Critiques...

Rock Stah   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .75

are part of the artist scenario.  Works are evaluated and commented upon by others with a like-minded and honed visual aesthetic.  Seeing is subjective.  And because it is so, we will never quite know if anyone else at all will see a work in exactly the same way in which the artist does.  And so, we put our creations up for other eyes to see and experience.  I always come home with some new ideas.....sometimes I utilize the suggestions.  Sometimes not.

First off, I really need to believe in the qualified "eye" of the beholder.  I need to feel that her critique is viable and honest.  Secondly, human nature being what it is, I need to feel that the critical offering is coming from a good honest place.  I need to trust the offering.  I need to trust the offerer.

I took "Rock Stah" to the last critique.  My work thrives on spontaneity and so I accept smaller indiscretions in order for stroke-making to remain supreme.  It is therefore very difficult to approach the work in a like manner at another session, which is true for many works created with larger brushes in a shorter timer period.  Among other suggestions that are not do-able, our able leader felt that the face needed more description.  Her work is extremely solid, extremely realistic.  I deliberately left the face under-described in my attempt to leave out the unnecessary.  She felt that as is, the face inhibited her enjoyment of the work.  I considered her opinion this past week and went into the face again for a bit more description.  I also took the advice of another respected artist and put some highlights on the guitar-playing fingers.  And, while I was at it, I decided that the flesh-like-pastel-orange background color just wouldn't do.  Most of the surface area was glazed with a transparent yellow, creating some wonderful greens on top of the blues, and making for a more electric feeling overall.

Critiques need to be considered in my opinion...follow up those suggestions that seem correct to you and let the others fall to the wayside.  No one else fully understands your intent.

Rock Stahs...

Rock Stah   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .75

can be found in every endeavor.  (this fun pronunciation of star was stimulated by a recent trip to Boston....and every since then, my brain has been having fun by translating all kinds of words into "Bostonese")  These are the folks that shake things up, that rise to top, that refuse to settle into a comfort zone.  Yeah yeah yeah.  In our culture, rock stars rock....we know them and sometimes they are more recognizable to us than our lawmakers.  And we know the words to their songs.  I love discovering new musicians.  And I really love discovering new painters that feel like rock stahs to me.  Check out Nicholas Simmons.  He is a bold and fearless painter.  He savors all of the processes in the work of the painting.  The accidents become part of the work itself.  He reminds me to take the undiscovered road by actively painting standing up even in the difficult medium of watercolor.

Dylan-esque

Rock Stah   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .75

I absolutely love getting twinges of interest from information that flies freely in my direction. Inspiration abounds from the least likely places. Music, lyrics and rhythms are my favorites. My son Nate plays guitar and is a Bob Dylan affectionado.....he reads Dylan's words and studies his music. This past weekend he shared with me an interesting Dylan-fact. It seems that Bob Dylan strives to play each of his songs differently each time.........Whoa............that is profound for me. That makes each song, each work, original each time. He avoids the lull of sameness. Lately, Dylan has been into changing the rhythms of 4/4 songs into triplets. That certainly is a way of spinning off into a fresher "newness"! Thank you Nate! Thank you Bob Dylan!