Integrating the Mind and the Body......

Because most all of my themescapes are first the theme/titles, then the visual, from the mind to the rendering, it usually means making use of the imagination, creating in effect archetypes - symbols - for use in the metaphoric relationships depicted, which is to say the objects depicted are not from models as such, but the memory of knowing what the object kind looks like, which is also to say not portraits of the objects... for the most part, this is for me little problem because of observing over many years all manner of such objects I'd likely to make use of, as well as seeking in sources examples and from those mentally 'see' the object which is in turn made use of..... because there is much in variation in reality of most of these objects, deviancy from specific examples is of little consequence... however, when it comes to the human figure, despite 'seeing' in my mind what is desired, there has always been a curse of not getting the body [the hand] to integrate well with the mind...

the consequence is a preponderance of still life and only a few bits of landscapes between - not that there aren't a number of ideas from which to work, but the ease of doing the objects and foregoing the stress of dealing with the figure - for the figure it seems, unlike the trees or fruits or rocks, cannot be deviated much else it looks distorted or lacking in 'lifeness' - the difference between a mummy and a model... the consequence is also a frustration of not being easily able to see some of my visions as soon as wished, or even seen at all..... all my works are human glorifying, but many times have been accused of setting up stages, and waiting for the actors and actresses to appear - as if the effects of humanity is not enough... for a long time this bothered me, especially when it seemed to take much time in thought as was to create the integrated works - so turned to the still life as a means of being productive...

at the present, am it seems at a crossroad, and it is coming at a time not in my spring of life, which makes for an urgency and, at times, something much worse... an artist is and has to be, by the nature of what is done, a loner... but this does not mean having to be alone - they are not the same thing.... and when they are together, it can create an insufferableness, and a sense of not being at peace and integrated with the world around - a sense of seeming to be 'out of context'... no, for me at least, it fortunately does not last, or last forever, but it does leave an effect - a greater than wished interlude between creating.... so it remains to be seen what will come from this one..........

Act of Creation.......

One thing which seems to be a uniqueness with me is that my composing of a theme/title rendering is mostly mental - that is, very rarely do I bother doing doodle sketches in working out the ideas... indeed, my journal of ideas is all writing - sometimes detailed notes on how the image is visualized in my mind, including the vagueness of the outside areas if such be the case, as means of forcing myself to concise the intent of what it is am wanting to show... for the most part, this has always been my way, even as it is something I not know anyone else doing, and yet it has worked for me, as whatever image was in my mind when first wrote down the notes, that remained what was worked on in the refining process... perhaps it is a consequence of being, as most artists of course are, so visually oriented, yet at the same time a consequence of being aided in this refining by at times turning to poetry as a means of concising my intents - something which am sure very few others ever thought of doing, let alone going for ... why this?

When, many years ago, first got into thinking of what I wanted to do as an artist, how it had to be purposeful and not the usual willy-nillyness of impromptu and impulsiveness so many others were doing, I lived with a person who was a poet - not an ordinary kind that sprouted gibberish and wang-tang nonsense, but a craftsman kind, who took words and ideas seriously, and where every word and image led inexorably to the proper and could not have been otherwise conclusion - who indeed worked from the theme, the abstract idea, to the verbally visual concrete words... it was he who told me that as a means of better understanding what it was I wanted to show, to write poems about it, or at least to think in terms of verbal as means of 'seeing' that visual more sharply, more integratedly... and it has worked, and has been my means ever since...

[oh yes, this is not to say there are no sketches to be found regarding my compositions, but that they are much more in the finalizing stage, that of putting down in concrete the mental image being molded in my mind - and from there finalizing further, if need be, in order to have the theme/title match the visual AND the intent, as integratedly as possible........ even if, from time to time, it not always fully succeed even then]

Theme/Titles..........

In the between times of rendering, and oft during those times as well, coming up with new possibilities have a habit of 'dropping' in on me, as much [sorry to say for some] as apples off a tree........ a couple came to mind this morning as was on my daily walk - "Heirloom" and "Reflections"... in Heirloom, it is a still life, sort of in the fashion of Second Life, where objects are on a shelf in front of an open window, with parted curtain seen behind on the right... in this case, it is a polished large bowl and ladle... the curved base of the ladle reflects a group of oldtimers [original idea was like those in old folks homes sitting in rockers on a porch, but now thinking of an old photo of pioneer folk], a reflection of an offstage photo, as the ladle is turned such to make this possible... the bowl itself reflects a child in a highchair, in this case offstage to the left or perhaps behind the viewer... in the distance is a spired building rising above clouds, implying of course the view is also from such a building... this is the beginning, the initial impression as formed while walking - in time, when can get to working on it, will be interesting seeing how the final version stacks with this, how much changing will be needed...

The other theme/title, Reflections, stems from the same initial impression, but takes a different course... here, the shelf is a short one, and on a wall to the right, ending about a third across, and only a large spoon is seen, again polished to show a reflection, this time of a lad sitting, knees pressed to chest, in thought... to the left is seen access to another room, with a window, from which is seen another figure, a lass, also sitting in contemplative thought... in between these rooms is an open doorway, from which is seen a distant bluff, on which is silhouetted a standing figure looking skywards.... somewhat trite, but for the moment gives at least an idea on which to do further 'reflecting'... this one, of course, is a large work, probably 30"x40" or so... sometimes, over the course of these concising of ideas, the end result might come out widely different, but usually the initial impressions are such that the basic ideas are 'seen' strongly enough to remain - this one, indeed, might turn out to have just the spoon and its reflection remaining, the rest folded away for a different theme/titling, thus a much smaller and simpler work - will see........

These will be just thoughts on which to ponder as I proceed to the next rendering, the "Looking West", which is now slated to be 15"x40"....

Part of the reason for mentioning this is the need to better introspect in order to better understand the process of creativity - and no, knowing the process does NOT remove the creativity, for that is a myth, and a most devastating one at that, for ignorance is NOT bliss, even in an attempt to evade knowing something [for to know is to be able to deal with reality, and to not know is to decrease your viability, fatal to a creative person]... in the course of my exploring my creativity, perhaps useful insights can come to the fore - or so it is hoped... it is not by accident a someone, even intuitively, chooses one over the other in composition, or arranges something thus and so instead of another way - and the ability to grasp the how and why makes for better art........

"Engagement" 14

And I have made an end of it.........

"Engagement" 13

And the first layering of the back ground, red earth, is now finished, and the antelope brown next to go... yes, originally had thought of red earth as a nice back ground, but mentally seeing it as a wee garish, so hence the layering of antelope brown over it, to give a warm dark brown as the background color......

"Engagement" 12

In doing the background, am layering in two layers - and so as to show how it ought to end up, am showing both, in progress, so to see why the first one [red earth] is there, and layered over with antelope brown...

And got the layering of antelope brown over the drawer, thus getting the dresser, for now at least, done... next is the back ground - then will see what has yet to be adjusted...

"Engagement" 11

And added antelope brown to the rest of the dresser, minus the drawer...

"Engagement" 10

Went and got the nibs anyway, even tho risking cutting it fine on the acct - so am back at it layering colors... this time is antelope brown, then raw sienna, then another one of antelope brown...