Process

Well, the thing to do is not apologize for not writing, like it's a good idea not to apologize to people you haven't written to for a long time because they don't really want to hear it and it takes up all the space you have with stuff that they don't want to hear.

I've been struggling with painting lately, and it's mostly because I feel that some of the stuff I've been doing doesn't fit into our day and time as well as it might have used to. So I go searching for something that will, with mixed results. It's an age old problem, I think, for artists.

You look at some artists, though, their processes through the years go a long ways towards explaining what they are all about. Take an artist who always paints western scenes, or landscapes...no, not a good example. Take Deborah Butterfield, who come heck or high water creates stick bronzed horse sculptures.

In years that have been tumultuous (the 80s) she's produced horses, in times that have been excessive (the 90's) she's produced horses, in times (the 00's) when things are unsettled and unsure with a million jillion bytes of information beamed a person's way, she's produced horses.

I guess there's a market for them, but just how can these horses fit so many different times? I think that her original idea and original horse really must have fit the time she lived in the moment she created them, but after that they don't. It's not a good artistic practice to refuse to change with the times.

On the other hand, the time period between 1980 and 2009, thirty years, is a speck of time in the great ocean of it and so a horse in 1980 might say the same thing to it's audience as a horse in 2009 does.

Well, it's important not to judge and it's important not to think that you know all the answers. I guess I do know, though, that I'd like to produce something that reflects the poignancy of our times better than I have to this date. That might mean, however, lapsing into a sort of sadness that I don't want to lapse into, and I want to avoid that.

The upshot of this is that I've been painting over more paintings than normal, I'll work on them for a long time develop a highly crafted piece, and then get rid of it. It's struck me that the getting rid of it part of this particular process is significant and that should become my art piece and so I'm toying with that by painting over paintings and then displaying them.

It doesn't satisfy me though.

There is so much to overcome to become the painter that I would like to be, and particularly it involves my relationship to my audience. A guy can come into my studio and say, pointing at watercolors, Why would you waste your time on these when you can make those? and points to an oil painting. And I give that the time of day because I'm nothing (I believe) without an audience.

But the thing to absolutely remember is, no matter what I do (or any artist does) there are going to be people who like it. For every person who likes an oil painting there will be another one who likes a watercolor. So in the end, I should just do what I want to do and damn the consequences.

Happy New Year

First posting of 2009, hope I do more this year. I probably have more to say, last year I didn't.

On art.

Well, you know you think you have things figured out a little, but really I'd have to say the big thing I think I've learned is not to worry about it too much. I've tried to analyze things and tried to explain things and what I've found is that I don't need to analyze or explain nuthin'.

In fact it's probably better if I don't say a word about any painting or any attempt at art that I might attempt.

I think that's a good thing to learn and it certainly helps me in situations where I'm asked to explain myself.

Of course that does mean that I don' t have as much to say about stuff, maybe I should branch out a little and talk about other things.

On Music. I love music but I can't write about it. You try it, take an album that you like and tell somebody why you like it. You might be good, some people are but I'm not.

I think it's because the music isn't necessarily listened to by my left brain, I think I'm a right brain listener and as such, know what I like, but can't tell you about it.

So no writing about music either.

On Baseball. I could write a LOT on baseball -- it's funny why I would be able to do this and not write about music, maybe I'm not so far off with my left/right brain theories. Baseball is all a left brain proposition if you're talking about it, maybe not if you're playing it. I read once that what the brain does to estimate where a fly ball will land rivals and in fact beats the amount of calculations done by the greatest supercomputer.

Of course that was a few years ago.

On people. Give me some good gossip any day.

Well, gotta go catch my bus. See ya!