Monday, April 27, 2009

The arrival of warm weather and the continuation of painting weird stuff...


The warm weather has arrived, just in time!

I must sheepishly admit that it's been a while since my last post, which was probably at some point in January or February. I will be better about this.

I had pretty much gotten into the swing of painting so much in a short amount of time that the idea of throwing stuff up on this blog seemed, unduly, to be something that could altogether throw me off track.

I got carried away!

Sorry!



I feel like I've been taking bolder steps with my work ever since bringing my site together, in the sense that I think that I'm really pushing the bounds for my own sensibilities and likable aesthetics. I'm pretty much allowing fully this process of healthy doubt, where I overuse symbols, try out really punchy and, potentially, annoying color choices, and genuinely try to tie in some kind of personal, social commentary or cliche.

It's a complicated and oft enlightening process. At least, I'd like to think that it is!

Why it is that I feel like this bold process is due, mainly, to my site's completion is something I have yet to really solidify as an opinion, but I think it's just the overall chaos that comes from me trying to place my artwork, specifically with my website, in terms of what I want to accomplish with it.


Inherently, this kind of personal doubt for or double-take of my work has allowed me a kind of frantic freedom, almost, where I'm allowing myself in my own confusion to go crazy with color and form, not to mention the conceptual freedom. The span of time from when I first started on this path of this kind of weird, bastardized, objective-yet-not kind of painting has allowed me to take the concepts to completely interesting or completely boring levels, and I feel like this is altogether rewarding.




I'm beginning to use a more superficial stroke, lately, in the sense that I take these maybe obnoxious globs of paint and fill out areas and shapes almost forcibly, and I don't necessarily attribute that to an unknowing kind of glib tendency as much as I feel like it's the byproduct of working to figure out where my work is going, if that isn't too confusing or obvious!

I feel like my work, in general, is becoming more obvious and maybe more obnoxious than it used to be. I don't mean that as a complete negative, but I'm looking to add more control to my work. There was a time, recently, when I was just pretty much letting the work go where it wanted to, and, in a sense, the work started lending to itself a lot more and became less effected by external, new concepts and ideas.

I consider myself to be in the awkward throes of trying to add some kind of control to the approach, even if it is entirely limited. I hope that isn't too vague.

All of this is pretty much an explanation for how I'm looking to find "a place" for my work, whatever that means. I'm pretty much trying to glean some kind of rationality or reason from an otherwise unreasonable or irrational process.



In any event, I'm looking forward to this summer (who isn't??), but I have a few things that I need to decide on before I can become really excited for it - that's intentionally vague, for the sake of my decision making process!

I always feel like I produce the best stuff when it's warmer out. At least, I've come to enjoy thinking of my work in terms of seasons, especially warm seasons. So, this summer will be no different! Plus, like I said, I says: who doesn't get excited for warm weather?

1 comment:

Justin Mantell said...

i am absolutely in love with "in it to win it"