Tuesday, March 16, 2010



"Water and the Flame" 2010
Acrylics on wood


This is a picture of my latest piece. From here on out, I am goign to ATTEMPT to finish several pieces and NOT post them online until they are showcased. hm.. Yea right. Let's see how that is going to happen.

I don't really mind sharing a viewer a look into my process. it's not uncommon for me to post something that I have been sketching. or show how i am trying to work out a style on a piece. i think posting the flix in progress actually helps me see it's progress as well. after all, you don't have the luxury of command+z when you are working with paints and charcoal.




the beauty of working with your mistakes though, is seeing that they are not mistakes. that was one of the hardest thing i had to accomodate about the process. as a designer, you can always go back in your History tab to the place back to a place where you can fix things. ha!

fuck man, i wish i had a command+z button or a history tab for life! but that is a different story!

One thing many of my mentors always harp on is NOTHING is a mistake. or at least you have the choice to view it as such. that at any given situation whether i dripped paint accidently or chipped the wood, to MAKE it fit into the piece, to work it in. to work from it, or to counter it. it's what makes live-painting such a dope exercise because you are given 3 hours to do something and just rock it, mistakes and all. you don't have the luxury of having that piece sit on the easel for months and you work on it when you have time. it's much like grabbing the piece and rocking it with intention but being fluid enough for those moments when things don't go your way.

"Water and the Flame" was supposed to be for a show about the 8th sin. I chose the sin of Martyrdom, which is not about any of the great martyrs in history like Jesus, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King. It's talking about that level of pride, where you make sure to know to the people around you that you are suffering for the sacrafices around you in the hopes that someone glorifies you. A lot of women do this. hahah!

and let me say to you, it is not sexy.

but, i can't deny that this piece, was cathartic to me as well. because as i was painting it, a whole slew of emotions welled up and i had to release it in the motion of the paint brush. much of it is residual hurt and though an artist's life is this constant flow of confessions, i am going to exercise my right to privacy.

and just let you all know that i am in a good place now.

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