Doing Something Foreign

I got this commission once to do some portraits of three cats. I don’t do cats but the client said he really liked my style so I said ok. It turned out to be a very fun project for me. I don’t even know any cats that I like so it was pretty funny trying to paint a kitty soul. And a kitty personality just by looking at a snapshot.

I had to make something up about the cat that could or may not have been true. I had to relate to them. After I finished the paintings I sent off the images and the client loved them. He said it felt just like the cats were. He wondered how I got so much info from a little snapshot. I didn’t. He found what he was looking for because he was projecting what he knew on what he saw. He made it be true.

We do that to everything all day long. That is why when we get to a foreign country we will see people that look just like people we know from home. they really don’t but we make it so in our minds for comfort. A painter will look for something to relate to all day long in the studio. That is why it makes us feel sort of sick when we can’t find it. Once we do find that look we can feel better and relieved. When somebody buys a work of art they are remembering something that makes them feel good and they are compelled to buy it. A certain style of work may be more accessible to that feeling than another.  That is why we do everything. It makes us feel better.  I think this applies straight across the board.

kitty photo by this guy

Another Country

Why is another country so different in feeling than the one you came from?  It is probably because of the infinity factor. Every person is unique and all the habits we acquire are unique too and so add that all together and you get a group of people that are around you that totally influence you and that group develops a group think and thus a culture is born.

It is good to go travel and get a fresh perspective on how many ways there are to do things. You might not have thought of something because you are thinking down the same old paths. new paths are great. You stay yourself, but it adds a new dimension to your work.

Exit

I saw a movie last night called Exit through the Gift Shop. What  a revelation. It is about this guy who films street artists but does not make movies. He just films them and puts the tapes in a box.

He starts making street art from blown up copies of drawings at Kinkos . The Street artists have a show and it is a big hit in Los Angeles.  He basicalls copies them but does not do any of the actual art. He just alters famous art with spray paint and has a big big show that is totally self promoted. He makes a million dollars and becomes and overnight (literally) sensation. He sells his altered prints for 24 thousand dollars. He does not even make the work. He hires people to do it for him. He calls himself Mr. Brainwash.

This really happened and they were selling his stuff at Sothebys. This really happened.

If there are no rules in art then anyone can make it and you can never say what is art and what is not. There does not have to be a  true connection with anything. It is like the Emperor has no clothes.

Whatever you can talk someone into believing is art then it is art. This movie totally illustrates that fact.

This is a commentary on life too. No rules or rules that are fluid then you have utter nonsense.

this movie made me sick  and it opened my eyes to the dangers of no rules. Anarchy is death of all that is good. Good has rules and is real.

It is like heaven and hell. This movie was about heaven and hell. People believe a lie and pay gobs of money for it and propagate it. Mr. Brainwash. He is like Satan. He is brainwashed too. Just because you make money does not validate you.

Go see this movie and see how the world is now.

the process

People say to me all the time” It must be so fun to be an artist. You get to do what you love all day long.” I cannot tell you how many time I have heard that very phrase, I guess it all depends what fun is.

If fun means being tortured till you find what the painting wants and then feeling euphoric for about 10 minutes till you start the next painting and start all over, then yes it is fun. If fun means being terrified that you will have no new ideas and the fountain is truly dried up and you are never going to be able to get that next show done- then yes, it is fun.

The payoff is when you get a new one done and it is gorgeous and it is way way better than you know how to paint and it sings to you in your deepest heart. So I would liken being an artist to giving birth over and over and over again. It never gets easier just because you have 500 paintings done. There is no easy path. This painting Red Bird took me three weeks to finish. It consumed me night and day for three weeks but it is so beautiful now that it is done and it radiates like beacon of life. Can you feel what it took to birth this painting when you look at it. She cost me everything but she was worth it.

Reality

The reality is Reality is the only non changeable thing about everything. We are stuck with truth and cannot change it no matter how we try. But we can understand that reality only a brick wall when we are looking at only one reality. Another reality exists at the same time but we just have to see it . Take a huge basic truth. You cannot fly with your body alone. Well we are aware of that but they are ways to get around that if you dont just rely on your arms flapping to do it.

Every problem has two realities. One that is obvious and one not so obvious. A creative type person will look for ways around things by looking at the problem from different angles. I will believe it when I see it person will only look at most things from one angle. Lets say you have no job and are pretty old and as far as you see nobody is hiring you.  There is another thing you can do besides start your own business. You can work for free to prove how valuable you are just like a young apprentice might. Employers might be looking at your age and stopping there. If you are clever and prove how much you have to offer they will change their mind.

You have to change their reality too. At least you wont be needing to go on maternity leave like young people might. You have experience and view points that might be just what they need to stabilize a business.

error: Please do not copy.