http://joemcaleer.com/blog Joe McAleer Artist Website Blog Sun, 15 Aug 2010 09:18:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've been asking the question, "If  you enact one law, or pass one bit of legislation that would make the USA a better country, what would it be?".  I've gotten quite a few responses, and here is the list. 1.   Term limits on politicians.  No career politicians. 2.  Any proposed legislation ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2010/08/15/the-top-ten/ 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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2009/09/06/an-artists-challenge/ 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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/04/whos-the-artist/ 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, ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2009/06/16/mining/ 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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/30/concerning-the-creative-process/ 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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2009/01/07/the-value-of-seeing-art/ 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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/23/working-the-paint/ 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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/04/a-technique/  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 ... http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/02/the-creative-process/ The secret of appreciating abstract art:  Ask not what I'm supposed to be, but rather, what could I be. http://joemcaleer.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/31/the-secret/