Norcal Guild : Bill Bites

BILL BITES:
Our Eyes Are Dancing

Issue #16, by Bill Russell

Back when I was single and living in New York City, I fell in with an arty crowd. They were dancers, musicians and performance artists. Since I’d become a bit of a shut-in, I realized it would be good for me. I had the privilege of performing with the Eileen Kelly Group. We performed before live audiences at Dance Theatre Workshop and smaller venues. Thankfully, what I did for Eileen required minimal skill and acting ability. I enjoyed my experiences in the theater. I loved the immediate feedback from the audience. I learned a lot about the value and importance of their responses. We graphic artists are a few steps removed from this kind of feedback. In a live setting it can be mean tears, laughter and applause. No one is perched behind our computer monitors offering that kind of response.

Only recently did I discover that one of our very own NorCal Guild members practices his art so theatrically. His name is Todd Jones Donahue, a self-described Transformative Artist with a persona called Spark*!. When he performs, he dances and reshapes wire and tin foil with a back up mix of psychedelic pop and groovy light show. He takes it to clubs around the Bay area and to Burning Man. I met him when he amazed a crowd of illustrators at the recent Icon 4 Conference with his energetic and artful moves. I ask him a few questions. “Given that you’re also a graphic designer and illustrator, how do you reconcile these diverse approaches?” Donahue answers that, “it’s all a flow of energy. In each case, whether I’m designing a logo or performing in a club, I ask myself: ‘Am I providing an experience for someone’.”

Donahue takes his work seriously. He holds himself accountable to the viewer for his designs and his performances. “I’m always aware of the part I play in what path the viewer’s eyes take.” I than ask him if he has any advice for graphic artists. “Graphic design and illustration can be an isolating practice, where one can sit for hours. Get up and move”, he says, “move with your design. Creativity flows through the body. Close your eyes, move your hands and consider the flow (of energy).”

We creatives can learn from Donahue’s experience as a performance artist, about his inner awareness and his outward responsibility. We can ask how our own art making is flowing and whether that art is reaching people emotionally or otherwise. No art exists in a vacuum. Only through the participation of the viewer can we realize art and design’s maximum effectiveness. Graphic artists should make the effort to hear from their clients and others about the reactions to their jobs. We can question people directly about our portfolios and web sites. We can send our clients an anonymous survey so that they may feel free tell us what they may really think. We can sign our work with an email. We can try at least to get closer to the response we need to hear to make our art complete.

BILL RUSSELL

A Guild member for 20 years, Bill has been a freelance illustrator for over 25 years in Toronto, New York and the Bay Area. He taught illustration at California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC) for eight years and been a staff artist at the San Francisco Chronicle for six years. His contributions to various Guild efforts include volunteering on the North Bay Luncheon Committee, a successful North Bay Sales Tax event, the Outreach Committee, and the Repeal of the California Sales Tax on artwork. Bill is one of the original All-Rights Refusniks.

To view his work and other musings, visit www.Billustration.com.