The Extraordinary Tourist
Not writing, painting.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Regular readers may have noticed that I haven't been posting to this blog daily of late. My plan to post daily kind of got interrupted with my Perth Road Trip in that my flow of being able to post at all was impeded.
Since then I've been inspired to paint a lot more now that I've taken the leap from mixed media (acrylics and chalk pastels) to straight acrylic paintings. I'm finding that the work I'm producing is, in my opinion, of a higher standard than some of my last few mixed media works.
As far as continuing to write for this blog I wanted to assure you that I haven't abandoned or forgotten about it. Being a creative type in so many different areas there is always one area that currently gets the most attention. Right now, for me, it is painting.
I will continue to post to this blog (just a little less frequently) and probably will get back to the daily routine when my enthusiasm for painting needs a rest. Creativity and inspiration tends to go in cycles. My writing cycle will no doubt come around soon.Labels: creativity, inspiration, painting, writing
Carefree feline fun: Art by TET.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Roof Top Cats, Series of 3 artworks.
Acrylic and Chalk Pastel on Canvas Frames, July 2007.
This is my latest series of artworks depicting six of my feline friends having a great time on a roof top in the evening light. Thought I'd just show them off here and let you know that each image is available to buy as a gift card from my Red Bubble Portfolio.Labels: art, cat, painting
Painting "Socks" the Cat
Sunday, May 20, 2007
 Behind every painting there is a story however, with my latest artwork "Socks" (the cat) there really is only something of a rant. In creating "Socks" I wanted to demonstrate that any half decent artist can stand in front of a blank canvas and paint 'something'.
In painting 'something' I mean painting an image with no pre-planning, deep thought or preliminary sketching what-so-ever. In simple terms, the artist just starts painting and sees what emerges from the marks made as the painting develops. So many artists seem to be creating work like this now.
I suspect this has come about with the pressure on professional artists to earn a living from what they do. Working in this format allows for a high turn out of art thus creating a larger inventory for sales. However in doing so, I feel that the artist compromises their talent by producing largely, forgettable art.
The most thinking I did for "Socks" was that I planned to paint something based on my existing style of cat characters. After that it was paint until I could see a finished cat. I didn't even plan that this cat would be sitting, looking like he's pulling up his socks. That's just what emerged, two hours later, from the brush strokes I began with.
"Socks" will never be remembered as a 'great' work of art (if, indeed, he is remembered at all).
Non artists may look at "Socks" and think that it is a pretty good painting. As an artist I look at this kind of work and think... "yeah, it's okay but it's not really the best I can do."
There's not much skill and very little craft involved. I'd like to know when these two elements of creating an artwork became so less important in comparison to the spontaneous emotion, experimental exploration and fleeting impressions that seems to dominate contemporary creative process.
I'd like to aspire to something greater. I'd like to view art that encourages me to do so. I want to be inspired by new ideas rather than past masters. Do artists really need to churn out art like a machine or would you pay a little more for art that is obviously more thought out and crafted?Labels: art, artist, cat, ideas, modern, opinion, painting
What happened to the Video Art?
Thursday, April 26, 2007
 When you visit an exhibition touted as 'the only one of its kind' one expects the main attraction to make an appearance. Unfortunately this wasn't the case when I visited an exhibition by Arts North, based in the City of Playford, Adelaide, South Australia.
I read about this exhibition in two different local newspapers. Both articles talked up the exhibition, particularly the centre piece, a collection of short films created by children as well as 'video art'.
Quotes from one article implied a significantly more substantial display. For example Arts North President, Marissa Dunn, said of the exhibition, "I'm very happy, especially with showing the diversity of the artwork that comes from our society." Further to that the article goes on to say "a wide cross-section of people have been involved in the exhibition - children as young as five up to 85 year olds have all shared their creativity."
Not with standing that no actual figures, in terms of the number of artists exhibiting, were mentioned I was disappointed to find that the display filled only one wall and a small glass cabinet at the venue. All up I'd estimate twenty five to thirty artworks (not much more than can be seen in the photo displayed with this post). To make matters worse, many of the catalog numbers had either fallen off or been removed. There was no way of matching the artists to some of the works (save for trying to match signatures to names).
The biggest disappointment was the Video Art and Children's Short films. The screen (which can be seen in the photo) was still in place but there was no sign of a projector. Only the recess where it once stood, along with an empty power board gave clues as to its expected location. No explanation was given as to why it wasn't present nor who to ask to discover its where abouts. Given that I was specifically visiting this exhibition for the video component, its complete absence reflected badly on my enjoyment and appreciation of the art that remained.
One could perhaps surmise the exhibition was in the process of being taken down? The newspaper articles I read said the display would be on until the end of April. Though, it only being the 26th of April, the 'end of April' was still a few days away.
I tried my best to appreciate the art that remained but, to be honest, the majority of artworks reflected your typical cross section of local community art. Nothing you can't see in any 'art society' exhibition anywhere in Australia. That's not to say there weren't one or two stand outs but overall, not nearly as inspiring as it might have been with the video component operational.
Overall a disappointing experience that would make me think twice about viewing an Arts North exhibition in the future.Labels: art, community, exhibition, film, painting, video
The Murky depths of my Woolly Head?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
I'm not the kind of artist that can just churn out artwork after artwork. I'm not inspired to paint the landscape, still life or portraits. You know, the kind of things that you can just go out and find. External inspiration I guess you could call it. See it. Like it. Paint it. That's not what I'm about.
I do take inspiration from external sources. No doubt about that. The things I see, experience and participate in all influence my art. My brain soaks it all in like a sponge and then starts to make connections. Ideas begin to form. Concepts start to evolve. Possibilities for artworks begin to emerge.
Where once there was a blank page, visuals start to form. Visuals based on my thinking, not my external environment. Teasing out ideas onto the page from the inner recesses of my mind. The murky depths of my woolly head. (perhaps 'woolly head' is taking the adjectives too far?).
My point, if I have one, is that I'm not a constant stream of ideas. Often the water runs dry. Often I just get tired of trying to force yet another artwork from the barest of threads.
I think, sometimes it is good to take a break. Try a different creative pursuit, like writing. If only for a while.
I'm starting to feel more enthusiastic about painting again. Even though I don't yet have any ideas. However I've wanted to paint some larger works for a while and I've finally discovered how to do that without having to use a large canvas. This has helped to light the fire. To want to create art again.
I'm looking forward to painting. To creating some new art.Labels: art, ideas, inspiration, motivation, painting
Blank Canvas III: Art Genius - Art humor.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Being a professional artist isn't as easy as you might think. It's a constant struggle to find new ideas and inspiration. One can easily spend hours thinking over new concepts, allowing them to process and develop into new artworks.
Conceptual artists, especially those who prefer to express their ideas in the minimalist style, must surely struggle the most - as this video demonstrates.Labels: art, canvas, comedy, humor, ideas, minimalism, painting
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