The Vineyards of South Australia
2011 · 07 · 13
So yesterday, I started a new painting, actually I started it on Saturday. It was a departure from my normal wood grain pieces in that I did not produce a cartoon of the composition at the beginning of the piece. Instead, I just started applying paint to the wood. This process was difficult as the board was weathered and stained so I had difficulty finding the regular grain of the wood in order to follow along the path of nature. So, my process was doubly interrupted. This made space for my mind to step in and create more fluid composition.
One of the thoughts during my original session of painting was to allow my shamanistic senses to be a large part of the process. This is something which I have been developing recently in my practice. Basically the manner in which I am allowing this to occur involves finding something outside of myself to occupy my ego or consciousness. Music is usually a good distraction as it envelopes the thoughts of my momentary and local memory. I have also used documentaries which are based upon lectures, and thus not requiring visual attention to be paid to them, to occupy the forward problem solving areas of my brain while I let the brush, paint and my subconscious dive into the process of creation.This particular piece required three sessions to complete.
The first and perhaps the hardest battle started with paints that had been left on my palette from another series. I selected a color based upon some internal criteria that resembled randomization to my Self and begin to mine out the veins of the board. Music selected by the algorithm which controlled my iTunes DJ was the distracting agent. When I stepped back from the easel at the end of that session, I discovered that there was a strong foundation for a landscape based upon the lines I had dug up. This actually pissed me off as I have been hoping for a theme that has resonance with my life and the greater connection of humanity and my problem solving circuits had arrived at an answer that was exclusive of landscapes.
The second session was executed a whole day later. This break in the process allowed my bruised ego some time to heal itself and to work it's way into not only agreeing with the suggested idea but to begin to think that it was what had discovered it in the first place. So, to cut from underneath this prideful attitude I had to select a distractor that placed more demands upon my ego and local memory and allow my subconscious more space to work. This distractor was a documentary title "Quantum Activist". There were some very interesting ideas which were presented within the lectures and interviews which consumed this movie, many of which provided complete validation for my techniques at shackling the conscious and allow the subtle or nuanced body to produce the results. This stage yielded a great deal of framework that built upon the composition. It was also during the tail end of the second session that I read a review of the Vienna Biannual that was very uplifting for me, as it was quite critical of a trend within the artwork to be very safe and academic, artists quoting, deconstructing artist which their instructors at school liked; the tendency for artists to be overly concerned with accreditation and a mainstream that was running very tepid and rather beige in it's risk taking. This review immediately converted my ego's opinion that the piece before me was ugly and pointless, into the belief that I aaas taking some risks and being truly creative.
During the third session, I was working completely in silence. Tis was because I was unable to fall asleep during the night. My mind and spirit were both too rattled and keyed up to allow my body to rest. There was only one thing that could be done, paint. In this particular state, achieving the trancelike state was simple enough as all I had to do was establish a rhythm between breathe and brush. When I found my energies exhausted and the inner signal that it was complete, I stepped back and immediately recognized it as a memory from a trip through South Australia. The rolling hills of the vineyards, the watery coast, the broad vistas and the powerful storm clouds which framed the brilliant antipodean sunlight was immediate in my mind. The colors were straight from my recollection of this cheery trip and I knew that what I had been working on was a deep memory of joy and satisfaction.
At this point, I was relieved and excited. It was a great step to get through this new process of working on the wood grain and to see the leap which had been taken across the span of a single year. My comparison of this fluid, layered and complex work from memory to the precision and stillness of last year's work showed great progress in achieving more painterly effects. I am also quite enthralled by this process of discovering my subject rather than superimposing it upon the composition; working from my deep memories, which are most likely guarded away from the present by my ego, reveals a greater breadth of expression. It is true that I find this process to be more painful and even difficult at times but I trust that it will expand into a more formidable practice as I continue to show up in front of my easel.
One unforeseen consequence of this piece is that I have achieved an internal peace that allows me to place a real valuation upon the results. I can truly produce a number for monetary exchange that gives me great satisfaction to state. I believe my art is now worth asking $1500 for each piece. Let my ego chew on that for a little while!
One of the thoughts during my original session of painting was to allow my shamanistic senses to be a large part of the process. This is something which I have been developing recently in my practice. Basically the manner in which I am allowing this to occur involves finding something outside of myself to occupy my ego or consciousness. Music is usually a good distraction as it envelopes the thoughts of my momentary and local memory. I have also used documentaries which are based upon lectures, and thus not requiring visual attention to be paid to them, to occupy the forward problem solving areas of my brain while I let the brush, paint and my subconscious dive into the process of creation.This particular piece required three sessions to complete.
The first and perhaps the hardest battle started with paints that had been left on my palette from another series. I selected a color based upon some internal criteria that resembled randomization to my Self and begin to mine out the veins of the board. Music selected by the algorithm which controlled my iTunes DJ was the distracting agent. When I stepped back from the easel at the end of that session, I discovered that there was a strong foundation for a landscape based upon the lines I had dug up. This actually pissed me off as I have been hoping for a theme that has resonance with my life and the greater connection of humanity and my problem solving circuits had arrived at an answer that was exclusive of landscapes.
The second session was executed a whole day later. This break in the process allowed my bruised ego some time to heal itself and to work it's way into not only agreeing with the suggested idea but to begin to think that it was what had discovered it in the first place. So, to cut from underneath this prideful attitude I had to select a distractor that placed more demands upon my ego and local memory and allow my subconscious more space to work. This distractor was a documentary title "Quantum Activist". There were some very interesting ideas which were presented within the lectures and interviews which consumed this movie, many of which provided complete validation for my techniques at shackling the conscious and allow the subtle or nuanced body to produce the results. This stage yielded a great deal of framework that built upon the composition. It was also during the tail end of the second session that I read a review of the Vienna Biannual that was very uplifting for me, as it was quite critical of a trend within the artwork to be very safe and academic, artists quoting, deconstructing artist which their instructors at school liked; the tendency for artists to be overly concerned with accreditation and a mainstream that was running very tepid and rather beige in it's risk taking. This review immediately converted my ego's opinion that the piece before me was ugly and pointless, into the belief that I aaas taking some risks and being truly creative.
During the third session, I was working completely in silence. Tis was because I was unable to fall asleep during the night. My mind and spirit were both too rattled and keyed up to allow my body to rest. There was only one thing that could be done, paint. In this particular state, achieving the trancelike state was simple enough as all I had to do was establish a rhythm between breathe and brush. When I found my energies exhausted and the inner signal that it was complete, I stepped back and immediately recognized it as a memory from a trip through South Australia. The rolling hills of the vineyards, the watery coast, the broad vistas and the powerful storm clouds which framed the brilliant antipodean sunlight was immediate in my mind. The colors were straight from my recollection of this cheery trip and I knew that what I had been working on was a deep memory of joy and satisfaction.
At this point, I was relieved and excited. It was a great step to get through this new process of working on the wood grain and to see the leap which had been taken across the span of a single year. My comparison of this fluid, layered and complex work from memory to the precision and stillness of last year's work showed great progress in achieving more painterly effects. I am also quite enthralled by this process of discovering my subject rather than superimposing it upon the composition; working from my deep memories, which are most likely guarded away from the present by my ego, reveals a greater breadth of expression. It is true that I find this process to be more painful and even difficult at times but I trust that it will expand into a more formidable practice as I continue to show up in front of my easel.
One unforeseen consequence of this piece is that I have achieved an internal peace that allows me to place a real valuation upon the results. I can truly produce a number for monetary exchange that gives me great satisfaction to state. I believe my art is now worth asking $1500 for each piece. Let my ego chew on that for a little while!