3.16.07
11:30 a.m.
Painting Stuff
I've just been painting, and painting, and painting. I've completed four paintings in three weeks, plus a "practice" painting for something I want to commit to canvas, but need to work on.
I haven't been documenting the process because it is about form and color. Maybe I need to start keeping a record of the process I go through??!! I once got into a snarl with an art teacher because I didn't keep my journal/sketch book up to date. It's just so hard to stop what I'm doing and write everything down. Once I get done with something I'm pretty spent. What comes out of me and goes onto the canvas is about the process of catharsis. (My performance art is also about catharsis). i feel the same way after I get done painting that I did when I performed my more emotionally wrenching work.
So how do you get the energy to document afterwards? Where does it come from? There are so many things I want to try, but I'm not ready to do yet. I want to collage things onto my canvases. I want to design stuff, so that there is more subtlety. But I really don't work that way. My poetry doesn't work that way either, why would I expect the process of painting to work that way as well?
Habits. One can change work habits. I can learn? Right?
For me it is more about the emotional/mental stimulation of the act of painting then it is about the technical process. Sure, I pull out the color wheel to match color relationships; I look at what I'm doing in regards to object and canvas. And, I have to fix things. And then the painting comes out a little more balanced because even though I'm painting from an emotional standpoint, I have to pay attention to the technical.
Through the years I've observed alot of art. And I mean Alot. Been to Galleries, and shows, student exhibits, faculty exhibits. Random street art, grafitti, and friends who are artists. Some of the art I've loved, and some of it I couldn't stand. Several come to mind. A friend in Tucson, whose partner was painting. And I went to look at the stuff. And yeah, it was very raw and emotional, but does that excuse the lack of technical background? I wanted to be supportive of this person's endeavor, but a big part of me felt sorry for her that she was doing something that she obviously had no clue about. A student show in the community college I attended. This guy had discovered how to mold things, and then paint them. I wanted to throw up. I didn't say that in the review, but it was not pleasent art.
I don't like being so judgemental about art. We all have our own tastes. Maybe someone else would like that art...I don't know. All I know is that in my work I will strive to achieve some kind of balance between the emotional outpouring, and a level of technical execution. Although my technical abilities are not well honed, I know how to make use of them. And I will learn. I taught myself a bit about book binding, and about some other things, I can teach myself more about painting. And how to incorporate different ideas.
I think the goal of my painting right now is form and color. I'm not trying to make any kind of statement. I just want to paint. The second goal is to infuse found objects/collage into the paintings. The final goal...well...there is no final goal. Just to keep getting better, and to continue making art. I haven't been writing lately, Master has been so kind as to purchase all these supplies for us, and well, I figured it was time I started using the supplies. Trouble is, you start using them, then you have to buy more.
What started it? The Southwest Leather Art Exhibit. We came out of that, and it felt good to be around all these other artists. And some of the judges and coordinators saying "I should get my paints out and start painting." I took that to heart. I have all the stuff, I have available tools, I just have to paint. I had canvas that we bought in Kansas, paints, supplies...I have no excuse to not paint. I've got the time, and now, the drive.
I guess another goal is to also, at some, point sell the paintings. And that means networking, talking to people and getting plugged back into the art community here in Phoenix, and Tucson. (And possibly north as well). SM has done a fine job in finding outlets for his work...I can do the same.
Right now, it is about the painting. The feel of the paint. Getting yellow on my ear and not caring. Getting the paint on the canvas. And not being afraid of what I'm doing. That Fear thing has been huge in my past. I've let it go. Now, I paint.
And now it's time for bed.
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