Detours

Recently I started a new sketchbook. I wanted to see what I might draw differently from some other recent artworks. As I sketched, I thought about an earlier piece in which I drew irregular rock shapes. But as I went forward I wasn’t satisfied with what was happening. So, then I made the shapes interlock. Hmmm, I thought to myself. I like these new shapes more than the old ones. Well, then I added on, but I didn’t want to constrict my drawing from changing.

And so the piece began to evolve in other directions. As I continued I attempted to imitate the way I began at first. However the more I tried, the more I found myself veering away from the original idea. Several times more I tried to return to style of the initial drawing. Again and again I found myself off in another direction.

In all I worked on this sketch for about nine different sessions of varying lengths. Along the way someone asked me for a business card. Some servers at a Chinese buffet asked if the piece was a Chinese dragon. Well, here is the sketch below. Given the responses from folks, who waked by me while I working and who saw this image posted online, I will be doing some more sketches and maybe some final works based on this – if I don’t’ do something else first.



Eclectic Connections, graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Simplify

Sometimes I get so carried away with a piece that I get bogged down when it comes to finishing. It is best if I just stop and put it aside. Later on it will hit me how to simplify what I’m doing and complete the piece.

Change

As the year begins I am wondering about the word “change” and what it will mean. This is not just because of a new administration in Washington that constantly emphasizes the word nor is it the dramatic economic events that are taking place. With a “9” at the end of the year, a decade is ending.

As an artist, I’m very curious to see what will define the next few years visually. What I see now are the products of decisions already made. In past decades, there have been certain characteristics that helped define them differently from previous ones.

In the twenty-two years since graduating from college I have traveled various artistic paths. Where might I want to go this time? What imagery might I want to try? Is there a current idea I will want incorporate into my art?

When I turned forty I was forced to use reading glasses in order to see detail. I’m finding myself not as loose in my artwork process now. Will I go back to a more expressive style? Will my age affect my work? Should it matter?

Sure I’ll keep my eyes peeled for clues of what’s coming. In the meantime I really need to make some more art. If a show opportunity presents itself, I better have some work to exhibit.

Against the Grain

Once in a while I have to make art in a way that is contrary or unlike what I normally do. On Sunday, May 18th, I was invited to participate in an art show June 1 – 13 in Baton Rouge. That gave me two weeks to have art ready to hang. Whatever I did had to be a quick process. In conjuring up ideas I decided I wanted to try more masculine colors. By that I mean more browns.

As I started arranging my compositions, I found myself going back to grids in order to structure my works. Only this time, I made them less uniform. As I rendered the pieces, I soon found myself annoyed at the most extreme of these works, a gouache painting. Gee, I reached the total other end of the spectrum from my earlier days of splattered paintings. Oh, I did make one non-grid piece with masculine colors.

Having vowed to go as speedily as possible, I ended up more anal in the way I worked. My process this time was more like working a jigsaw puzzle. I used to love solving those, too. As for what next, I’m not sure. It was a rush to push myself like that, but I prefer to go slower and take some time to work through a piece.

A Groove

Following my return home after Hurricane Katrina, I have been painting and selling my dot artwork. But what about my other work created during the first half of 2005? Dot art is not the only type of art I make. For the last two years I have been a little unsure of where I wanted to go next with my other artwork.

The pieces I completed for an abstract art show, in Baton Rouge, August of 2005, received a lot of enthusiastic praise from my peers. I recently completed one piece I did not finish for that show. It is with that effort that I now have sense of what to do next. I now have a groove.

Art Books

Tuesday night I went by Barnes and Noble to check on some art books I want to purchase. Two of them were available, but another one is now on backorder. While I was there I skimmed through some other art books. I found several that showcased some artwork by current artists. When I see art books like that, I just have to get them.

Yep, the art section of a bookstore is a very tempting area for me. Anyway, I always look for inspiration/stimulation for new art. Who knows what these books will provoke me to create. Hopefully I’ll find a new direction or some new directions to take. Making the same kind of art over and over again gets old quick.

A New Level

Some portfolios I retrieved from a family home have been sitting in my art storage room at home since I’ve been back after Katrina. I knew from past browsing that the majority of my kid art perished. Last week I decided to see what actually survived.

Most of the work is from college, but there are some pieces from middle school and high school. Of course some pieces suffered because of age or what was in the air. Rubber cement used on the back bled through the paper, too.

What surprised me was that some artwork just didn’t look as good as I remember. Sometimes I created a piece and I was amazed by it. Often these pieces were breakthroughs for me. And so I guess I’ve progressed to another level. That’s the silver lining.