You may have noticed that I have not talked much about photography so far I must apologize for this. Photography especially since the digital revolution in the industry has become a very enjoyable creative pursuit for me. Back in the old days of film unless you had a solid grasp of the technical aspects of an SLR you couldn't afford to experiment that much. Today with digital one can experiment till the cows come home and literally keep on shooting until the desired result materializes before your eyes.
Back in the film days I used photographs mainly for reference to be utilized in my paintings and drawings because of my lack of technical knowledge my photographs to my eyes were not good enough as stand alone pieces of art. Since then I have far greater grasp on the technical aspects of the SLR than I did previously. There are still a lot of photographers who swear by film I just got tired of swearing at it. I have a great admiration for the film pros out their they were the vanguard of the talent that we see revealing itself to our eyes today.
It should also be pointed out that the camera whether digital or film does not make the photographer. Some people couldn't make an interesting statement on a subject if their lives depended on it once in a while they get lucky but luck is what it is not skill. You could also say that it's not how the picture was taken that counts but the attributes of the picture itself. This may be true but if you want to get proficient at anything you must work at it. As I mentioned in a previous blog there are millions of one hit wonders out there but few that can consistently come up with new and exciting images.
Another aspect of digital photography that I love is the environmental factor there is no film wastage and a hell of a lot less dangerous chemical compounds involved. I find it a lot more fun and interesting to take my shots into a digital darkroom like photo shop than I did when I had to work in a dark room with smelly dangerous chemicals. There is far more control over how your pictures are printed which as far as I'm concerned gives you far more creative leash than the old "darkroomages". Yes to my way of thinking photography now is more exciting and spontaneous than it has ever been capturing the moment takes on a whole new meaning.
Till Next Time...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Imagine Green Cheese on the Moon!
There's an old saying that says there's no such thing as luck, luck is something you work hard for with consistent effort and when whatever it is that you were striving so diligently to achieve comes to fruition all of a sudden you're a lucky guy or gal. Often over night successes take a lifetime to see the light of day.
The people who make comments like the above are usually people who give up when the going gets tough. These same people just can't believe or don't want to believe that someone else succeeded where they have failed. What they miss is the fact that they haven't failed unless they are willing to accept defeat, one never fails as long as there is a consistent effort being made. How can that be you may be saying? The answer is that the story isn't finished yet and if we would but realize that we are the authors of our own stories it is our own imaginations that fail us if we let them. But if we can see the prize and the clear road towards it, in our minds we will find or imagine if you will a way to get their. Yes there may be short cuts but even if there aren't the journey may just show us things that we may never have seen otherwise.
Everyone has feelings of self doubt and I think artists and musicians have more doubts about their careers than anyone even if they are apparently successful from other peoples perspectives. Any artists that are worth their salt have a tremendous amount of imagination, ironically the very thing that makes them successful in their field can also fill them with paranoia's. We've all heard about the musicians that after one hit record can't seem to attain the level that got them to stand out above the rest in the first place. I'd place dollars to doughnuts in a bet that the main reason is the fear of failure. Ironically the very thing we fear the most often times becomes a reality. Why? because we imagine it that way. Imagination is one of our most powerful if not the most powerful assets we have. "It will never get off the ground." "It's going to fly!" it did just ask the Wright brothers. Sad to say though there isn't any green cheese on the moon, damn, if people just had more imagination God knows what we could do.
Till next time...
The people who make comments like the above are usually people who give up when the going gets tough. These same people just can't believe or don't want to believe that someone else succeeded where they have failed. What they miss is the fact that they haven't failed unless they are willing to accept defeat, one never fails as long as there is a consistent effort being made. How can that be you may be saying? The answer is that the story isn't finished yet and if we would but realize that we are the authors of our own stories it is our own imaginations that fail us if we let them. But if we can see the prize and the clear road towards it, in our minds we will find or imagine if you will a way to get their. Yes there may be short cuts but even if there aren't the journey may just show us things that we may never have seen otherwise.
Everyone has feelings of self doubt and I think artists and musicians have more doubts about their careers than anyone even if they are apparently successful from other peoples perspectives. Any artists that are worth their salt have a tremendous amount of imagination, ironically the very thing that makes them successful in their field can also fill them with paranoia's. We've all heard about the musicians that after one hit record can't seem to attain the level that got them to stand out above the rest in the first place. I'd place dollars to doughnuts in a bet that the main reason is the fear of failure. Ironically the very thing we fear the most often times becomes a reality. Why? because we imagine it that way. Imagination is one of our most powerful if not the most powerful assets we have. "It will never get off the ground." "It's going to fly!" it did just ask the Wright brothers. Sad to say though there isn't any green cheese on the moon, damn, if people just had more imagination God knows what we could do.
Till next time...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Promotion on the Net
Today's weather is probably a perfect metaphor for the way I have been feeling today, maybe I should start calling it metaphoric pressure instead of meteoric pressure? It's sunny right now and that's close to the way I feel. Overcoming a lot of obstacles on promoting my work on the web has blown away some of the clouds that were hanging around me earlier in the day.
I'd like to express my gratitude to the many websites that give us artists a helping hand with the exposure and marketing of our work I had the great pleasure of dealing with a site called www.gallerish.com when I ran into a spot of trouble they got right back to me with a fix thank you sooo much! Keep up the fabulous work! Gallerish is a site that is very user friendly and a pleasure to work with I highly recommend their site. When it comes to the web I am as far as I'm concerned a green horn, so if I can manage to get around a site you know it's user friendly!
I will be checking out a site called browndwarf.ca I'll let you know how that goes, I found them on craigslist another great site to find information and sell things. Currently I am working with talkspotgallery.com and finding it to be quite good so far it's more involved than gallerish but there are more features to work with you actually build your own website, how cool is that!? I would advise before you go to these sites that you have jpegs of your work properly prepared for the web otherwise you won't be able to do much, have some bio information. Artist's statements for each work are a very valuable sales tool, getting clients to relate to your work is very important and the more they know about each piece the more likely they are to purchase from you.
These are just a couple of good sites I've run across so far I'll be checking out a lot more and will keep you posted on all the good ones.
Till Next Time.......
I'd like to express my gratitude to the many websites that give us artists a helping hand with the exposure and marketing of our work I had the great pleasure of dealing with a site called www.gallerish.com when I ran into a spot of trouble they got right back to me with a fix thank you sooo much! Keep up the fabulous work! Gallerish is a site that is very user friendly and a pleasure to work with I highly recommend their site. When it comes to the web I am as far as I'm concerned a green horn, so if I can manage to get around a site you know it's user friendly!
I will be checking out a site called browndwarf.ca I'll let you know how that goes, I found them on craigslist another great site to find information and sell things. Currently I am working with talkspotgallery.com and finding it to be quite good so far it's more involved than gallerish but there are more features to work with you actually build your own website, how cool is that!? I would advise before you go to these sites that you have jpegs of your work properly prepared for the web otherwise you won't be able to do much, have some bio information. Artist's statements for each work are a very valuable sales tool, getting clients to relate to your work is very important and the more they know about each piece the more likely they are to purchase from you.
These are just a couple of good sites I've run across so far I'll be checking out a lot more and will keep you posted on all the good ones.
Till Next Time.......
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sleep on This
Hello Folks:
Once again I'm feeling a bit tired tonight which led me to my topic for this blog. Sleep, I've often wondered what is it that sleep is all about? Yeah I know your body has to rest and all that but just where do we go when we fall into unconsciousness? There are all kinds of psychological reasons for what we dream etc. but as far as I'm concerned they skirt around the issue.
How many of us have had premonition type dreams where you actually see something take place in your dreams and then it happens in waking life either the next day or in the very near future? There are literally thousands of case histories that have been documented. If that is the case doesn't it suggest that there is a sense in our unconsciousness that is not so unconscious at all? We humans tend to look for the logical explanations to things around us but what is often forgotten in all this is that perhaps we are looking at this whole phenomena from an inaccurate perspective. If you've ever stared at optical illusions such as the ones that M. C. Escher created at first you look at them and say to yourself yeah that's right, but wait a minute waterfall don't flow upstream yet in the drawing it seems apparent that they do.
If we can imagine it to any degree of accuracy then maybe we shouldn't be so quick to say "Oh that's impossible!" that may be the case in the present circumstances but not necessarily in the future. In the previous blog I mentioned that our imaginations also have limitations from the simple fact that our knowledge is limited in each individual, collective knowledge is a totally different matter.
Now imagine if someday we could develop a skill that would enable us to dream collectively. You're probably asking yourself now "Is this guy nuts?" quite the contrary if we can think collectively in our conscious states what's to say that we can't do it in an unconscious state? A lot of study has been done on the subconscious mind and the power of hypnotic suggestion in this area. These are things that were just floating through my mind tonight who knows what will happen when I go to sleep.
Someone said of the present century that the largest unexplored area we have to map is right between our two ears. It's often been said that man and women can do great things when they dream big just maybe there's a lot more to that statement than at present we can imagine.
Till next time...
Once again I'm feeling a bit tired tonight which led me to my topic for this blog. Sleep, I've often wondered what is it that sleep is all about? Yeah I know your body has to rest and all that but just where do we go when we fall into unconsciousness? There are all kinds of psychological reasons for what we dream etc. but as far as I'm concerned they skirt around the issue.
How many of us have had premonition type dreams where you actually see something take place in your dreams and then it happens in waking life either the next day or in the very near future? There are literally thousands of case histories that have been documented. If that is the case doesn't it suggest that there is a sense in our unconsciousness that is not so unconscious at all? We humans tend to look for the logical explanations to things around us but what is often forgotten in all this is that perhaps we are looking at this whole phenomena from an inaccurate perspective. If you've ever stared at optical illusions such as the ones that M. C. Escher created at first you look at them and say to yourself yeah that's right, but wait a minute waterfall don't flow upstream yet in the drawing it seems apparent that they do.
If we can imagine it to any degree of accuracy then maybe we shouldn't be so quick to say "Oh that's impossible!" that may be the case in the present circumstances but not necessarily in the future. In the previous blog I mentioned that our imaginations also have limitations from the simple fact that our knowledge is limited in each individual, collective knowledge is a totally different matter.
Now imagine if someday we could develop a skill that would enable us to dream collectively. You're probably asking yourself now "Is this guy nuts?" quite the contrary if we can think collectively in our conscious states what's to say that we can't do it in an unconscious state? A lot of study has been done on the subconscious mind and the power of hypnotic suggestion in this area. These are things that were just floating through my mind tonight who knows what will happen when I go to sleep.
Someone said of the present century that the largest unexplored area we have to map is right between our two ears. It's often been said that man and women can do great things when they dream big just maybe there's a lot more to that statement than at present we can imagine.
Till next time...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Just a Little Peace
Hello Everybody:
I was talking to my daughter this evening and the subject of silence came up something all of us have never heard of. I'm not at all kidding, we as a species or any other species for that matter can never experience true silence. It's actually very simple even if it were possible to stop all external sounds we would still hear the sounds of life from our own body, our heart breathing etc. So the next time someone says to you "for God's sake give me some peace and quiet" you can honestly say "sorry I can't do that" I don't recommend the younger readers pulling this one on their parents at the wrong time they may end up with more than they bargained for.
There are other phenomena that can never be experienced one of them being true freedom. We are on this planet and have no way of getting off it and even if we did we'd be stuck inside some kind of life supporting device. As Mr. Dylan said "We gotta serve somebody."
You may be wondering at this point what it is that I am trying to get at, it's actually quite simple I'm basically humbling our intelligence as a species that sometimes seems to think it knows it all or is about to. Einstein once said that knowledge without an imagination is totally useless I'm paraphrasing here of course but if we cannot imagine silence or total freedom then our intelligence has it's limits as well. I believe there's a little piece of God in all of us but only a little piece and perhaps we should remember this when we start trying to play God with nuclear weaponry. Just a little Peace please.
Till next time ...
I was talking to my daughter this evening and the subject of silence came up something all of us have never heard of. I'm not at all kidding, we as a species or any other species for that matter can never experience true silence. It's actually very simple even if it were possible to stop all external sounds we would still hear the sounds of life from our own body, our heart breathing etc. So the next time someone says to you "for God's sake give me some peace and quiet" you can honestly say "sorry I can't do that" I don't recommend the younger readers pulling this one on their parents at the wrong time they may end up with more than they bargained for.
There are other phenomena that can never be experienced one of them being true freedom. We are on this planet and have no way of getting off it and even if we did we'd be stuck inside some kind of life supporting device. As Mr. Dylan said "We gotta serve somebody."
You may be wondering at this point what it is that I am trying to get at, it's actually quite simple I'm basically humbling our intelligence as a species that sometimes seems to think it knows it all or is about to. Einstein once said that knowledge without an imagination is totally useless I'm paraphrasing here of course but if we cannot imagine silence or total freedom then our intelligence has it's limits as well. I believe there's a little piece of God in all of us but only a little piece and perhaps we should remember this when we start trying to play God with nuclear weaponry. Just a little Peace please.
Till next time ...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Life's Work and Work is Life
Today was one of those days when I had my patience tested many times, and just maybe I am finally starting to control my temper, which for me is the ultimate. After analyzing why I think this area of my life skills is improving there is definitely an answer the fear of making a mistake is beginning to wane. What really excites me about this is learning new skills now takes me a lot less time other side benefits are self reliance and a great feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Results are now becoming much more apparent as well as frequent. Goals are being reached with an ever increasing rate of speed and accuracy. Stress levels are lowering and tolerance of challenging situations is much more acceptable to both myself and those around me. Life is getting better!
One of the things that I value and respect the most is when a person I have the privilege of knowing, attains a life status with what she or he does as their life's work, that not only brings their life to higher standard but increases the quality of life for all those around them. Because of my patience today I was thrilled to learn of the accomplishments of an old high school friend. Yes if your reading this I'm speaking of you Joan I watched your videos and read your email with great admiration and I agree you should never strike a child physically or mentally. Love is not shown by violence and the only thing you should ever show a child is love, if more loved the child that is in us all, the world would indeed be a better place for it. Keep it up and as Crosby Stills and Nash told us all those years ago "Teach Your Children Well" and Joan you are doing just that.
My daughter has and is teaching me to have more patience it's fortunate for me that she has so much. I guess it comes back to Crosby Stills and Nash again "Teach your Parents well". I think we've all learned something today great stuff!
Till next time ...
Results are now becoming much more apparent as well as frequent. Goals are being reached with an ever increasing rate of speed and accuracy. Stress levels are lowering and tolerance of challenging situations is much more acceptable to both myself and those around me. Life is getting better!
One of the things that I value and respect the most is when a person I have the privilege of knowing, attains a life status with what she or he does as their life's work, that not only brings their life to higher standard but increases the quality of life for all those around them. Because of my patience today I was thrilled to learn of the accomplishments of an old high school friend. Yes if your reading this I'm speaking of you Joan I watched your videos and read your email with great admiration and I agree you should never strike a child physically or mentally. Love is not shown by violence and the only thing you should ever show a child is love, if more loved the child that is in us all, the world would indeed be a better place for it. Keep it up and as Crosby Stills and Nash told us all those years ago "Teach Your Children Well" and Joan you are doing just that.
My daughter has and is teaching me to have more patience it's fortunate for me that she has so much. I guess it comes back to Crosby Stills and Nash again "Teach your Parents well". I think we've all learned something today great stuff!
Till next time ...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Vintage Friends
Sometimes life kind of slaps you in the face and says wake up! For most of my life I have never kept in touch with people, now that I've closed my studio gallery I decided I would have to start networking that's one of the reasons I started this blog.
Today I signed up on Face book in the process they ask what high school you went to? What your home town was etc? All of a sudden I see these names in front of my face that I hadn't seen in thirty-four years on a whim I thought maybe I'll drop these guys a line just for the heck of it, in less than one hour three of them replied I was and am totally blown away. There are many times when I've said derogatory things about technology but I've always said that everything has it's place. I find it ironic that as I am trying to rebuild my life that people from so distant a place in my past are now coming back into my present. Pardon the pun but what a gift!
Everything old is new again as they say they also say that you can never go back, that may be true but then again is it? If the past is past then there really can be no difference as to when the past is distant or near. You may have this experience from time to time when you run into someone you haven't seen for a long time you can talk to them like you're picking up a conversation that you had moments ago yet that moment was ten or more years previous.
The older I get the faster time seems to pass perhaps it's due to having the ability to stand back more from your life, you get a sense that you almost know how a segment of time will play out, the element of mystery due to your life's experience is somewhat diluted, older and wiser maybe?
One of the people I got in touch with tonight was mentioning a person that had flashed into my head just before I read her email, coincidence? I wonder. I've been hearing a lot lately to do with the theory that nothing in your life ever happens by accident the more life experience I have the more proof I'm finding for this phenomena. I will also say this change that has come about in my life of late is becoming more fascinating with every day, I can hardly wait for tomorrow!
Till next time...
Today I signed up on Face book in the process they ask what high school you went to? What your home town was etc? All of a sudden I see these names in front of my face that I hadn't seen in thirty-four years on a whim I thought maybe I'll drop these guys a line just for the heck of it, in less than one hour three of them replied I was and am totally blown away. There are many times when I've said derogatory things about technology but I've always said that everything has it's place. I find it ironic that as I am trying to rebuild my life that people from so distant a place in my past are now coming back into my present. Pardon the pun but what a gift!
Everything old is new again as they say they also say that you can never go back, that may be true but then again is it? If the past is past then there really can be no difference as to when the past is distant or near. You may have this experience from time to time when you run into someone you haven't seen for a long time you can talk to them like you're picking up a conversation that you had moments ago yet that moment was ten or more years previous.
The older I get the faster time seems to pass perhaps it's due to having the ability to stand back more from your life, you get a sense that you almost know how a segment of time will play out, the element of mystery due to your life's experience is somewhat diluted, older and wiser maybe?
One of the people I got in touch with tonight was mentioning a person that had flashed into my head just before I read her email, coincidence? I wonder. I've been hearing a lot lately to do with the theory that nothing in your life ever happens by accident the more life experience I have the more proof I'm finding for this phenomena. I will also say this change that has come about in my life of late is becoming more fascinating with every day, I can hardly wait for tomorrow!
Till next time...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Deletion
Today has been one of those frustrating days for the non techno that I am. Delete buttons should be renamed death of creativity buttons due to my ignorance of their function I lost quite a few hours worth of work. There is something truly fragile about ignorance. I wonder quite literally how many people have died from it. Ironically we whether we believe it or not live most of our lives in ignorance about one thing or another.
To live a full and happy life dancing around ignorance is a truly brave act. Realistically speaking we don't have any choice unless we stand totally still stop breathing close our eyes plug our ears and every other orfice we have, at one point or another ignorance will kill us all. And the funny thing about it is we will be totally ignorant to the fact.
Learning therefore is the vehicle we use to keep ourselves just a few moments ahead of that monster. Some people have a natural survival instinct and have a genuine thirst for knowledge the double edged sword that can either kill or cure us. Another irony is that the more we are aware of our ignorance the more enlightened we become to the fact that it is an incurable disease.
Personally I try to meditate as often as possible in an attempt to gain that inner stillness where thoughts like these are left to blow by like so many leaves in the wind. But the wind carries on it the questions of the mind and sooner or later these questions like the leaves are held fast in some crevice no longer able to escape as our mind focuses on them and dissects and analyzes them like the frogs we all cut up in biology class. Did we ever learn anything from those frogs other than their fundamental parts and how they functioned on some elementary level? Maybe that is mankind's worst enemy we never actually understand the fact that there really is no getting to the bottom of anything without getting into something else. My advice just be.
Till next time...
To live a full and happy life dancing around ignorance is a truly brave act. Realistically speaking we don't have any choice unless we stand totally still stop breathing close our eyes plug our ears and every other orfice we have, at one point or another ignorance will kill us all. And the funny thing about it is we will be totally ignorant to the fact.
Learning therefore is the vehicle we use to keep ourselves just a few moments ahead of that monster. Some people have a natural survival instinct and have a genuine thirst for knowledge the double edged sword that can either kill or cure us. Another irony is that the more we are aware of our ignorance the more enlightened we become to the fact that it is an incurable disease.
Personally I try to meditate as often as possible in an attempt to gain that inner stillness where thoughts like these are left to blow by like so many leaves in the wind. But the wind carries on it the questions of the mind and sooner or later these questions like the leaves are held fast in some crevice no longer able to escape as our mind focuses on them and dissects and analyzes them like the frogs we all cut up in biology class. Did we ever learn anything from those frogs other than their fundamental parts and how they functioned on some elementary level? Maybe that is mankind's worst enemy we never actually understand the fact that there really is no getting to the bottom of anything without getting into something else. My advice just be.
Till next time...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mean Business
Image is also arrived at by how people observe the way you conduct your business. Time is the most valuable asset we don't have. Time is made up of the very same things that our images are made of. However if one sets a deadline for a piece to be completed the repercussions of not having it completed on time can become something that truly will spell out the realities of life. The least you can expect in most cases is that the client will never deal with you again especially if the customer happens to be a commercial Enterprise and is depending on your work to complete their project. Punctuality whether it be getting the project done to deadline or showing up for client meetings on time must be a major priority.
Artwork should be neatly presented using a specific cover stock to protect the work with your business card attached to it. If the patron has some issues with the piece notes should be taken and changes made to the clients specifications this applies mainly to commercial work. When it comes to fine art there should be a clear understanding that the creation you have produced is not to be altered remember you are the artist, situations do arise where there are exceptions but if you feel that these changes would affect the spirit of the piece then stick to your guns. Some things are beyond price one of them is integrity. It is always a good rule of thumb to let the customer know what he or she can expect to the nearest degree before you start the project in the first place, this for the most part will avoid any misunderstanding a written contract is usually the best with both parties signing off on what is to be done.
As far as payment goes I usually expect half of the worth of the job before I start. The reason is by doing this it shows good faith on the part of the client and they are lot less likely to walk away from something when they have money tied into it already. Always be suspicious of anyone who wants to pay you on completion of the job. If the work is custom designed and you don't have a down your left holding the bag. A written and signed contract is protection to some degree but a vested interest on the clients part is the most effective insurance. When you are dealing with clients in this manner they realize that you mean business and are more likely to treat you with the respect you deserve. Once again it boils down to perception which is a large part of your "image".
Till next time...
Artwork should be neatly presented using a specific cover stock to protect the work with your business card attached to it. If the patron has some issues with the piece notes should be taken and changes made to the clients specifications this applies mainly to commercial work. When it comes to fine art there should be a clear understanding that the creation you have produced is not to be altered remember you are the artist, situations do arise where there are exceptions but if you feel that these changes would affect the spirit of the piece then stick to your guns. Some things are beyond price one of them is integrity. It is always a good rule of thumb to let the customer know what he or she can expect to the nearest degree before you start the project in the first place, this for the most part will avoid any misunderstanding a written contract is usually the best with both parties signing off on what is to be done.
As far as payment goes I usually expect half of the worth of the job before I start. The reason is by doing this it shows good faith on the part of the client and they are lot less likely to walk away from something when they have money tied into it already. Always be suspicious of anyone who wants to pay you on completion of the job. If the work is custom designed and you don't have a down your left holding the bag. A written and signed contract is protection to some degree but a vested interest on the clients part is the most effective insurance. When you are dealing with clients in this manner they realize that you mean business and are more likely to treat you with the respect you deserve. Once again it boils down to perception which is a large part of your "image".
Till next time...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Soul of the "Image"
Yesterdays blog dealt with some of the practical aspects of how to create an image that people will recognize as your own. Next I'd like to address some of the spiritual reasons that make your work and you stand out from the crowd.
Whenever you begin a piece of work do you ever stop to ask yourself why you are creating it? There is something to be said for spontanaety but even when one is attempting to be spontaneous there should be some root heartfelt reason for putting the work together in the first place. I wonder do any of you ask yourselves why someone would want to buy your work? Whether you realize it or whether they realize it they buy it for a very good reason. A person buys your work because it adds something to their lives if only from a decorative aspect the fact is it should be making some form of addition to their life.
Thinking more deeply on that wouldn't it be wonderful if that addition to their lives was an absolute honest sharing of your soul. If it isn't then you haven't done your side of the work. Whether it is a commissioned work or some statement of beauty or ugliness that you have concocted there should always be a presence and that presence should be a part of who you are and what you stand for.
Now you are probably saying to yourself is this guy nuts? This is just an illustration for Harry's Fruit Market down the street all he wanted was a pretty picture of an apple and a couple of pears. What Harry really wanted was something that enticed his customers to accomplish that you have to Know how to make that fruit so appealing you can almost taste it! To get those kinds of feelings you have to care about what you are doing it can't be just a money thing. Yes there are time constraints etc. etc. but the bottom line is you must put your heart and soul into anything if you want it to be successful. The very basis of "image" in the real sense of the word comes from within.
Folks I love what I do no matter what aspect or genre I am working in whether it be fine art or commercial it is STILL art and should be handled with the up most respect. It is this philosophy which will build your "image" with your patrons more than anything else.
Till next time ...
Whenever you begin a piece of work do you ever stop to ask yourself why you are creating it? There is something to be said for spontanaety but even when one is attempting to be spontaneous there should be some root heartfelt reason for putting the work together in the first place. I wonder do any of you ask yourselves why someone would want to buy your work? Whether you realize it or whether they realize it they buy it for a very good reason. A person buys your work because it adds something to their lives if only from a decorative aspect the fact is it should be making some form of addition to their life.
Thinking more deeply on that wouldn't it be wonderful if that addition to their lives was an absolute honest sharing of your soul. If it isn't then you haven't done your side of the work. Whether it is a commissioned work or some statement of beauty or ugliness that you have concocted there should always be a presence and that presence should be a part of who you are and what you stand for.
Now you are probably saying to yourself is this guy nuts? This is just an illustration for Harry's Fruit Market down the street all he wanted was a pretty picture of an apple and a couple of pears. What Harry really wanted was something that enticed his customers to accomplish that you have to Know how to make that fruit so appealing you can almost taste it! To get those kinds of feelings you have to care about what you are doing it can't be just a money thing. Yes there are time constraints etc. etc. but the bottom line is you must put your heart and soul into anything if you want it to be successful. The very basis of "image" in the real sense of the word comes from within.
Folks I love what I do no matter what aspect or genre I am working in whether it be fine art or commercial it is STILL art and should be handled with the up most respect. It is this philosophy which will build your "image" with your patrons more than anything else.
Till next time ...
Friday, April 17, 2009
Image Consistency
Once again it's getting a little late for this old timer but I just wanted to start a new topic that I want to share with you for the next few blogs. The word image is often thought of as an ego thing in actual fact the image we portray ourselves to be as artists must be made very clear to our viewing public. A person may be seeking a certain type of art lets say non objective abstraction. If you begin to show work that is narrative in nature along with non objective work the viewer is not given a clear picture of where you are coming from and sometimes can be so turned off by your lack of focus that he or she may not want to peruse your work anymore.
The image that an artist portrays of his or herself must be consistent for other reasons as well. If you are trying to get a gallery to represent your work it must have some common thread running through the entire group of artworks that you submit to them for consideration. Some of us from time to time like to try different genres or styles but there must always be consistent bodies of these works if you hope to gain representation from a notable gallery.
An artists image should always have a sustainable message even if that message is non objective.
Till next time ...
The image that an artist portrays of his or herself must be consistent for other reasons as well. If you are trying to get a gallery to represent your work it must have some common thread running through the entire group of artworks that you submit to them for consideration. Some of us from time to time like to try different genres or styles but there must always be consistent bodies of these works if you hope to gain representation from a notable gallery.
An artists image should always have a sustainable message even if that message is non objective.
Till next time ...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Life There it Goes
Everything an artist creates is an illusion, therefore how can there be such a thing as realism. When you stop to think about it if that were a reality could you imagine the outcry when a stuffed teddy was torn inside out just because someone wanted a genuine imitation faux fur coat! I was recently discussing the topic with one of my peers and was informed that the educational institution of which he is a part now refers to so called realism as naturalism a much better handle.
Sitting at my desk typing this blog I realize that reality dies on a constant basis look it just kicked it! The only reality we ever possess is the present millisecond which is already long dead before I even write about it. Stop! You can never truly stop there is always some part of you that has already escaped into the future which by the way is also an illusion. Life is a moving experience even in death we are still moving not in the same way obviously but moving not the less.
So how mobile is mobile? Will we ever catch up to now? Life is literally a journey and we are swept along with it whether we like it or not. The next time someone asks you "Do you ever stand still?" the answer is much more complicated than any of us could ever realize.
Here's another thought if we are slowing down to appreciate the finer things in life are we really appreciating the finer things in life? If life is truly in that millisecond that just went by then I suggest we all stop loafing around and get busy. Damn it life is sooo demanding!
Sitting at my desk typing this blog I realize that reality dies on a constant basis look it just kicked it! The only reality we ever possess is the present millisecond which is already long dead before I even write about it. Stop! You can never truly stop there is always some part of you that has already escaped into the future which by the way is also an illusion. Life is a moving experience even in death we are still moving not in the same way obviously but moving not the less.
So how mobile is mobile? Will we ever catch up to now? Life is literally a journey and we are swept along with it whether we like it or not. The next time someone asks you "Do you ever stand still?" the answer is much more complicated than any of us could ever realize.
Here's another thought if we are slowing down to appreciate the finer things in life are we really appreciating the finer things in life? If life is truly in that millisecond that just went by then I suggest we all stop loafing around and get busy. Damn it life is sooo demanding!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Thanks for the Gift!
Commissions for the longest time were something I just couldn't bring myself to do, I felt they were a prostitution of my creativity. I look back now and laugh to some degree at how shallow and naive I was. Even the old masters did commissions and many of them would have starved to death without them. I must say right here I do not like the term "old masters" as in my opinion no one ever masters anything they only attain a certain level of expertise. The term also has the effect of making some contemporary artists feel as if they are in some way lesser. But that's another topic altogether and I'm not going to get into it any further in this blog.
I guess when I look at the old masters work much of it was religious in nature I have nothing against religion but I have a great deal of animosity towards censorship which the church was undeniable guilty of on many occasions. Some would say what if the church hadn't supported these artists perhaps there would have been no art at all. The sad fact about a lot of art is that the only reason it was ever created was to feed someones ego and that includes the church. Art that is borne totally on the whim of the artist is often times much more imaginative and interesting it doesn't necessarily have to be off the wall to be interesting and valid, Turner's landscapes are a classic example.
There were the patrons that would look at sketches that the artist had done and pick something that touched them in some way, and ask the artist to do a full scale piece. To my mind these were true art patrons they were not trying to feed their egos instead they were encouraging and supporting the artist in the purist form. God bless them!
Now I am going to take a different angle on commissions. While sitting in my studio one day I received a phone call from Ireland from a gentleman patron who had purchased one of my works that summer. He asked if I would be interested in a commission to paint his wife's dog. Maybe it was the growling coming from my stomach or perhaps when the gentleman explained why he wanted me to do this for his wife that started me to thinking differently about commission work. Well I thought my client could have patronized many artists but instead he trusted me to execute this work that would mean so much to his wife, that's quite an honour. The other thing was that here was a man that instead of buying his loved one just another commercialized Christmas gift, he had searched his soul to find something that his wife probably would adore, something with real meaning thought and love. How could I say no?
That little incident for some reason touched me more than my patron will ever know. His love for his wife had a profound effect on my attitude towards the reason I should or should not do commissions I realized even more so when I received a letter of thanks relating that his wife was moved to tears. I didn't think it was that bad. In all seriousness it is as far as I'm concerned my duty as a human being to make an effort to make this planet we live on a better place for my fellow man. I would like to thank that gentleman for the gift he gave me.
I guess when I look at the old masters work much of it was religious in nature I have nothing against religion but I have a great deal of animosity towards censorship which the church was undeniable guilty of on many occasions. Some would say what if the church hadn't supported these artists perhaps there would have been no art at all. The sad fact about a lot of art is that the only reason it was ever created was to feed someones ego and that includes the church. Art that is borne totally on the whim of the artist is often times much more imaginative and interesting it doesn't necessarily have to be off the wall to be interesting and valid, Turner's landscapes are a classic example.
There were the patrons that would look at sketches that the artist had done and pick something that touched them in some way, and ask the artist to do a full scale piece. To my mind these were true art patrons they were not trying to feed their egos instead they were encouraging and supporting the artist in the purist form. God bless them!
Now I am going to take a different angle on commissions. While sitting in my studio one day I received a phone call from Ireland from a gentleman patron who had purchased one of my works that summer. He asked if I would be interested in a commission to paint his wife's dog. Maybe it was the growling coming from my stomach or perhaps when the gentleman explained why he wanted me to do this for his wife that started me to thinking differently about commission work. Well I thought my client could have patronized many artists but instead he trusted me to execute this work that would mean so much to his wife, that's quite an honour. The other thing was that here was a man that instead of buying his loved one just another commercialized Christmas gift, he had searched his soul to find something that his wife probably would adore, something with real meaning thought and love. How could I say no?
That little incident for some reason touched me more than my patron will ever know. His love for his wife had a profound effect on my attitude towards the reason I should or should not do commissions I realized even more so when I received a letter of thanks relating that his wife was moved to tears. I didn't think it was that bad. In all seriousness it is as far as I'm concerned my duty as a human being to make an effort to make this planet we live on a better place for my fellow man. I would like to thank that gentleman for the gift he gave me.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Home At Last
Finally I can start to get my bearings around my home office. The question is where do I go from here? To answer my own question I need only look at the screen in front of me. My daughter knows more about computer communication than I do, kind of scary eh? But then again when I look back to my parents generation new gadgets like the micro wave were cutting edge. Dad was the first person on the block to have a telephone in England and that was in the early fifties.
Technology is a great thing if you are brought up with it if not it can be very intimidating. Looking back I realize the one thing that has kept me back more than anything is the fear of making a mistake. Ironically as we all know one of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes I guess that must be my first mistake which puts me on the road to making more of them by the time I'm done I should be damn near a genius. But then again I may be mistaken.
"Miss taken" I would imagine it would be better to be "Miss taken" than not to be taken at all. Now if we take all these "Miss takens" into account things may just add up to something. Make no mistake about it and you may just miss it all together. So I guess the lesson in all this is a mistake or is it? After all that maybe now you can see why I get so confused.
Actually I overheard my aunt talking to my Mother one day and I overheard my mother say to my aunt "Yes Olive Alan was a mistake but he was the best mistake we ever had" I never did hear what my aunts reply was to that.
Taking a closer look at how my life has progressed I feel that I have learned one thing and that is that I don't know much at all. Maybe that's why I keep trying to find answers so that just for once I might know a smidgen about why we're all here in the first place.
The artwork that I produce for the most part gives me a sense of purpose. Focus in life as I mentioned briefly in a previous blog goes along with that sense of purpose if we cannot keep our attention to a task and we are constantly wandering around our consciousness our chances of accomplishing anything of significance with our lives is greatly reduced if not impossible.
If ever people are to read these words I must find ways of getting them noticed. Part of the creative process is the interaction of minds man achieves his greatest goals when he works in concert with his fellow man. The farther you roam from a place geographically the individuals if there are any, melt into the surroundings from a high altitude you cannot make out an individual but the city scape is unmistakable. Gravity of purpose is only observable through the acts of many whether it be those who observe or the creators themselves.
So make a mistake today and tell them whoever asks that I told you to.
Till Next Time ....
Technology is a great thing if you are brought up with it if not it can be very intimidating. Looking back I realize the one thing that has kept me back more than anything is the fear of making a mistake. Ironically as we all know one of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes I guess that must be my first mistake which puts me on the road to making more of them by the time I'm done I should be damn near a genius. But then again I may be mistaken.
"Miss taken" I would imagine it would be better to be "Miss taken" than not to be taken at all. Now if we take all these "Miss takens" into account things may just add up to something. Make no mistake about it and you may just miss it all together. So I guess the lesson in all this is a mistake or is it? After all that maybe now you can see why I get so confused.
Actually I overheard my aunt talking to my Mother one day and I overheard my mother say to my aunt "Yes Olive Alan was a mistake but he was the best mistake we ever had" I never did hear what my aunts reply was to that.
Taking a closer look at how my life has progressed I feel that I have learned one thing and that is that I don't know much at all. Maybe that's why I keep trying to find answers so that just for once I might know a smidgen about why we're all here in the first place.
The artwork that I produce for the most part gives me a sense of purpose. Focus in life as I mentioned briefly in a previous blog goes along with that sense of purpose if we cannot keep our attention to a task and we are constantly wandering around our consciousness our chances of accomplishing anything of significance with our lives is greatly reduced if not impossible.
If ever people are to read these words I must find ways of getting them noticed. Part of the creative process is the interaction of minds man achieves his greatest goals when he works in concert with his fellow man. The farther you roam from a place geographically the individuals if there are any, melt into the surroundings from a high altitude you cannot make out an individual but the city scape is unmistakable. Gravity of purpose is only observable through the acts of many whether it be those who observe or the creators themselves.
So make a mistake today and tell them whoever asks that I told you to.
Till Next Time ....
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