Monday, January 26, 2015

It's abit of stretch

Coming along painting the canvases and learning how to stretch them as well.  Not prepared to show any of the products yet.  But, here are a couple photos.




My aunt has come visit from Brazil, she arrived today. Pretty excited :)  It's been a couple years since i've seen her last.


Monday, January 19, 2015

a reason for being

I'm going lay off the rambling this time around and let the world watch itself turn.


 I'm also currently working on my portfolio so i'm going to go ahead and work on it.


Monday, January 12, 2015

shades of white





 This week has been a tough week.  For individuals, for many, for a purpose.

 I cannot appropriately reflect upon the events which have been taken to the public arena this week.  

 It's easy when we are young to get carried away with ideas we are fed, we are molded easily and  provided the appropriate environment and precedence dangerous ideals can blossom and lead to extremest activity.  Get out of your box, explore and get to know other methodologies and study what you dislike, you might find surprising common ground. A more efficient means of communicating and solving a problem may then take the front seat providing a more appropriate platform for permanent change.

This sort of stuff happens everyday, but this time it happened in Paris and caught headline attention.
If you care to look this stuff up, here's a start;
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30708237

People know what they are fighting for and why, but limited experience/knowledge and rhetoric drives them to ill conclusions.  The line is drawn when your beliefs hurt others.  I'm still a baby when developing my thoughts so excuse me if this sounds obvious. Lack of discussion about such issues in my life has made me not push my own thought process to the next level.  (hole in the education system and life)  I also don't feel as though i'm qualified to speak on such issues, my knowledge being also limited and i mean, i live in the U.S.. What we are exposed to here and our quality of life/experiences are very different from those in other countries.  We are also fed lies here.  Larger principles are important to consider, and it is sad, in any situation, when individuals are hurt or killed in order to make a statement.  This goes beyond the Cinnamon Challenge.

I'm going to go ahead and draw a parallel to a simple unimportant fact in my life.  I've been picky, and single for a very very long time. This produces loneliness and longing. I do not know how i feel about children, marriage, and even love has left its different definitions in the gray.

However,  i, as many others, long for someone to communicate and share my life with in a manner which is goes beyond a friendship, someone who can see eye to eye and is honest.  This ideal is fed to us a good deal by American media and i believe is also dangerous.  The idea of a soul mate, falling in love (particularly at first sight/week) and believing eyes closed that your mate for life has been revealed and off you go to get 'married'.  Truth be told that once that initial spark has died off you'll end in a divorce court, particularly in this day an age for reasons i will not go into because it goes off topic.  Life, growth and evolution  and love are much more complex then that.   The paragraph being an example of what is 'blind faith' and unrealistic expectations (go on and expand this to patriotism, self sacrifice, etc). 

I've watched movies (crazy huh).  In fact i've partially learned to speak English through Disney Animated films.  So recently, to decompress and push lifes stresses aside i've plugged in some entertainment while eating dinner.  This year i've watched 'Frida' (fantastic), 'Begin Again', and '27 dresses'.   Imbedded in these movies are women- relateable, in the face of a conflict-also relatable- a romantic conflict- my god these guys are psychic- and they end, somewhat on an optimistic note.
 I like relating to the characters and seeing how their story relate to mine and take their solutions into consideration.  As the audience we live precariously through our chosen characters, seeking to answer our owns lives questions with their solutions.
Entertainment media, because of their prominence and relevance in our technologically driven lives have become teachers. 

The difference in (some) entertainment media and fine art is that it requires no thinking or assessing in your part.  You become catatonic in a way and addicted to being told stories and living through a fictitious reality leaving your actual life to the birds.  It's made to be sold, with hooks and everything.

 In fine art, you sit in front of a still image and relate to it.  Silence and time become key ingredients. The more you discover (a great) work of art, the more it forces you to look into yourself encouraging your own discoveries.  You connect and you communicate.  It's a thought process not giving you answers but asking you questions which in turn requires personal accountability and reflection.  It can be very personal.   A great work of art can also break through various levels of realization, speaking many languages simultaneously, exposing many different truths (and sometimes lies).  The more you sit and explore, the more exciting it becomes.

Great art will poke at what makes people tick.

Being an artist or an admirer of fine art teaches you patience, for one who is always rushing will not be inclined to see the message.  



Here are some photos of the new temp studio. It's pretty nice. I'm gonna go ahead and logout now though, there is some serious snow waiting to be painted.   I've spent too long typing today, so excuse if it's not perfect, It's like a rough, and the snow gets me so giddy even if my car does hate driving in it.

Front of shop where i have a studio in the back. I get in early, and shovel the snow.  I actually don't mind it and look how pretty it looks. 

 The studio, shot 1.
 The frame shop loaned me an easel. They were very sweet.  Some paintings in the works.  I getting up to the first color layer done on all, then i will start working on the smarter texturing when i get all paintings grounded so i can make sure they're consistent.  There is no time to noodle.

 Love my palette.
My list of things to do.

PS: great encouraging link by the great artist Julio Reyes;
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIWawuJe72c


his website;
http://www.julioreyes.com/

and his wife, also a great artist;
http://www.candicebohannon.com/

Monday, January 5, 2015

is it any of your business?



above;small oil paint study of 'Tuscany'.

A big part of my current education is business, marketing and networking. 

It's great that we get a wonderful education guiding us through different ideals, utopias and fantasies, but as soon as those thoughts leave the sacred silence your success as an island may be questionable, for everyone comes with their own set of realities.

I've stood my ground on different issues which i didn't feel were right and on beliefs which were beautiful as a vison but were left to dust in real life. I've lost my identity as part of my education and crossed many lines which guided me through the grey areas of life, as all of us do.  In this new chapter i'm seeking different solutions to success in it's different definitions, business is taking a big part of this one.   We have all been witness to and victims of notty business, it made me wonder if all who succeed need to do so at the expense of others, and if human interaction becomes disingenuous.  I don't think so.  So is there integrity in business? Sure, just make sure you know what you're fighting for and why.

integrity |inˈtegritē|
noun
1 the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness: he is known to be a man of integrity.
2 the state of being whole and undivided: upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
• the condition of being unified, unimpaired, or sound in construction: the structural integrity of the novel.
• internal consistency or lack of corruption in electronic data: [ as modifier ] : integrity checking.
ORIGIN late Middle English ( sense 2): from French intégrité or Latin integritas, from integer ‘intact’ (see integer).


The schedule increasingly becomes more demanding as we add to the ball juggling circus.  So, off to another week and the bat cave.

below; some gouache studies.