Challenge #21: Make The World A Better Place -- For Free!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Humble Brag Challenge Badge.

As artists ourselves, we know how precious time spent working is-- and how that in turn informs how much we charge for our work. We did a whole week of posts talking about that, actually.

But today, we're going to talk about something different. Radically different.

Chances are, you have interests besides strictly making art and making money. Maybe you've thought about volunteering or donating to your local food bank; maybe there's a club at your school that advocates for a cause you believe in; maybe you know someone who loves the arts but can't get out there to experience them.

Whatever the situation, there's more than one way to make the world a better, more art-filled place -- and what better opportunity for you to be generous with your talents? Are you a musician? Set up a random performance downtown during lunch hour for all the business folks, or head to a nursing home (ask the staff first to make sure it's cool) and stage a mini-concert. Visual artist or photographer? Maybe one of your local non-profits could use your skills for a poster or accept a piece of work for a future fundraising auction. Writers: is there an issue going overlooked in your community? Why not draft a compelling letter to the editor, your representative, groups in your community that would be interested in solving that problem. Blog about it, then use your personal network to spread the word.

Whatever you do, your challenge this week is to use your talents without concern for compensation, without asking 'what's in it for you?' Doing good just feels good -- and you have the power to make it happen. Now let's get to work!

Challenge #15: The Price Is Right. Right?

What do you charge for your work? How did you choose that number?

If you ever want to make things awkward when meeting another artist, ask them how they price their work.

Of course, some artists can talk freely about how they price their products/services/etc., but for many creative professionals, this remains a topic rife with embarrassment and confusion, and therefore sits hulking at the edge of the discussion, a shade that no one really wants to address, yet is desperately in need of frank and open acknowledgement.

This week, we're going to attempt to do just that.

To start us off, we're issuing the following 5-step challenge to the Art Abyss community:


Step 1) Examine your price list.

What are you charging for your work? Do you even have a price list? If not - make one, then come back. (*Note: Making a price list can feel quite daunting. I like to start by just throwing numbers out there based on how long I feel it takes me to complete work, plus the cost of materials. Don't stress too much about this first draft.)


Step 2) Do the math.

When you calculate it out, how does the amount you charge compare with the amount of time you spend making your work? What is your effective hourly wage? Is that the amount you want to be making?


Step 3) Reflect your surroundings.

Now that you have an idea of what you're currently paying yourself, take another look at that price list. Modify your prices to reflect the hourly wage you want/need to live at the level you find acceptable. At the same time, research other people's rates in your industry. This may be a little tricky (remember how many artists don't like divulging their pricing practices?), but it's worth looking around. Two reasons:

1. By determining industry norms for your field, you can avoid undercharging, and
2. You avoid depreciating values in your field and pissing off your fellow creative professionals.

I remember my glee when I discovered the easily-accessible price list of Imaginary Jane, a graphic and web design company. Not only did seeing what they charge help me modify my design company's prices to reflect industry norms, but I know that as a consumer, I would be far more interested in hiring them thanks to their up-front approach to pricing. (More on that later.)


Step 4) Learn the script.

When you're talking to a future customer, there's a chance they will want to know just why you're charging the prices you charge. What are you going to say? You might remember the concept of the elevator pitch -- this explanation of prices needs to be just as polished. Think, unique value, personal relationship, etc. What do they get for their money that makes you worth it?


Step 5) Make it public.

Now that you've done your research, it's time to publish that price list! Remember the awesome Imaginary Jane pricing page? (Note: if you just clicked that link, it took you to their Facebook page, where, BAM, yet again they have their prices prominently linked to. Hmmm, maybe they're on to something . . .) Consumers -- whether business or individuals -- really do like to know what they're being asked to invest up front.

I know I'm flying against some traditionalists when I say this, but even fine artists benefit from being up front with their prices. As the internet explodes the old model of curators, publishers, and production companies being the only connection between the creators and the consumers, we as creators have a chance to set a price that we are comfortable with and stop playing games with the middleman. Call me an idealist, but that sounds pretty damn good.

The best part of "going public" with your prices is that it allows you to winnow your potential customer list right from the get-go. People who can't afford your work generally won't call you. This helps to make sure you receive fair payment for the work you do, and don't spend your time responding to people who aren't going to be able to pay you. And if you find that you're not receiving much customer interest, having a public price list makes it that much easier to assess whether it's your marketing strategies, the prices themselves, or both, that need work.


We'll be sticking with the pricing theme all week. Why don't you stick around and join in? Don't forget to snag your swanky challenge badge -- I sense a whole lot of future fun happening with this font.

Driving While Creative: Trying To Function Normally Sucks

If you're anything like me, there's lots of stuff that inspires you, or at least lots of stuff that piques your interest. The problem is, most of that stuff happens while you're trying to do other things. For example:

Photo by William Lesch.

I live in Tucson, Arizona. If you've never traveled here, you should know there are two things about this city that are so stunningly gorgeous and distinctive, I'm shocked we don't have them printed on our city seal: our mountains and our sunsets. Tucson is located in a valley between the Santa Catalina, Rincon, Santa Rita, and Tucson mountain ranges Although our mountains do have a good amount of greenery when compared to the desert below, they also have a lot of exposed rock face -- which makes for AMAZING textures, especially in the late afternoon/early evening.

Which brings me to my next rhapsody: the sunsets. The Sunsets. Tucson's sunsets are, in my mind, to this day unparalleled by any sunset I've seen elsewhere. I mean, look at it:

And that doesn't even get into the saguaros, or all the super cool wildlife, or our absolutely epic monsoon season . . . (yeah, I'm a desert rat in love with my home, I know).

The point is, I live is a beautiful freaking place, and seeing all this stuff just drives me wild with inspiration. Only problem? It tends to happen when I'm driving.

Yes, because I am so enamored with the beautiful world I live in, I have trouble resisting an almost irrepresible urge to make some terrible decisions, along with some that are highly inconvenient, or just plain awkward for everyone involved, all in the name of capturing inspiration. These include, but are not limited to:

• photographing while driving (bad, BAD idea)
• filming while driving (ditto)
• stopping the car on the side of the road every five minutes to document the scenery
• totally, totally, invading someone's property just so that I can capture this one really cool thing (and 99.9% of the time it's the railroad that owns it, and those people can be quite intimidating when they tell you to get off the damn tracks)
• making mential notes to somehow get a picture in the future of some location, only to later drive past there and not be able to find it
• weaving like an idiot in my lane before I realize what I'm doing, all because I saw something gorgeous

Now, I don't mean to give the impression that all artists are bad at driving -- I'm actually quite safe on the road, so long as I keep my eyes squarely on the pavement and the cars around me -- but it sucks to be passing all of this great inspiring stuff, and not be able to document any of it, all just because I'm supposed to be driving. Freaking societal responsibility and traffic laws and whatnot, amiright??

In all seriousness, the great part about inspiration is that you don't necessarily have to get a picture of whatever it is that inspires you in order for you to remember it . . . but if you're thinking that a photo is the only way you're going to remember exactly how that light looked falling across that tree, you might want to have a designated driver.

Push, Pose And Share: Object Stories

Object Stories is an amazing project I was fortunate enough to stumble upon during a visit to the Portland Museum of Art last year.  It's concept is simple yet powerful:

"Drawing from material culture, thing theory, anthropology, Museum education, and traditions of storytelling, Object Stories, the Portland Art Museum's new installation, is an open-ended exploration of the relationship between people and things, the Museum and the community, and the subjective and objective.

Do you have an object you would never give up? Something that lives on your wall, your mantle, or buried in the corner of your dresser drawer? Something that evokes a time in your life, a place you miss, or something you hope for? These connections between people and their things are at the heart of Object Stories.

Object Stories invites people and their objects into the Museum to tell stories about things that matter to them—whether a postcard, military medal, childhood toy, or an iPhone. These objects and stories will be captured and published to an onsite and online digital archive where they will comingle with recorded personal stories about Museum objects. An installation of Museum objects, selected and told by the public, will accompany the digital archive.

By putting ordinary things and the public at the center of its inquiry, and calling attention to the things we overlook in our lives, Object Stories ruminates on the ways objects make us as fully as we make objects, and the myriad ways objects speak to and shape who we are—our ideas, emotions, values, relationships, and aesthetics. Object Stories offers new possibilities to shift the relationship people make with museums, reshaping the institution as an organic, ever-growing repository made collectively by us of our stories and objects, mundane and exalted, personal and subjective.

Objects have stories. Tell us yours."

It is a plain white box with a voice recorder and camera which asks you the simple question, what does a particular object mean to you?  In a week where we are talking about the power of questions in art and our community, I thought this was the perfect example of how a simple question can be so powerful and meaningful.


Object Stories from ArtsFwd on Vimeo.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS STORY

To listen to more stories from the Object Stories series check out their website or CLICK HERE.

The Role Of The Artist Is To Ask Questions

My first semester of art school I was immediately struck by the idea that I was quite possibly the most boring and bland person to ever exist.  My teachers held bold political view points and created art that reflected those opinions.  The other art students around me were passionate activists for one cause or another,  proudly creating art that portrayed their beliefs.  Everywhere around me people were making statements,  yet all I seemed to have was questions.

My teachers kept trying to encourage me to "find my voice", to find something to say, "You're an intelligent girl" they would explain, "surely you must have some opinions."  It was as if my lack of bold statements made me weak in their eyes, falling short of who a real artist should be.  But I had opinions.  I had strong beliefs as well.  I had also learned long ago that simply shouting your viewpoint in someone's face does little to change their mind and I was more interested in affecting people, than I was in spouting off my opinions to anyone who might be listening.  I just wasn't sure how to do that yet.

Now that I'm older and can look back on the situation I wonder if I wasn't going about the whole situation backwards.  Maybe instead of asking what needed to be said,  I should have been saying what needed to be asked.

Isn't that what art is really about, questions?  Doesn't it exist to challenge us and make us think?

If all we give are answers in our work, are we really letting the viewer engage in a conversation with us?  Are we really forcing them to step out of their views and understanding of a situation and look at it from a different angle?

Is simply shouting our opinions as loud as we can enough?  Or does this conversation need to start going both ways if we really want to affect change in our society?  Perhaps the question really is more important than the answer in the end as it is the question which holds the the catalyst for change.

Yesterday when Kate issued this weeks challenge she talked about some of the ways that artists have used their work to ask questions over the years.

As a bit more inspiration for you this week here's an example of a more direct approach by Candy Chang to this whole idea of using your work to ask questions, it's kind of amazing and only about 6min long:

Here's a tiny except from her talk for those who need a little bit of encouragement to push the play button and watch the video :)

"So this neglected space became a constructive one, and people's hopes and dreams made me laugh out loud, tear up, and they consoled me during my own tough times. It's about knowing you're not alone. It's about understanding our neighbors in new and enlightening ways. It's about making space for reflection and contemplation, and remembering what really matters most to us as we grow and change."

                                                             -Candy Chang

And since this week is all about asking questions, I will steal Candy's amazing question for you guys as well.  Make sure to leave us a comment and let us know your answer!  Good luck on your challenge this week!

BEFORE I DIE I WANT TO: __________________________

Life In The Right Brain: Vintage Memorial Day BBQ

Sometimes in our society I think there is an unspoken idea that creativity is confined to art or the studio. In reality creativity is all around us in every choice we make as we move through our day.  If we try to bottle up our creativity and let it out to play only during certain times we deem appropriate, eventually it's going to get angry at us and stop working.  (I mean, I wouldn't enjoy getting locked away and ignored for days, weeks or years at a time either!)  As creatives our creativity is not simply something we do for a living, it is simply a part of who we are.  In the spirit of that we are going to start running a new set of features on the blog called: Life In The Right Brain. In these we are hoping to share how our creative juices really do seep into every aspect of our lives and aren't just confined to our artwork. 

Up first is a little something I threw together for a few friends on memorial day! I love throwing parties. When I was little I used to have a dedicated notebook I would us as my "party planner" and all year long I would gather ideas here and there to inspire me for my yearly birthday party. I would rent books from the library, look at magazines, and one can only imagine how my little 8 year old head would have exploded if pinterest had been around back then!

It's been a while since we really threw a party at our place so on memorial day this year we decided to have a few friends over for a good old fashioned vintage BBQ.



For anyone interested in all the DIY goodness that went into this, heres the scoop on that:

Table Setting:
Flowers: Joey and I spent a lazy Sunday afternoon the day before the party and picked a TON of simple wildflowers. They ended up being one of my favorite parts of the party and they were totally free! 

Vases: Most of the vases were just old liquor bottles we've been given or collected over the years along with a few vases and jam jars I picked up from a local thrift store for about a buck.  For a couple of the vases I cut strips out of paper bags and secured then around the glass with some simple twine for a little more interest.

Table Cloth + Runner: The table clothes came from the 99 cents store and the runner I made out of cheap butcher paper cut in half.

Candles: I pretty much just raided our house for every glass candle holder and tea light we own for the rest of the table which worked out to be just enough! (see mom and dad, eventually all those bazillion candles we bought back in the day for my wedding came in handy again)

Hay Bales: We totally lucked out on this one, I told Joey I was thinking of picking up a few hay bales for seating (since I only own like 6 chairs and didn't know where the hell all these people were going to sit) and after asking around at work to see where he could pick some up an amazing co-worker with horses offered to just let us borrow a couple for the party! To make them a bit more comfy I just laid down a few pillow cases I got from the thrift store for about 2 bucks on top.

Bites N' Booze Striped Food Table Awning:
This was probably my absolute favorite thing at the party.  When I first told my husband what I wanted him to make me for the party I could see the small freak out taking hold, however I assured him it would be cheap and easy.  The cheap part totally worked out, as far as easy… well we'll just say it was a little more time consuming than expected.  We constructed most of the frame out of 2x2 boards and a couple of 1x4 furring strips.  For the base we used a couple of cheap discount bin 1x6 fencing material boards.  For the awning I just bought a white king size sheet for a buck from the thrift store and painted red strips on in!  All in all the whole thing only cost about $10!

Make-Your-Own-Smore's Table:
This was super simple. I just set up an old bar cart we own in the yard, filled a couple of paper bags with graham crackers, filled a tiny portable grill with marshmallows and laid out a bunch of gourmet toppings like Nutella, sliced strawberries, carmel, granny smith apples, and tons of different kinds of chocolate!  Finally I grabbed an old vase to hold all my marshmallow sticks!

Bean Bag Toss:
My awesome hubby was able to make this for about $3 out of some MDF board and old 2x4's he had lying around.  I just added a little left over red paint to make it pretty.

Fabric Garland:
This was probably the most time consuming thing we did for the whole party.  I bought about 12 yards total of assorted clearance fabrics, ripped them into two inch strips, then looped the strips around a long piece of twine. Doesn't seem like it should take almost 6 hours huh?

All photos are © Kadie Pangburn and Joseph Ho.

Now that you have seen a little of what I think is awesome, don't forget this week we are giving away FREE STUFF!  All you have to do is share your own #something awesome on our Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest to enter!  We'll be picking one lucky winner at the end of the week!

Doing Something Different, With Unexpected Results

This week, we're doing things differently. For me, this hasn't meant so much of a change in my behavior as it has a behavior in my thought process. You see, I've always hated running.
 
Still, two months ago, I started running with my husband. And I hated it, and sweated and whined and panicked my way through every single run, pretty sure I would absolutely die. Of course I didn't actually die, but that wasn't raising the fun factor.

I've been told that 5Ks are so much more fun than regular running -- so I figured in my case, that would translate to things being about a 5 on the suck scale instead of the usual 10. Thus, I signed up for the Neon Splash Dash with a group of friends.

And I dreaded it.

See how I'm regretting my decision here? Totally.

Here's the thing. I've always had this narrative about how much I hate running, and how much I am not a runner, but because of that silly 5K, I'm having to reevaluate how true - or useful - that narrative is for me.

We all know how this story ends -- I discovered that I might not actually hate running, I'm thinking about signing up for future 5Ks, and the whole experience was dramatically lower than a 5 on the suck scale -- maybe it even scored a point or two on the awesome scale. So yeah, breaking out of my normal beliefs is leading me to learn some pretty cool stuff about myself.

But what in the world does this all have to do with creativity? With making art?
Being a creative person isn't something that only happens in the studio -- your creative self is always there, even when you're not engaging it. Similarly, the parts of you that exist outside of your creative process are still present when you're making art, even if you don't notice them. And sometimes, this relationship between your creativity and everything else means that making a change in one sphere will affect the other.

That's absolutely what I've experienced with the whole running thing. No, I didn't come home from the 5K and start flinging paint at a canvas - but since I discovered I was actually able to do this one thing that I thought was utterly beyond me, I'm starting to suspect that maybe I can do some other things I've been avoiding -- like actually make some of the pieces that I've been holding in my brain, with the excuse that I don't have enough time.

I didn't think I was strong enough to run. What if my not having enough time to create is just another old outdated narrative?

This week's a good time to find out.

Pure, unadulterated enjoyment -- I mean, suffering. Uh huh.

True Confessions Of A Guerrilla Artist

My oh so terrifying knit bomb...
you're terrified right?

The time was midnight, it was dark and clear and you could just hear the sound of the wind rustling in the trees.  I had scoped out the spot earlier that day; not a security camera in sight.  I threw my bag over my shoulders and crept along the sidewalk.  As I moved through the night, my black clothes helping me to disappear into the shadows, I focused all my will power on calming my racing heartbeat.  This was my first job, and as much as I had prepared, the thought of getting caught still nagged at the back of my mind.  I needed to get in and get out.  Right then a car came zooming up around the corner.  Quick as a flash, I leapt behind a bush, ducking out of site from the gleam of the car’s high beams.  “Idiot!” I whispered loudly under my breath. “If you had just kept walking like you were supposed to be there, no one would have noticed you!  But no, you had to dress in all black from head to toe and then leap behind a bush like a criminal… because that’s not suspicious looking at all.”  I got up, brushed the leaves out of my hair, and kept walking towards my target, an old lamp post in the middle of downtown.  Once there, I paused looking around the deserted streets. No one is sight, good.  Bending over my bag, I reached in and grabbed the long roll of fabric I had spent the last three weeks making just for this moment.  Unrolling it I held it up the post and began to stich it on.  The needle slid into the fabric, knotted against the back and then synched the two sides together as I pulled it taught.  A lump fell into the pit of my stomach.  As I continued stitching, my hands began to tremble and I repeatedly kept dropping the needle and having to spend precious moments finding it again.  How long had I been standing here in the open?  The seconds were pounding away in my brain.  Another car zoomed round the corner and before I could stop myself I had dived into yet another bush.  Cursing myself for my ongoing stupidity I crept back to my project and began to ferociously attack my piece, sewing up the sides as fast as I could get my fingers to fly.  Finally, after what seemed an eternity of standing there exposed, I slid the final knot into place, cut the line, stuffed my things back into my bag and got the hell out of dodge.  As I slid back into the safety of my vehicle, my body began to shake uncontrollably, my hands fumbling to much to even secure my seat buckle.   Back at home I sat motionless, curled up into the fetal position on the corner of my couch, as if half expecting the police to burst through the door at any moment and carry me away.  I waited.  Nothing.  My eyes closed, my body exhausted by the emotional and mental strain of the night sagged and slowly I drifted to sleep…

Ok, so maybe I’m not cut out to be Sam Spade or the criminal type.  I mean come on, if I can’t even sew some soft fuzzy yarn on a pole without feeling like I’m suddenly on the FBI’s most wanted list… maybe that isn’t what I should be doing.

The thing is I LOVE guerilla art.  I love street art.  I love the passion behind it and the way that it brings a message directly to your audience without them ever having to pay $5 to step inside a museum.  Instead of them going to the art, you are simply just bringing the art to them instead.  Have I mentioned how much I love this concept?

So what’s a chicken, terrified-of-breaking-the-law-girl to do!?  Turns out a lot!

"The Gateway"

"A Line I Made By Walking"

In my adventures to find my street art niche, I tried all sorts of things.  Some didn’t turn out so well… hence the aforementioned story, but some of them really hit home with me, the two most prominent being Land Art and Guerrilla Gardening.

After my total failure as a knit bomber, I had decided to try something totally different.  Instead, of exploring the urban areas around me like I had been, I began to really dive into the natural elements surrounding me for a change.  Inspired by people like Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long and Patrick Dougherty, I began creating work from nature.  I would often spend hours wandering around in the wilderness just getting to know the land, waiting for it to say something so that I could respond in the only way I knew how, through my art.  The best part was, this work wasn’t scary at all, it was almost sacred in a way.  I had found my niche.  To See more of my adventures in Land Art and read more about the projects pictured above, click HERE, HERE and HERE

After months of working with sticks and leaves and dirt and grass and trees and flowers and water and mud and whatever else I could come up with I began to really ache for those urban spaces again.  Then one day it dawned on me.  Why not simply mesh the two together?  Fueled with my newfound passion for land art, I began to brainstorm ideas for how I could combine the two disciplines.  After some time, I decided on a project that involved something known as guerrilla gardening.

At first, I was worried that this would be another horrific repeat of my knit bombing experience.  Nervously, I gathered up my tools and supplies that first day and headed downtown, determined to face my fears.  The difference was literally night and day… for one it actually was daytime.  I also didn’t try to dress up like some sort of crazed ninja assassin this time either.  Instead I was simply in a pair of jeans and t-shirt, slowly meandering around downtown pausing whenever I came to a spot I wanted to work.  I’m not going to lie, the first couple spots I worked I was pretty nervous, but nobody seemed to notice me.  Eventually it became clear that nobody really cared what I was up to as long as I wasn’t going to be smashing windows or vandalizing their property.  As I continued working, my confidence grew and I became more and more bold with my work.  In the end, I created and documented 21 separate guerrilla gardening installations downtown. If you want to see what my full Guerrilla Gardening piece turned out like, or want to read the artist statement behind what I was doing, check out THIS LINK HERE.

The moral of the story is, figure out what works for you.  You have to decide if your fear is coming from a place of discomfort with the act you are about to perform, or if it is coming from a place of nervousness about putting yourself out there as an artist.  If you are uncomfortable about the act itself, don’t do it.  You don’t have to be like everyone else.  Because you don’t like something, or are uncomfortable with it, doesn’t make you any more or less of an artist than another person, it simply makes you unique.  When you listen to your heart and go where it leads you, you will find yourself making the work only you could have made in a way only you could have made it.  Art isn’t about being the coolest, or the most trendy, or the most daring person.  It’s about having something to say and find your perfect medium in which to say it, your way.

So experiment this week, discover who you are, what you have to say and how you can say it. Don’t let your fear of exposure as an artist keep you from having your voice heard!

Me hanging out inside one of my favorite land art projects "Gateway"

Guerrilla Art 101

Ok people, here's the drill, this week we are talking about facing our fears and building community by bringing our work out into the open and straight to the people.  Who says we need a gallery show to be  artists, or a stage to be performers?  As creatives we are often insecure about sharing our work with others, but hiding it away from everyone for too long is often just as bad for us.  One way to get out into your community and start sharing your artwork is guerrilla art.  No, there are no gorillas involved in this process (although I suppose there could be hmmm…. intriguing….).  And no you are not required to do anything illegal.  To guide you through the magical land of guerrilla art, I've created a little guide for you of just a few ideas, ranging in intensity (and thereby also in illegality) so you can find the perfect fit for your creative personality type.  Hopefully this will help get you started on your challenge this week and lend you a bit of inspiration!


Land/Nature Art

Andy Goldsworthy

Nature art is probably the safest bet for anyone just wetting their feet in the world of Guerrilla art.  It's mostly legal (as long as you aren't being destructive or trespassing on private property), relatively risk free, and usually done with little to no audience present.  Done properly it is some of the most moving and inspiring work you will ever see.  For more inspiration check out the works of people like Andy Goldsworthy, Jim Denevan, Patrick Dougherty, and Richard Long.



Flash Mobs

You've probably already seen them on youtube everywhere, but if for some reason you've been living under a rock lately, a flash mob is really just a group of people all getting together at the same time, in the same place, to do some sort of performance piece in public together.  For the most part this is pretty legal and safe, however, depending on the location and type of performance peice you may need to ask for permission first.

By the way, who says flash mobs have to be singers or dancers?




Street Performances

I live about two hours from downtown Nashville TN and let me tell you, it takes guts (or a lot of booze) to grab your guitar, or your harmonica, or your Melodica (it's a thing I swear, I just saw a guy playing one on a corner last night honest to God) and stand on a street corner pouring out your music while people wander by... or stumble by.  For the most part this is also pretty legal and safe.

If you haven't already seen this video, you should watch it. Joshua Bell is one of the most talented violin players in the world and they put him in a subway station playing one of the most difficult pieces you can ever preform.  Read the amazing article all about it HERE.




Chalk Art

Chalk, it's not just for hopscotch people! Chalk is a fantastic medium for the more conservative guerrilla artist, you can still make a big statement, on the ground, on a wall, wherever, and if somebody hates it, it just washes off with water.  Most people are pretty cool about chalk art, but again be smart about where and what you a drawing.  If you draw a swastika in front of a synagogue, that's not going to go over so well.. just be smart people.

Guerilla Gardening

Here's where things are going to start to get fuzzy people.  Guerrilla Gardening is actually really fun and a really really low
key form of guerrilla art.  For the most part everyone is pretty excited about artists bringing a little beauty into the word by planting things.   Especially when you do it in an area that is really lacking in aesthetics or green stuff.  However, don't go around digging in grandma's prized flower bed if you are looking to stay under the radar ok?  For tons more info and inspiration check out www.guerrillagardening.org!

Yarn Bombing

Street Artist Jessie Hemmons

If you have a talent for knitting, crochet or just soft fuzzy yarn in general this might be your thing.  Yarn bombing (or knit graffiti as it's sometimes known) can be political, it can be heartwarming or it can be just plain funny.  You can do anything from show a sense of warmth and care for your environment to making large political statements, all with yarn.  Now if we get down to it, this isn't strictly legal since technically you are defacing public property.  However, for the most part people rarely care and if they do the project is usually so easily removable that people calm down pretty quick and get over it.  Just be warned ok?  If you want some inspiration, THIS SITE has some really really great stuff documenting Philadelphia's knitted street art.



Hard Core Guerrilla Art

Guerilla Art By Banksy

Alright, now that we've covered all the mostly legalish forms of guerrilla art, here are some example of what can be done by the more bold among us.  Most of these are going to be considered defacing public property, and seen no different by the law than say plain old gang related graffiti, so be warned and participate at your own risk.  The master of this genre of art is probably a dude named Banksy.  If you haven't heard of him go do a google search right now, seriously.  However, there are thousands of amazing street artists in the world today doing some really amazing work.  Try checking out www.streetartutopia.com for some great inspiration!

If you want to hear more about just how much impact this kind of art can have on the world and society take a listen to this TED video!
 

Alright, so there you have it, everything you need to know to decide what kind of Guerilla Artist you are!

Did we miss anyone that is your all time favorite street artist?  If so, drop us a line in the comment section and let us know who inspires you and your art!