I'm not abandoning my format, just breaking from it momentarily.
As a lacrosse coach, I am constantly preaching to my players to extend beyond their comfort zone. I tell them that this is the only way to grow and become better players. Physician heal thyself. So I am taking my own coaching advice.
Another thing that I tell them is "don't be afraid to make mistakes." Ok, that's easier said than done.
SOoooo. This is an another attempt at an abstraction. Milton Glaser says that "all art is an abstraction." I get what he is saying and I am much more comfortable in the figurative abstraction. I don't think that this is particularly good, but I think it is a good first step. I am still too stuck on literal imagery--the shapes are still too well defined and the composition a bit stilted. But I think it's good to show your mistakes and try to learn from them.
SOoooo. This is an another attempt at an abstraction. Milton Glaser says that "all art is an abstraction." I get what he is saying and I am much more comfortable in the figurative abstraction. I don't think that this is particularly good, but I think it is a good first step. I am still too stuck on literal imagery--the shapes are still too well defined and the composition a bit stilted. But I think it's good to show your mistakes and try to learn from them.
I used acrylic paint on Arches watercolor paper, which was also a mistake. The paint moved too slowly and dried too quickly on the absorbent paper. The end product has an odd plastic feel and a chalky appearance. I've been visiting several abstract artists and assemblage artist pages lately, trying to get a feel for the approach.
As for the experience. I don't have a studio. So I paint in the family room with wife, dog, and cat involved. My wife is a tough and effective critic. She is not an artist (although her Mom was an accomplished painter) but she can't hide whether she likes something or not. She is my general public. The dog sleeps--after all she is 15 years old and fairly blind. She is my out-lier. The cat is very artistic and likes to help me. She pokes her paw under the canvas or walks across the page as I am drawing. She prefers me to use her as my subject.
I think that a part of my limit is that I can't get really active with the paint. I tried to let the painting dictate the strokes and then just looked at the end product. Interestingly, the finished work is upside-down from the way I painted it. I liked how it looked in this orientation better than 180 degrees around.
I am definitely outside of my comfort zone here. And I hope that I get better at it so that I can enjoy it more. But I like the challenge and look forward to making another one.
I find it very interesting how human beings insist on "making sense" of something.
ReplyDeleteAs we've discussed today regarding this painting (which I like), you had no conscious vision or form you were trying to represent on the paper. You just wanted to allow something organic to evolve as you painted it.
Yet, when I saw it I immediately imposed on it what I thought was a reference to something we discussed earlier this week; another viewer said she began interpreting it from her medical training.
We humans insist on doing that, in art and in life in general. We perceive a mass of disjointed "stuff" (on a canvass or in our lives) that doesn't make sense and most of us begin creating a story or finding some meaning around it in our minds. In other words, we are reluctant to move beyond our familiar comfort zones into unfamiliar territory.
So much of art today (and our media in general) seem designed to reinforce or create familiar, comfortable stories on a mass culture level, rather than challenge us to leave our comfort zones and explore other levels of awareness.
I'm rambling on about this (talk about not making sense) because it's something I frequently think about and because I happen to be reading Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do at the moment, which goes into his philosophy on art (martial arts and other arts for him were expressions of one's deepest self). Here's a quote you might like:
Artistic skill, therefore, does not mean artistic perfection. It remains rather a continuing medium or reflection of some step in psychic development, the perfection of which is not to be found in shape and form, but must radiate from the human soul.
I like it, how long did it take you? It seems to have been done very precisely.
ReplyDeleteIt took me about 2 hours.
ReplyDeleteAh..My brother. it's a scary world out there. If you are out of your comfort zone, then you my friend are in a wonderful place. Because that is a place where all the good stuff is. Saint is right on point. I have noticed that all viewers of abstract art are programed to find some relationship with what ever it is they are looking at. "I think I see a bird" . We are programmed from childhood to find understanding in relation to our own lives. If the mind cannot compute meaning, then it something kicks in"ABORT, ABORT" "Insanity is approaching" and thus abstract art scares people. It would certainly scare someone trying to make it. It's all good.
ReplyDeleteNow being an insane person, this is easy for me to come up with. Just let go of your ego, let go of any preconceived idea of what the end product should be or what anyone thinks and make some art. Listen to your wife on objective works. Listen to your cat on the nonobjective.
"We cannot solve our problems in the same state of mind in which we created them. - Albert Einstein