiple artistic identities
• Artists in a group have more power that an artist alone
• It is important to help others succeed

Many of these were not easy concepts for me to come to. Like other artists in this incredibly subjective and visible field, I have a problem with competition. Keeping myself positive, supportive of others, and competitively neutral is a challenge and I am happy to have a group of peers that understand that in me and help me work toward my goals.

When recent art school grads ask me for advice, this message always comes first: Find a Community. I will say more on these sacred words in future posts, but the essence of the concept is this: we are all in this together. I am thrilled and lucky to have found my community. Cleveland Rocks!

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Here are a few amazing Cleveland art communites:

• Dr. Sketchy Cleveland (my peeps!)
• Sunday Art Club
• the Rust Belt Monster Collective (my amazing weekly sketch club)
• BayArts
• the Beck Center
• Murray Hill Drawing Group
• the Pretentious Artists of the Literary Cafe

New Year - New Blog

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Rumi

Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to my new corner of the internet. I am Erin Schechtman - professional illustrator and product designer by day; art teacher and fine artist extraordinaire by night.

2011 was an important year for me for a number of reasons. This was the year that I started teaching, joined an inspiring art club, and created bodies of work for 3 shows. Through these experiences and others, I have learned a lot about myself and how I make art. Part of that is the discovery that I need to share those lessons.

So, without further ado, I am thrilled to introduce you to my brand new blog, Erin in ArtLand.

This will be my attempt to catalog all of my teaching tools, artistic insights, successes and failings, and the general joy (and often misery) of creating. I LOVE what I do and its time to tell everyone.

In this blog, we will get into the nitty gritty of technical art skills, but we'll also talk about the emotional roller-coaster we jumped when we decided to become artists. I might not post everyday, but expect to see something from me at least once a week. Please join me on this crazy, crazy journey.

Anyway, I'll be seeing you soon - I've got a painting to finish first.