Seeing Others as Highlights of Interest

I have been reading William Soroyan. He appears to love humanity and feel bored by humanity all at the same time. Since he wrote before a lot of breakthroughs in scientific psychology it's pretty clear that his boredom came from a lack of stimulus from within. He didn't want to know what other people were saying. He felt comfortable in his own visions, his own inner sounds, his own senses of discovery. To look deeply into other ways of thinking that did not support his own style would do what?... Could this be competitiveness that caused his boredom? It's all very ironic because he was so sure of his deep perceptions of humanity, and in a good humanistically philosophical way, and at the same time such a blind fool. And, of course, he was intelligent enough to admit he might be a fool. There in lies his great voice.

I suppose all artists have to be blind in order to see and be seen. If we allow all of those strong and talented personalities out there to have their limelight within our heads the din would be so loud there wouldn't be any room for our own voices to be heard. So in order to be heard we do have to yell, to put in ear plugs, to fine tune our inner pitch so that we can hear the unique tones, notes, words and songs within the symphony that is our life.

A woman walked into my studio two days ago who spoke as she read one of my tiny paintings. She was singing her own song as she sang along with mine, as she introduced images into the painting that I had never known existed. I walked up close to see what she was seeing, and she was right! Her song was playing right there within my painting. By the end of the viewing we were in full duet. I now have Tibet inside my song of that painting and there is nothing boring about that.

"The Journey Man"

9"x9"

Gouache

(sold)

This is a tiny quickie in between bigger projects.
(sold)

Abstraction Continues to Reveal the Big Picture

Our relationship with the nonspecific aspect of abstract form continues to unfold as we live with a piece of art.

An example, I put on Leonard Cohen, glanced at "pilgrimage" in the last post, and saw a new form I'd never seen before. Since it is a very large form I am especially intrigued. If art duplicates life, then there are some mighty large issues out there I am not seeing.

"Pilgrimage"

7"x5"

gouache
(sold)

"Portrait of Creative Thought"

11"x8"

I'm still drawing on this.
Just goofing around.

The is an early version of "Imp on the Hill." Update is posted on May 21, 2015.

"Uplift #3"

2.5"x7.5"

(sold)

"Viewing the Stars"

3.75"x3.75"

gouache

(sold)

"Fear by the River Flow"

7.5"x7.5"
(sold)

These gouache paintings are impossible to accurately reproduce, the subtlety of color far too sophisticated for scan lights. The large dark blob is a lighter rust, the lines softly opaque. I originally named the piece to fit the foreground but now have changed it to address the figure in the middle ground.

Trashing the piece mid progress releases something uncontrollable that if slightly tamed later on can bring one closer to the truth of things.

I didn't have paper so I grabbed the ph-balanced foam core nearby. Putting a painting on one side caused the sheet to curl so I put paint on the reverse to even it out. Of course that meant I had to make the splotch of paint into something.

(A generous friend loved this, so now it's hers.)

Paintings Flying About and Landing

"Blue Migration" (detail)

The after affects of an Open Studio are here: Someone has bought "Blue Migration". Now I feel like the little guy, flying alone in a calm space, heading off into new horizons.

The new owner is allowing me to keep the blue painting in my studio for a while. When I create large pieces I learn so much and pull on that info to create new works. When the painting leaves the studio I feel like I've lost a major resource. Since "Blue Migration" is so new I appreciate the new owner letting me sit on it for a while. 

I keep one of my most interestingly painted canvases in my studio at all times just for that reason... as an inspirational resource of what is possible. ("Confronting Brown")

(detail)

This is the part I look at for reference material. Whenever I see other people paint like this I get such a high! I do it in tiny form now (in gouache), and hope to get back into large versions when I am able to paint with oil again. There's no ventilation in my new studio, so I'm avoiding oil fumes. Maybe if I do the messiest work elsewhere and then bring the painting to the studio? 

Meanwhile, I work with acrylic paint, as you see in the blue above.

Opening a Studio

This past weekend I was privileged to have dozens of strangers walk into my studio, view/interact with my work, and then kindly talk to me about how the art related to their own lives. As those who view my work know, I draw from a multitude of perspectives. Listening to the individual guests tell their personal stories and experiences was like having the people of my drawings come to life. Totally jazzy for me. Thanks for visiting and sharing everyone. What an uplift! (See January 7, 2014 post.)

Looking Inside and Through Life

Detail from "Blue Migration"

"In the Pink"

9.5"x6.75"

Gouache

Finding Carmel

"Spring's On It"

5.5"x7.25"

gouache

(click to see true size)

"Parachuting Ideas"

10"x8"

"Patient"

18"x24"

Acrylic

This is in honor of 6 real individuals who have or are traveling through deep illness. One has died and another, a 15-year old, has a limited projected life span. A third is fighting cancer. The remaining three are struggling with illnesses that are not life threatening but take concentrated efforts to avoid physical pain. 

What is remarkable about all of these individuals is they were/are striving for happiness no matter what, and achieving that happiness is the purest essence of human healing. Just as the able bodied can be horribly unhappy, the crippled and endangered can fight the pain and mindfully live in a space of joy.

How does an ill person achieve this joy? It is a scientific fact that our brains secrete happy juices when we do three different actions: Play, Care, Search. I call these the "healthy picks (pcs)." When I think back on the happiest moments of my day I like to ask myself... was I playing? ...caring for someone? ...searching for a new angle or topic of thought?

The 6 real individuals above were/are experts at positive thinking through use of playing, caring and searching. As long as the mind is interested in these three activities our positive brain juices reward us with good feelings and these in turn create more good feelings. Then we can go dance in the streets with Pharrell Williams even if we are on our backs in bed with no physical ability to prance vertically to the music.

It's all a matter of using our imaginations wisely. As an artist I have chosen to paint a caring image about illness. It involved a long search for me to find the right way to portray a balance of pain on the figure's face with the joy that is in her spirit. I began this piece in 2012 when I met the 15-year-old. Understanding exactly what I saw on her face took me over a year to distill.

"Blue Migration"

30"x40"

Acrylic

(sold)