Writing and art and every other creative endeavor have a lot in common. The processes, though different on the surface, go like this: Idea. First try – oh, nuts, that’s not right. Second try – uhm, closer but still not what I want.Third try – is this thing ever going to look/sound/work right? And then two possibilities. Either it does very soon look/sound/work right or … Continue reading When your horse dies…
Another Maine poem, another new painting. Whither this project? Well, the project has been on hold for the past few weeks thanks to the holidays and a frigid weather spell that kept me out of the studio. There were also a fair number of other distractions large and small about work, weather, and the future of art and creativity in the days of AI and … Continue reading Art, Poetry and Finding One’s Posse
People ask, “What’s your painting about? How did you do it?” Every artist, writer or other creative person knows these questions. Inquiring minds want to know. The answer is usually some kind of song and dance about the creative process, choosing the right paints (paper, tap shoes, guitar strings), the muse, inspiration, one thing and another. I was advised early on that it would not … Continue reading From Point A to Point B or Someplace in that Neck of the Woods
I am happily back at work in the studio. An auto mechanic is happy working in the garage, a carpenter in the woodshop, a gardener in the garden, and an artist desires more than anything to be in the studio. Over the last few months, many ideas about the painting have bounced around in my head while I was busy with other tasks, including preparations … Continue reading From Jazz to Fragonard
“Who told you that one paints with colours? One makes use of colours, but one paints with emotions.” — Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin I have been asking myself what an artist like Chardin would have to say about art created by emotionless artificial intelligence. I believe Chardin and I would agree, and that does not mean I’m saying I know it all, just that in our … Continue reading Chardin, DALL-E and the Art of Emotion
It was an all-ages event. And I liked it that way. Following the notion of Robert Henri, Art and Spirit, that “Exhibitions should be small,” the art show reception on Friday was just that. We didn’t plan it that way, but this is a small community, so the size of the crowd did not surprise any of us. And unlike some of the huge art … Continue reading You Don’t Have to Sing, You Don’t Have to Dance
Choices have been made and the event has been announced. I’m down to the last minute tasks for the show that goes up on Wednesday. Twenty paintings are now ready to grace the walls of the lovely gallery space in our City Hall. How they’ll be received is yet to be seen, and it’s not up to me. I’m doing the finishing touches on paintings … Continue reading The Paintings Are Ready and So Am I
Painting isn’t everything. And it’s certainly not the only thing. (Apologies to Vince Lombardi.) The other part of being a visual artist, at least an artist who wants to show her work, is the part that involves not paint, but a screwdriver, tape measure, possibly pliers, wirecutters and a certain level of patience. This is the “putting on the hardware” part – D-rings and hanging … Continue reading The “hardware part” of art
“Art, after all, rarely emerges from committees.” This bit of wisdom comes from the opening paragraph of the section, “Fears About Others” in Bayles & Orland’s always spot-on book for artists, Art & Fear. In a discussion about artists and “others” who include the critics, the public, family, friends, teachers, the lady down the street, and too often ourselves, Bayles & Orland go on to … Continue reading Art and Risk – the Dynamic Duo
There are few things in nature more beautiful to me than dessicated flowers. I know this may sound odd, but take my word for it – or take Irving Penn’s or Frederick Franck’s – if you prefer. Photographer Penn created a most wonderful book of flowers in which he included every phase of particular flowers from bud to dessication. Franck is the author of The … Continue reading Zen and the Art of Seeing
Art and Tulips 