September 6th, 2009 01:46pm
jomac
I can feel myself hitting a wall with my new series of work. Since discovering my “Jumpsquares” in 2007, the last 2 years have been fruitful in producing original, creative work. Fresh, new ideas have come easily.
The most recent offshoot of the “jumpsquare” has been my Optic Diamonds, which, in themselves, have led to valuable (in my mind) new discoveries. In fact, I find myself putting aside painting while I concentrate on the montage process. I’m taking original photographs, that I photoshop (another interesting “road”), intensifying colors and values, then cut up and arrange within my Optic Diamond structure. This process has been very productive up to now. The word that comes into my mind when I look at the recent work is “candy”. I was channeling Willie Wonka. But now, perhaps the work is becoming a little too “sweet”. I’m finding myself repeating images, and what was once discovery after discovery, is now the same familiar “landscape”.
I feel it’s time to look in a different direction, to stop repeating this process that I’ve become so comfortable with. It’s time to take a risk, a risk that I will screw up and fail. The idea is to get myself out of my comfort zone. This is where discoveries are made, and leaps of growth are achieved. It’s a difficult, but necessary process.
How does an artist do this? Look at the body of work that you have created, and ask yourself “what would the work look like if I did this or that to it”? Then pick an idea and act on it without judgment. At the very least, it will take you to another place and maybe that place will be the departure point for your next series.
The point is that in art, there are few definitive answers, just artist’s challenges.
July 4th, 2009 09:57am
jomac
I have a friend named Yanosh, who has worked in industry for the last 25 years. For years and years he visited museums and has seen more valid, contemporary art than most of us. Yanosh recently started painting. He creates work through the manipulation of paint on the canvas with a palette knife while experimenting with color, texture, value and line. Yanosh will scrape paint off, reapply it, then move it around until he is satisfied with the result. Each piece he produces is abstract. He really has not exhibited yet, and people haven’t really seen much of his work.
There is another friend that I know named Angelina. She graduated from college with a major in art. Angelina paints these lovely realistic landscapes over and over and over, and she has been creating art for 25 plus years. Her work has changed little in all the years that she has painted, although Angelina has perfected techniques to a high degree in her expression of the landscape. Angelina exhibits quite a bit, continually sells pieces, and people really seem to enjoy her work.
My question to you, is, which one is the legitimate artist?
June 16th, 2009 02:03pm
jomac
Sometimes the artist will feel like a miner when he’s working. There is a unknown material lying before him with gold waiting to be discovered. If he “mines” this unknown, hidden area long enough, eventually he’ll discover layers of gold he never dreamed of. One vein leads to another, to another, and eventually a richer, deeper vein. It’s not hard motivating this “miner”, because he can’t wait to discover the next “layer of gold”. His enthusiasm is boundless, and the work is stimulating.
This is how it is when the artist gets an original idea. It’s a vein of pure gold that he follows looking for more gold. The vein (original idea) starts strong and as the artist explores it, it leads to more ideas. Many times, the successive ideas are stronger than the original idea, it just takes the diligence of a miner to bring them out.
What’s fascinating about an artist’s work when he is “mining” is how one idea leads to another and another. And the visual record is there for everyone to see. I’m amazed at some of the direction my work takes after the mining process. All of a sudden, I have a piece of work that only slightly resembles the original idea, but if you look closely, you can see that original vein that the miner first discovered.
I find this process and the products it produces to be wonderful art. So here’s the advice. When you get an original idea, start “mining” it, follow that “vein of gold” as long as it interests you or it peters out. Take your idea and look for ways to express it, change the shape, repeat it, distort it, enlarge it, shrink it, change colors, values, or textures. Use different mediums. Trust your skills and you’ll be utterly amazed at some of your results.
May 30th, 2009 10:18pm
jomac
Have you noticed that at certain times, you have extreme difficulty starting something new? It happens to every artist, including me. This condition brings on lots of emotions with guilt, it seems, being the dominant feeling. Thoughts such as “I should be working”, and “I’m not a serious enough artist”, play havoc with the psyche.
I think these feelings arise in us because of our perceptions of what other, seemingly successful artists are doing, or have done. We see glimpses of an artist’s work and incorrectly assume this artist is working nonstop at his or her craft. The point is no one really knows what any other artist is really doing with their time.
The management of time is a factor in every area of our lives, and important to anyone’s success. However, in any true, creative process, there are no “rules” for time management. We may lie fallow for days, weeks and even months, until our muse moves us. When that happens, time management is the least of our worries as we become totally consumed by our art.
The real challenge is getting our muse to move us on a continual basis. The only way to do this is through stimulation. If we’re sitting in the same room everyday, with the same people, doing the same thing, creativity seems a distant companion. Your muse needs to get out and see what other artists are doing with their “time”. She needs to see vibrant, valid work. This is most surefire way to get your muse to nudge you into action. Oh, the laments of the creative soul.
Advice is easy to give. There is an old Nike slogan that simply says, “Just Do It”.
January 7th, 2009 02:15pm
jomac
As artists, many of us work in vacuums. We paint our paintings, almost oblivious to fact that art is being created everyday by thousands of artists. This is a very provincial approach to creating art. By working in isolation we miss the opportunity for stimulation. Most importantly, we miss the chance for growth as an artist.
I don’t care what your ability is or what you are doing right now in your work. If you are growing as an artist , expanding your vision, exploring color, shape, or surfaces, this is at the heart of being a good artist. If your moving in this direction, then you are truly developing your “talent”. Seeing other artist’s work stimulates. We like it, dislike it, compare it to what we’re doing, dismiss it, we get inspired by it, and sometimes it changes us. Whatever happens, we get out of our vacuums.
So, I’d encourage you to look around for shows, exhibits that might interest you and go look at the art. Go see any artist friends that you have, look at their work and have them look at yours. Get and give some feedback. Once again, it all comes back to personal growth. This is the value of seeing art.
August 23rd, 2008 10:03pm
admin
I just finished working on a new painting for about 3 hours. I started out with no “roadmap”, just putting paint on the canvas. This is probably the most difficult time in a painting’s “life”. It’s the time when the artist has no idea where he is going, what direction the work is taking.
The most important point at this time of the creative process is not to judge. Give yourself a break. Stop thinking and saying “I’m terrible”, or “I can’t paint”, (although deep down these are your feelings). Just “work the paint”. Put paint on the canvas, get it down, explore shapes and colors without expectations (easy to say). The operative word here is trust, trust your ability and “work the paint”.
Then let it simmer on the “stove” for a day or so. You’ll be a lot less critical of yourself, and you’ll see your work in a different light, a more forgiving one. Then the work begins, but, by “working the paint”, you will have begun the most difficult part of the journey, and you’ll be well on your way.
Of course, never forget the most important thing is the process of painting. Always remember Rosenberg’s statement (see earlier blog). He hit the nail on the head, and this is where the joy is.
August 4th, 2008 10:11pm
admin
I have found that when I get “stuck” in a cul de sac (to use a dear friend’s words), one technique to get you unstuck is time. Step out of the work for a while (even an hour or two), leave it. Sitting there, just looking at the canvas, puts the “idea machine” in a loop and one finds it difficult choosing the next “road”. However, leaving the studio, doing something else for a while, and then coming back often works. The artist gets off the cul de sac. Try it.
August 2nd, 2008 09:43pm
admin
I sit here trying to figure out where to go from here with my painting. I have no “roadmap” to follow, just my instincts. Anyone who has created “art” from nothing will understand the difficulty an artist faces when he reaches this point. Just questions, no answers. I’ve found waiting works, bring the painting into a different enviroment. Look at it long enough and I’ll discover a “road” to take, it may not be the right “road”, but, at least, I get moving again. This is the important thing.
If I repeat this process again and again, I’ll expect to succeed.
May 31st, 2008 04:31pm
admin
The secret of appreciating abstract art: Ask not what I’m supposed to be, but rather, what could I be.
February 26th, 2008 04:05am
jomac
How many times have you thought this to yourself. It’s the phrase that every artist creating original, honest art thinks to themselves many, many times. Doubt, fear, and uncertainty are all part of the artist’s palette. So many times the emotion borders on despair. The artist looks at an empty canvas, brushes in hand, saying to himself or herself, where do I go from here? The canvas answers back with an empty stare.
It’s times like these that are so challenging. It takes a lot of belief in the self to get through these periods. You’ll find out what kind of artist (and person) you are. And there really is no secret on surviving these insecure times.
The secret is to keep working and moving forward. You just have to persist with your artistic vision. I’ll say it once again, keep working and move forward. Fail. Do you think deKooning, Pollock and Rothko created a “masterpiece” everytime they picked up a brush and put marks on a canvas? You’ll get through those “I can”t paint” thoughts, and find that wonderful part of you that exists in your art.
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