Back To Square One, Rocks

One of the advantages of retiring from the art show circuit is the freedom from painting in a style expected of me, which has been mostly acrylic abstracts and mix media art. Recently, after watching all the painters on YouTube, my interest in oil painting returned, especially still life painting. Since it had been so long since I worked with oils, I decided to start with something simple, like rocks. I was surprised how much I had forgotten about painting with oils and that rocks are not as simple to paint as they look! I made it doubly hard by painting on the absorbent raw side of the canvas. I chose this side because the color and surface texture intrigued me. My next challenge was to make my rocks, (that were beginning to look like a potato on a hunk of cheese), look like the rocks in front of me. After painting and picking for most of the day I decided to stop, add a touch of the unexpected, the tag, and sign it!

Old Movie, New Inspiration

Unhappy with all the political hogwash, TV reruns and garbage, I decided to watch an old 2000 movie, “Finding Forrester”, on my computer at HULU.com . What a great decision it was! If you have not seen it, I highly recommend that you do. The movie, written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant, was a visual treat. Sean Connery and Rob Brown’s acting was exceptional and the story inspiring. It made me, as a senior citizen and artist, think about the remaining years of my creative life. There is a preview on YouTube. Check it out!

The Art Critic

I recently attended a National Art Show. I was looking forward to seeing this show as the judge was a museum curator who oversees the museum’s contemporary art program. You can imagine how disappointed I was to see only a few pieces that were interesting and exciting. The majority of the work was very conservative and traditional in technique. I questioned why the judge played it so safe. Did this show really represent her taste and professional judgment? Was she trying to please the more conservative members of the association that was sponsoring the show and advised about the kind of work she should pick? Is it possible, though questionable, out of over 600 entries she really did not have much choice? There were, to her credit, one or two controversial pieces, but overall it was a ho hum show and I left uninspired, confused and disappointed. It made me aware that we should never allow any judges’ opinion of our work affect us. You never know where it’s coming from. The circumstances dictate more than we know.