Friday, August 28, 2009

Artist School Is In session! For me


I have put off posting until I have received enough feedback to what I write. I am so happy that did. I was caught up getting all the feelings out of me on what I feel and divulging MY opinion that I failed to categorically respond to comments. I started this blog to positively impact your lives and my own if that was possible. I wanted to speak on my behalf and on behalf of fellow artists I converse with on a daily basis. There are two subjects that I always seem to return to when talking Art to "artsy" people if you may...Abstract Art and "value", Selling Out. I have had a large response on these subjects. Email, Facebook, Myspace, phone calls and a few posts here. I love abstract art and know the immense undertaking one can take with these works. For example...Pablo Picasso. Wow. Breathtaking work. But seriously some people think this was work that a child could paint. The figures are unrealistic. I for one think he was brilliant. He used cubism which SOME historians attributed to his creation. The Abstract artists of their time felt that the art of painting should not copy nature, but should be an independent art form. The purpose of a painting became the painting itself. That philosophy is wonderful. Although I am not a proponent of either just the thought of the Masters before us paving the way for such an outlet so widely acceptable....it is wonderful. I am an abstract artist. I have had people criticize me for my choice in medium. I have had artists comment to paint on canvas and that painting on different surfaces does not "really" categorize my work as a "painting". Hey all I can say is I am a "Green Abstract Artist". I recycle metal for the environment. For some reason expressing myself in attempting to copy nature is frustrating to me. I can do portraits..in fact I drew many as a young man for fellow marines back in the day. They all wanted their girlfriends drawn and sent as gifts. I thought it was the standard for which an artist is judged. Hey can you draw that? I did. I was bored. I met a kid who was new to my unit and bunked in my room. He noticed I drew. He was an artist as well. We talked about painting. We painted an abstract piece together and it flowed. It was wonderful. We added bright colors. Cut holes in the canvas. Glued texture and fabric. It started out as a painting of a woman and ended up as a crazed singing punk rocker. After that I learned to let go creatively. But it is still a struggle emotionally. Because the creative process is personal. It does not matter if it is an abstract piece or a realistic attempt to copy nature. We are artists. We see a vision in every piece we create. Whether it is a giant red dot on a canvas with a green blotch in the middle. We want that red to glisten and the green to have texture. Or if it is a wonderful landscape capturing the feeling the artist had when he/she sat there breathing in the air and appreciating the mood they felt at that moment. If I made it sound like I was breaking the backs of artists on either side?NO farther from the truth...I am trying to explore all facets of Art through your eyes. The eyes and hearts of Artists. I want to understand and see for myself that we all feel the same thing. We all want to be passionate about what we create. Every last piece is just as important. Every medium and subject is relevant. We have all the tools of the world at our disposal as artists to express. Incorporate them all. If you are broke go green. Use trash! As for the value and the whoring of your art? Sell the shit for what you want. Just don't loose your passion for creating. Sign any contract you want...just don't loose the control of YOUR creative process even though you cant control the subject matter. Kings Queens and Lords back when.....commissioned artists to portray them in paint for their own selfish reasons....I am sure those artists did not want to paint them. I am sure they would have rather created something more marvelous than some old hag or old fart sitting on a stool. Those artists did not have a choice. I wonder if they even enjoyed painting with a guillotine to keep them honest. Artists today have so many choices. I now this economy has shortened that list. I am sure many doors no longer exist for Artist to knock on. Let alone people willing to open them. But we still have control in our creative process which is the soul of our creativity. Do not sell out on that.

1 comment:

  1. Great post, keep asking the questions and we'll keep responding. Also, when you have a chance there is video of Jackson Pollack creating one of his abstract expressionist paintings check it out, Pollack is the pinnacle of abstract expressionism and who I think most abstract expressionists strive to emulate.

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