Monday, January 19, 2009

2009



A new year, a new attempt to begin again. Where do we go from here……?

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Was The Old Way So Bad?


Every once in a while I get out my study books and reset my thought processes. You would think it is automatic by now, but I find it very easy to get distracted by day to day issues. This time I am seeking creativity…. again.
Creative thinking is elusive at times. I think of it like a door to the infinity possibilities of rearranging the norm and still making sense.
The most creative artists are said to ‘think outside the box’ to rebel against the norm. This is a blessing and a curse. Once a piece has been done successfully and it is innovative and different, the artist is faced with the problem of doing it again. Of finding yet another different innovative approach. Ah the agony, but the payoff, now that is always worth it.
What is so odd is the end result never looks as difficult as it once seemed. When a piece is ‘right’ the incubation period becomes a memory.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Blue Dog and Me




I exhibit at a lot of art Festivals. Invariably someone will come up to my booth and compare my work to George Rodrigue. You know, the ‘Blue Dog” painter. I am usually caught off guard, because my reasons for painting my walking dogs, is vastly different from Rodrigue.
George Rodrigue (born 1944) began painting Cajun subjects around 1960. It was in 1984 when he painted illustrations for a book on Cajun ghost stories. Some years later realizing the ‘blue dog’ could transcend the original storybook he utilized his strong pop and abstract training in combination with the dog image and has never looked back.

Alas… the only similarity to my work and his however is the subject matter and maybe the mystery of the painted surface. When I started this series I was looking for something. In viewing the collection sometimes I feel like I am still looking, that each painting gives me the promise that I will find what I am looking for. My work is not about the dogs, but about the walk. Many of the pieces are derived from day dreaming.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

It's not just about the dogs.


September 2007

I got to the park early this morning, so I had it all to myself. The Canada Geese flew off just as I arrived, I could have kicked my self for not bringing my camera. The water in the lakes just keeps getting lower and lower, the drout is taking it's toll. The boys don't seem to mind. They still pee on every bush they can find.