My Artistic Journey
(Part 4)
(continued from part 3)The year is 2012 and I have decided to make my artistic interest, a business. About a year before I had found a helpful website forum called, "Wetcanvas". There I enjoyed being amongst other artists who were sharing both their art and artistic processes. At this time I was working in oil paint and spending a lot of online time in the "Oil Painting Forum".
The energy of interaction with like minded artists was a great influence on my thinking at this time, and in this I found myself being drawn, little by little, into the "Abstract & Contemporary Art Forum" where my interest in abstract art was growing. Eventually I became the moderator of the "Abstract & Contemporary Art Forum" for a period of 6 years.
This was quite a change in how I thought of art. In younger years, artistic time was spent on painting quiet landscapes. Looking back at this, I can see my artistic side was trying to create on canvas, the kind of world I wanted to live in. Interestingly enough, humans were generally excluded from those personal canvas paradises.
Somewhere after 2010, began the explorations of non-objective abstract art. As of yet there is no particular style I was following. The journey, at this point, was more playing with paint finding interesting ways to apply color. Developing and defining a palate where colors cohabited together peacefully but could be used to wrestle against other in an effort to be noticed.
Learning to use color, observing how they could communicate attitudes and moods. Quietness, restlessness, order and chaos, these all could be communicated. And then realizing that colors had temperature… that colors could be cold or hot. Even warm colors could be made to be cool and cool ones could be warmed up. It was all a fascinating time of discovery and experimentation.
I had already understood many of the principles and general rules in composition, good and bad practices in the use of painting materials, at least to some degree, but through the regular practice in daily producing art my skills were expanding greatly. I did not come from any formal art education, so these things came through studying books, and much experimentation, discovery and practice. This was my path.
In all this there was a hope of finding or developing some style and direction for my art. Whereas it had starting from a raw and untamed void, it eventually would began to find some coherence and some recognizable shape somewhere between 2011 and 2012. I can remember the sense of artistic pride and inner joy I felt when people began to look at the artwork and make the connection that I was the artist. Some would say, "Yes, I can see your style in that one!"
This began to happen as I was developing a number of paintings in the series I was calling "Out of Your Mind!". Later, I would see how that title would help in the development of my philosophy, explaining what I was trying to do with art.
At this point, I am including several paragraphs that described how I worked to produce a painting. This is from something I wrote for the Wetcanvas Abstract and Contemporary Art Forum. The following will give you an idea of How I worked at that time.
"I start in front of the canvas with at least one or two colors chosen and with a large brush (to start with) make a mark somewhere. I really doesn’t matter at this point where. Then make another. Maybe turn your brush a little differently or swoosh the line, pair the brush strokes, make the perpendicular or make them dots, whatever. Stop for a moment and …what is it saying to you? Anything? Go on and make a few more creative marks. Stop now and then, and take a look. Did you make a face or something recognizable as something from the real world that your brain is saying, oh, that’s a ____ ! Nooooo! Please try to find a way to work beyond making things, let things make themselves."
Now I pay little attention to what I am making and look for things that make me feel something. After I have made a dozen or so marks (and I have only been using one color) I will start to make some more marks with another color (often it is the first color modified with white or another color). What I am trying to do is get the lines, blotches, colors, shapes to say something back to me. If it is still quiet then continue on until you get a response from the painting."
"If you are not getting it or it is not coming through to you …check and see if you are thinking about things like this: when will I be finished or this is taking so long, this is hard, I’m tired, what’s that noise? Did I pay the rent? If your attention is being sidetracked by this kind of stuff, I would guess that your left brain is still trying to dominate the show and you still need to find the zone where time and distractions have fallen away and you are hardly aware of them. I know people can paint from the left side of the brain – and kudos to you if that’s you – but I am giving you advice from my way so if you are still bothered by them you will have to find a way through it and sharpen up your artistic senses so that you can hear the voice of the work that is talking back to you."
"Once you hear that voice, you simply respond. Someone sticks their right hand out to you …you extend yours and shake. Driving along someone slams on their brakes in front of you …you put on your brakes. You are thirsty …your get a drink. Hungry …you eat. All are responses to different things. Learn to respond to the emotions of the work. If it is hard at first, keep at it – it will come. Eventually it will be like breathing and your heart beating. That is, you will hardly be aware of what you are doing and it will look like it all comes naturally."
We will leave it like that for now, but there will be more to come. (to be comtinued)
Dave
Edited
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