Art Fanatics Thread of Visual Dominance

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:02 AM, HamsterHookah said:

@RDCanecutter would you ever break away from your production to humor us and answer questions-- or maybe just give a short lecture-- on what it is to be an artist. A professional artist even?

I'm specifically curious about your theory, your motivation, your muse/voice, and what you are aiming to say. If it's simply "just make money" that's cool too.

I won't get around to writing a long post, so I'll break these down one by one.

Theory: not sure I have one. When I go out back with my dog, and she spots a rabbit, that moment when she kicks in to chase it is how I feel when I start a new project and get caught up in it. Time stops. Rabbit-chasing is inside the dog and art-making is inside the artist.

[Irwin F Fletcher 3,550]

I won't get around to writing a long post, so I'll break these down one by one.
Theory: not sure I have one. When I go out back with my dog, and she spots a rabbit, that moment when she kicks in to chase it is how I feel when I start a new project and get caught up in it. Time stops. Rabbit-chasing is inside the dog and art-making is inside the artist.

@RDCanecutter I don't think you could explain it better. I dabble with "art/creating pieces" but that adrenaline rush at the start of a new design/project is fantastic.

[HamsterHookah 112]

15 hours ago, Irwin F Fletcher said:

@RDCanecutter I don't think you could explain it better. I dabble with "art/creating pieces" but that adrenaline rush at the start of a new design/project is fantastic. @Irwin F Fletcher

To question of whether an artist born or is made, it seems by the poetic answer provided by RDCane that it is innate and preternatural in a small population of humans who were created to be artists by our God Creator?

And to the point of that adrenaline rush and finding an inspiration to get started, I'm reminded of the quote:

“Someone once asked if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. ‘I write only when inspiration strikes,’ he replied. ‘Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.'”

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

With me and probably most artists, there are different stages in the work. Some require a spark of creativity, others are an almost comfortable series of repetitive tasks. I go from one type to the other almost like battery recharge time.

Sitting down to work for a set block of time can oddly push someone into the creative zone. eg if you draw a small number of pictures, you tend to rehash your usual work. If you set some crazy quota, you do the usual stuff at first, then start pushing more and more into new territory.

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Motivation: being able to get a job (commission) without sending a resume full of currently-popular key words. Being able to pay bills without filing TPS reports or Student Learning Outcomes. The money is occasionally low (grossed a dollar one week, not net, gross,) but when approached with an insane dedication to output, and places to put it in front of people, can be done. It helps to have simple tastes and a stubborn skull.

Plus, I've wanted to do it since I could hold a crayon. Did other things instead, time now to really jump on it.

[HamsterHookah 112]

8 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Motivation: being able to get a job (commission) without sending a resume full of currently-popular key words. Being able to pay bills without filing TPS reports or Student Learning Outcomes. The money is occasionally low (grossed a dollar one week, not net, gross,) but when approached with an insane dedication to output, and places to put it in front of people, can be done. It helps to have simple tastes and a stubborn skull.

Plus, I've wanted to do it since I could hold a crayon. Did other things instead, time now to really jump on it.

Awesome. Is living as a professional artist s calling fulfilled then you would say? Stripping away all the romance and “starving artist” poetic aesthetics, I can imagine times when the growling of your stomach is telling you it would be more comfortable filing TPS reports for a predictable pay check…

[Planet Houston 4,930]

I'm lined up to buy a great piece by Paul Kremer.  I can't get enough of his work and excited to finally own a piece.

Paul Kremer | Artist at Alexander Berggruen

 

 

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

22 hours ago, HamsterHookah said:

Awesome. Is living as a professional artist s calling fulfilled then you would say? Stripping away all the romance and “starving artist” poetic aesthetics, I can imagine times when the growling of your stomach is telling you it would be more comfortable filing TPS reports for a predictable pay check…

The Starving Artist thing doesn't really exist in my experience. If somebody's finances are totally wrecked, there are probably other reasons that is happening. Back in the early 80s I met an art student, the obnoxious successful kind who always had paid gigs. What was her secret? Just going out and finding the work.

Of course, picking up gigs doing illustration or graphic design for local businesses is still one foot inside "Real Job" territory. Sucks less I guess.

To do more original work ie work that nobody already agreed to pay for, it's a numbers game. If one in a thousand sets of eyeballs like your work enough to buy, then you need 10,000 and you might sell ten. Multiple venues, in-person, on-line, lots of inventory at different price points, it tends to overlap so you don't hit a brutal slow spot. And then there's old-fashioned saving money during flush times.

It's more fun if you act like you're playing a live-action farm game.

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:02 AM, HamsterHookah said:

@RDCanecutter would you ever break away from your production to humor us and answer questions-- or maybe just give a short lecture-- on what it is to be an artist. A professional artist even?

I'm specifically curious about your theory, your motivation, your muse/voice, and what you are aiming to say.

To finish up the questions:

Muse: 99% my wife, who gets the whole Ape world since before a drawing existed. She is like Marissa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny telling Slingblade (me) to draw more. She comes up with plenty of good ideas that I steal.

What am I aiming to say: The pictures should say it, but some general principles are to spit in the Devil's eye, fear nothing, and maybe enjoy a cartoon cigar, which, unlike real ones, cause no harm. Maybe watch some Rat Pack era movies too.

I am trying to make money but that's not all of it since I could make as much greeting people at Walmart. Also, anybody nice who's broke will still get some free art at my booth. I am a saint, a veritable saint.

[DougO 5,243]

It would be awesome to have support like that.

Your art stuff is about like my sports photography freelancing thing. I've been doing it for ages, but changes in things have made it less worth it financially every year. A Wal Mart greeter's pay would actually be a major step up for me at this point. But I do it because it's what I'm on the planet to do, or something. I don't feel worth a shit if I can't do it. I feel I need art back in my life the same way, just to make me feel more whole again. It hasn't been there, but it's like the itch of a fantom limb that was amputated long ago. My soul misses it, even if nobody else cares about it. Photography is just easier, I guess. But it makes me more dependent on the whims of others. Nobody stops me from making art but me. And I kinda suck about that over the past decade or three. It would be nice to have someone close to share it with and have that kind of support and understanding.

Edited December 19, 2022 by DougO

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

29 minutes ago, DougO said:

It would be awesome to have support like that.

Your art stuff is about like my sports photography freelancing thing. I've been doing it for ages, but changes in things have made it less worth it financially every year. A Wal Mart greeter's pay would actually be a major step up for me at this point. But I do it because it's what I'm on the planet to do, or something. I don't feel worth a shit if I can't do it. I feel I need art back in my life the same way, just to make me feel more whole again. It hasn't been there, but it's like the itch of a fantom limb that was amputated long ago. My soul misses it, even if nobody else cares about it. Photography is just easier, I guess. But it makes me more dependent on the whims of others. Nobody stops me from making art but me. And I kinda suck about that over the past decade or three. It would be nice to have someone close to share it with and have that kind of support and understanding.

Man! Maybe offer paintings of their kid's finest sports moments to parents who already fork out cash for travel ball?--[Me turning into the people who drive me crazy telling artists what they need to do.]

I get that phantom itch thing. In school I self-discouraged myself from anything that wasn't graphic design, because art-art was for trust-funders (in my imagination.) Made a brief stab at freelance art in my 20s and got beat down HARD, but looking back I just needed better management skills and maybe a side gig until I got airborne.

[HamsterHookah 112]

Thank you @RDCanecutter. You are living your best life as far as I can tell.

[Mdhorn 5,945]

On 12/19/2022 at 11:51 AM, DougO said:

It would be awesome to have support like that.

Your art stuff is about like my sports photography freelancing thing. I've been doing it for ages, but changes in things have made it less worth it financially every year. A Wal Mart greeter's pay would actually be a major step up for me at this point. But I do it because it's what I'm on the planet to do, or something. I don't feel worth a shit if I can't do it. I feel I need art back in my life the same way, just to make me feel more whole again. It hasn't been there, but it's like the itch of a fantom limb that was amputated long ago. My soul misses it, even if nobody else cares about it. Photography is just easier, I guess. But it makes me more dependent on the whims of others. Nobody stops me from making art but me. And I kinda suck about that over the past decade or three. It would be nice to have someone close to share it with and have that kind of support and understanding.

Prob silly but others chose sports cars and I chose to rent a studio. I haven’t regretted it. Has a roof deck where I can drink a beer and watch people throw hatchets in the building next door. Absolutely love it. I can be there and paint late and listen to tunes. It’s beyond great—keeps me sane. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Mdhorn

[DougO 5,243]

2 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

Prob silly but others chose sports cars and I chose to rent a studio. I haven’t regretted it. Has a roof deck where I can drink a beer and watch people throw hatchets in the building next door. Absolutely love it. I can be there and paint late and listen to tunes. It’s beyond great—keeps me sane. 

I have part of a metal garage/barn space that is 12x24. My intention was to have a corner of it for tools and stuff, but the biggest part to be open for use as a makeshift photo/art studio and hang out. I was having coffee with my best friend there every weekend. I had it foam insulated, popped in a window unit and bought some vinyl flooring to put in. I have a couch in there and a table  with coffee station. Those plans went on hold when life delivered a couple of serious blows that I won't go into. I hope to get back to it again someday, but there's too much other shit I need to work on that takes priority, and really, the motivation just took a major hit after early 2021. The plank flooring is still stacked up in the boxes on the floor.

Edited December 20, 2022 by DougO

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Clutter! I could open an art store with the extra supplies I have socked away.

Unrelated news, massacre on the print table an hour ago. I was going to knock out piles of US, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Argentina flag apes. Was going fine but then I had to break out a new tube of ink, and clear liquid poured all over my roller tray, while the actual black ink stayed up in there like Heinz ketchup.

I got it halfway sorted out, but instead of cleaning up and starting over, I tried to drive on with this thinned-down mix. Nasty smudge-bucket everywhere. So then I cleaned everything up and am waiting to start the factory up again.

[troph 24,781]

I believe creativity is a mostly uniquely human trait present in all of us. The artists I know and who are quite successful won’t necessarily shy away from the romantic but they would say the art is made with much less romance and a lot more hard work. Like sports, lawyering, sailing, fly fishing and any profession or hobby in between there is a skill that must be practiced over and over again. Certainly moments come together in a flash of brilliance but that flash of brilliance occurs from a foundation of discipline and drudgery of practice. Much like the perfect fly cast 60 feet from the bow to catch the redfish in two strips in front of his face which required years of practice, the right gear and convergence of circumstances, the artists moments we awe over that seems so easy to them is built on years of preparation. And the amount of garbage that has to be recycled and painted over is as many as 10-1 when compared to the masterpiece sold at a show.  That doesn’t even begin to touch on the professional artist who has to master the art of the business of art.  Of course innate talent is always, always a factor and the determining factor at the apex but in a sense it goes back to Picasso - something like all children are artists the problem is how to remain an artist when they grow up.

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

On 12/20/2022 at 10:57 AM, Mdhorn said:

Prob silly but others chose sports cars and I chose to rent a studio.

More than once I have thought about grabbing store space in my local cutesy downtown. Lots of folks bopping around with the accoutrements of money, which may mean they are just in debt, who knows. Would probably require a lot more cash than I have available to sink into it.

The best deal I ever had was splitting a pop-up store in a mall with several other artists. Steady foot traffic. We stayed busy selling art, working on new art, and getting commissions. It was great, just leave all your heavy junk at the mall at night after you lock up, then first one to "clock in" next morning gets security to open it back up. And you're working among kindred spirits. Sweet deal, and rare, because malls that offer pop-up opportunities are malls that might not be there next year.

[Mdhorn 5,945]

5 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

More than once I have thought about grabbing store space in my local cutesy downtown. Lots of folks bopping around with the accoutrements of money, which may mean they are just in debt, who knows. Would probably require a lot more cash than I have available to sink into it.

The best deal I ever had was splitting a pop-up store in a mall with several other artists. Steady foot traffic. We stayed busy selling art, working on new art, and getting commissions. It was great, just leave all your heavy junk at the mall at night after you lock up, then first one to "clock in" next morning gets security to open it back up. And you're working among kindred spirits. Sweet deal, and rare, because malls that offer pop-up opportunities are malls that might not be there next year.

That is the way--soon to be condemned buildings become art studios until they are sold or house group exhibitions until torn down.  Any building you look at that is empty in the city has already been scoped out by an artist collective--facts.  A lawyer nearby bought a firehouse that was on the market for awhile and turned them into art studios--going rate city wide is about $18 a square foot, or was.  But that firehouse was looked at by multiple other art groups that couldn't get through the red tape housing an antennae at the back of it.  Finally, said lawyer entered the fray, and the rest is dull, local history.   

[HamsterHookah 112]

@here Good conversation you great people. I'll leave you with this last excerpt, again, from Kandinsky's "Concerning Spiritual in Art" manifesto:

 

"The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning.

The artist is not born to a life of pleasure. He must not live idle; he has a hard work to perform, and one which often proves a cross to be borne. He must realize that his every deed, feeling, and thought are raw but sure material from which his work is to arise, that he is free in art but not in life.

The artist has a triple responsibility to the non-artists: 1) He must repay the talent which he has 2) his deeds, feelings, and thoughts, as those of every man, create a spiritual atmosphere which is either pure or poisonous 3) these deeds and thoughts are materials for his creations, which themselves exercise influence on the spiritual atmosphere. The artist is not only a king, as Peladan* says, because he has great power, but also because he has great duties.

If the artist be priest of beauty, nevertheless the beauty is to be sought only according to the principle of the inner need, and can be measured only according to the size and intensity of that need.

That is beautiful which is produced from the inner need, which springs from the soul. 

Maeterlinck**, one of the first warriors, one of the first modern artists of the soul, says: "there is nothing on earth so curious for beauty or so absorbent of it, as a soul. For that reason few mortal souls withstand the leadership of a soul which gives to them beauty."

 

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joséphin_Péladan

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Maeterlinck

Edited December 27, 2022 by HamsterHookah

[HamsterHookah 112]

Couldn't edit to add, but for further reading on the source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky#Artistic_and_spiritual_theorist

Probably mostly subject matter and discussions in MFA classrooms and in performative spaces or New School, but thanks for humoring an old chunk of coal like me.

[Planet Houston 4,930]

On 12/16/2022 at 2:00 PM, Planet Houston said:

I'm lined up to buy a great piece by Paul Kremer.  I can't get enough of his work and excited to finally own a piece.

Paul Kremer | Artist at Alexander Berggruen

 

 

I pulled the trigger and surprised my wife (no pics) for Christmas. Doesn’t do it justice still under wraps and not on the wall - I’ll post another when it is. Fucking love it. 
 

48 x 36

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Happy New Year. For 2023 am looking to expand to art shows outside the Birmingham metro-- we have several good (pay all bills for one month) shows here, but there are also slow times. Idea is to add "Good" shows from other towns. 

Could probably stay busy working the Birmingham-Atlanta-Nashville triangle and just leave it at that, but of course I have to go all flamboyant so I added Florida and Mississippi to the mix. (Are there big shows in Mississippi? Time will tell) Also plan to hit every Bama metro on down to Mobile, which honestly might as well be Louisiana.

Gonna load up the credit card with a better tent, a cart so I can quit making 5 trips to set up, and maybe a van. Looking for used and boring.

[HamsterHookah 112]

@RDCanecutter, et al. I don't know what the universe and God is trying to tell me as an artist, but I've been drawn to the investigation and introspection of the pretentious question "What is Art?" and "How do I serve the artist within me?" and I somehow ended up with some weird reading-- the aforementioned Kandinsky "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" and now Rick Rubin's book The Creative Act.

I'm halfway through the book, which I mentioned on another thread is equal parts, half imbecilic and half genius, but a few excerpts that stuck out that reminded me of our conversation the last page or so:

This quote I think embodies the reason I even started asking you about your process and your intentions and your why:

Quote

"The act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. A longing to transcend. What we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. Art is our portal to the unseen world. Without the spiritual component, the artist works with a crucial disadvantage."

I liked these as well. It's rooted in something I've always known and anchored my art in, which is, create for your own soul first and an audience last. Create what you want to consume. And in a lot of ways, the reason we set out to create is because what we are longing for and what to consume doesn't yet exist (or we know of).

Quote

"All art is a work in progress. It's helpful to see the piece we're working on as an experiment. One in which we can't predict the outcome. Oscar Wilde said that some things are too important to be taken seriously. Art is one of those things."

Quote

"It is impossible for anyone to experience your work as you do, or as anyone else does. The purpose of the work of art is to awaken something in you first, and then allow something to be awakened in others. And it's fine if they're not the same thing. We can only hope that the magnitude of the charge we experience reverberates as powerfully for others as it does for us. What is considered art is simply an agreement and none of it is true. What is true is that you are never alone when you're making art. You are in a constant dialogue with what is and what was, and the closer you can tune in to that discussion, the better you can serve the work before you."

These speak to the transcendental nature of art and being a human. We are woefully lacking in spirituality as a feature of our existence:

Quote

"Our work embodies a higher purpose. Whether we know it or not, we're a conduit for the universe. Material is allowed through us. If we are a clear channel, our intention reflects the intention of the cosmos (or God)."

Quote

"Impatience is an argument with reality. The desire for something to be different from what we are experiencing in the here and now. A wish for time to speed up, tomorrow to come sooner, to relive yesterday, or to close your eyes then open them and find yourself in another place. Time is something we have no control over, so patience begins with the acceptance of natural rhythms. The implied benefit of impatience is to save time by speeding up and skipping ahead of those rhythms. Paradoxically, this ends up taking more time and using more energy. It's wasted effort. When it comes to the creative process, patience is accepting that the majority of the work we do is out of our control."

Quote

"The goal of art is not to attain perfection. The goal is to share who we are. And how we see the world. Artists allow us to see what we are unable to see, but somehow already know. It may be a view of the world singularly different from our own. Or one so close, it seems miraculous, as if the artist is looking through our own eyes."

 

Edited January 20, 2023 by HamsterHookah

[Mdhorn 5,945]

I always thought you were your first audience, so you gotta like it or it's not worth pursuing--there's not much to share.  You need to be passionate about it or you won't pursue or sustain it.  If you don't like drawing and/or painting, you won't continue drawing and/or painting.  Or more to the point, in the words of Shakespeare--To thine own self be true.  

What I like about drawing and painting, is unlike electronic mediums, I can trace marks by a hand from several centuries ago.  I can follow the movements of someones hand, see their thoughts in action, impression and pressure and perhaps even where they reworked an area--a compilation of a visual record of an experience and thought process.  

Edited January 22, 2023 by Mdhorn

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

In my 20s I hated art because I was making money drawing stuff that I was good at but didn't like. Gave away a whole tool box of supplies I'd like to have back. Kinda circled through two other professions before I came back to art again.

[TexPx 2,322]

Couldn't edit to add, but for further reading on the source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky#Artistic_and_spiritual_theorist
Probably mostly subject matter and discussions in MFA classrooms and in performative spaces or New School, but thanks for humoring an old chunk of coal like me.

Kandinsky is a favorite of mine. Went to The Guggenheim for their 50th anniversary. They were showing the first full-scale retrospective of his career in the United States since 1985. It was awesome.

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, TexPx said:

Kandinsky is a favorite of mine. Went to The Guggenheim for their 50th anniversary. They were showing the first full-scale retrospective of his career in the United States since 1985. It was awesome.

Guggenheim loves Kandinsky for some reason. I had a family friend who went for the 50th as well and bought a bunch of prints.

[TexPx 2,322]

Guggenheim loves Kandinsky for some reason. I had a family friend who went for the 50th as well and bought a bunch of prints.

Guggenheim was a big fan and long time collector of Kandinsky.

[DougO 5,243]

This is a wire sculpture I didway back in my early college days. It's a fun medium but demanding on the fingers. It's interesting how it's hard to tell in the photos whether the subjects appears to be coming or going unless you look at the base to see how the legs are oriented.

 

[MalibuSheriff 1,090]

It’s been since pre-kids or at least early pre-kids since I’ve picked up a paintbrush.  I used to dabble around with both watercolor and egg tempera, generally painting rural landscapes or outdoor scenes since those are my two main connections that put me at ease.

This is an egg tempera of an old Pecan tree and windowsill in Fisher County, TX that was opposite the entrance gate of our old hunting lease.  It always struck me that the tree and window were last visual elements looking out to the northwest before the landscape opened up and seemed like you could see to the end of the Earth.

Watercolor of the Devils River:

Overcast sunset - County Road near Webbers Falls, OK:

[HamsterHookah 112]

15 hours ago, MalibuSheriff said:

It’s been since pre-kids or at least early pre-kids since I’ve picked up a paintbrush.  I used to dabble around with both watercolor and egg tempera, generally painting rural landscapes or outdoor scenes since those are my two main connections that put me at ease.

This is an egg tempera of an old Pecan tree and windowsill in Fisher County, TX that was opposite the entrance gate of our old hunting lease.  It always struck me that the tree and window were last visual elements looking out to the northwest before the landscape opened up and seemed like you could see to the end of the Earth.

Watercolor of the Devils River:

Overcast sunset - County Road near Webbers Falls, OK:

Beautiful.

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Today I moved a couple of pieces of paper from a pile of clutter, and underneath were two little boxes full of little baseball-card prints I used to sell on eBay about ten years ago. They weren't big earners online what with shipping costs, so I let them drop and forgot about them.

However, they're perfect for the kind of shows I go to now. That size is real popular, I have to constantly make more. And here were more, a time-capsule from 2013. Some of them were from a Loteria set I started but stalled out 1/4 through.

[HamsterHookah 112]

On 1/24/2023 at 6:26 PM, TexPx said:

Guggenheim was a big fan and long time collector of Kandinsky.

Our boys at the Gug are being sued:

• The Guggenheim is being sued over a Picasso masterpiece by the Jewish heirs of a previous owner, who they say was forced to sell the painting as he sought to flee Nazi persecution. (NYT)

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Got a busy 4 days lined up.

Tonight is my first art+music show in Montgomery, which is to Birmingham kinda like driving from Austin to a somewhat more varied Waco. Inside a decommissioned church that is now an arts space. Hopefully I will not be struck dead.

Saturday is a show at my usual tavern in Birmingham. Same organizer and maybe same bands as Montgomery. I do a few of these bar/bands/artists gigs each month, they are good for picking up basic utilities money between big shows.

Sunday: break a hip climbing up to count the pile of money from Friday and Saturday.

Monday is Demo Day at my art club. No way I could show the 7 steps I go through with my painting style that resembles screen-printing steps, so I have prepared 7 versions of the same painting. My plan is to Jedi Mind Trick the group into remembering they saw me painting as I give them verbal descriptions interspersed with revealing the next canvas in the series.

[baboso 6,054]

What is the usual tavern in Bham?  I am in the area periodically.  I may want to commission a custom monkey art piece.

[DougO 5,243]

9 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Got a busy 4 days lined up.

Tonight is my first art+music show in Montgomery, which is to Birmingham kinda like driving from Austin to a somewhat more varied Waco. Inside a decommissioned church that is now an arts space. Hopefully I will not be struck dead.

Saturday is a show at my usual tavern in Birmingham. Same organizer and maybe same bands as Montgomery. I do a few of these bar/bands/artists gigs each month, they are good for picking up basic utilities money between big shows.

Sunday: break a hip climbing up to count the pile of money from Friday and Saturday.

Monday is Demo Day at my art club. No way I could show the 7 steps I go through with my painting style that resembles screen-printing steps, so I have prepared 7 versions of the same painting. My plan is to Jedi Mind Trick the group into remembering they saw me painting as I give them verbal descriptions interspersed with revealing the next canvas in the series.

Have you ever tried wood slices? I have a bunch of cut treated fence posts I have saved over the years from my fence work and have been trying to think of something practical to do with all of them. Maybe we need to form a partnership.

 

 

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

16 hours ago, baboso said:

What is the usual tavern in Bham?  I am in the area periodically.  I may want to commission a custom monkey art piece.

True Story Brewing is where a couple of my friends organize music/art shows several times a month. Small shows, frequent.

https://www.facebook.com/truestorybrewing/

Cahaba Brewing, a much larger venue, has Cahabazaar art shows several times a year, like 80 vendors. Their web site mysteriously requires an age confirmation even though they're kid-friendly.

https://cahababrewing.com/

Give a DM holler here whenever you might be around.

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

15 hours ago, DougO said:

Have you ever tried wood slices? I have a bunch of cut treated fence posts I have saved over the years from my fence work and have been trying to think of something practical to do with all of them. Maybe we need to form a partnership.

 

 

Didn't do fence posts but I did do a bunch on found fence planks cut into smaller sections. Every single one [eventually*] sold so I guess the idea doesn't suck. One great thing about paintings on wood is that you can spread a few of them around the table at an outside show and it'll keep your lighter stuff from blowing away. Probably need a cart to haul them if you had a lot.

Saw one up and make a dozen!

*at the time it seemed like I'd never sell them all, but after several years, they gone.

Edited February 4, 2023 by RDCanecutter

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Last night's Montgomery show was a blast, I was impressed by everything-- the promotion, the venue, the bands and the crowd. Like 40% of the people walked up and insisted on paying retail. Lots of modern-day Zelda Fitzgerald types there. @MaybeACoordinator would have lost his damn mind. This house was right next door:

[DougO 5,243]

Still trying to rekindle my art itch, I have put acrylic paint on canvases on three different occasions in the past month. The results were not good and I really struggle getting the hang of making the paint do what I want. I'm thinking about trying oils soon and see if I have any better luck.

I've been looking back and trying to remind myself of times when creating things was a pleasant experience, even if the results were never quite as good as I hoped. It was still relaxing. I'm trying to get back to that. 

Back when I was playing around with poly clay about a decade ago, I would just sculpt random small heads for practice. Sculpting from photos isn't easy. One night I was sitting in my comfy chair and The Searchers came on TCM, one of my favorites. I had a hunk of clay in my hands and ended up using the movie for reference. I got a long way towards getting this head done during the movie. Then later I cut a piece of a soda can or something to build the brim of the hat on and fine tuned it. Still somewhat rough, but it was fun. I I had kept going and at least put a neck on him, but I never took it further. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by DougO

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Today I'm about as creative as a mud clod. Gonna chop up some cardboard.

[troph 24,781]

On 12/27/2022 at 4:47 PM, HamsterHookah said:

Couldn't edit to add, but for further reading on the source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky#Artistic_and_spiritual_theorist

Probably mostly subject matter and discussions in MFA classrooms and in performative spaces or New School, but thanks for humoring an old chunk of coal like me.

His four seasons are one of the greatest collections of all time. I stood there and said it looks like music, my ex said interesting but it’s about the seasons. Found out later it’s both. I’ve been as fond of him as Rothko - his art makes me cry like spontaneous combustion if I look at with focus for too long - I like them both for what I believe is a personal connection to their art. My soul speaks their art language. Kandinsky is top 5 easy. 

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

One way to increase productivity is to sign up for more shows than you have art for.

[sidis 9,822]

On the topic of drawing, just did this one tonight of my relatively new nephew for my sister. Kid has a huge noggin  

Edited March 7, 2023 by sidis

[troph 24,781]

On 2/6/2023 at 1:21 PM, DougO said:

Still trying to rekindle my art itch, I have put acrylic paint on canvases on three different occasions in the past month. The results were not good and I really struggle getting the hang of making the paint do what I want. I'm thinking about trying oils soon and see if I have any better luck.

I've been looking back and trying to remind myself of times when creating things was a pleasant experience, even if the results were never quite as good as I hoped. It was still relaxing. I'm trying to get back to that. 

Back when I was playing around with poly clay about a decade ago, I would just sculpt random small heads for practice. Sculpting from photos isn't easy. One night I was sitting in my comfy chair and The Searchers came on TCM, one of my favorites. I had a hunk of clay in my hands and ended up using the movie for reference. I got a long way towards getting this head done during the movie. Then later I cut a piece of a soda can or something to build the brim of the hat on and fine tuned it. Still somewhat rough, but it was fun. I I had kept going and at least put a neck on him, but I never took it further. 

I don’t paint much - none anymore. But when I got started with my abex work I took my inspiration to heart, she said start on small canvas - paper even better - paint, get a 2x2 (inches) black frame and move it around until you find a framed spot that makes you feel good. Focus on that. Then do it again, and again, and again.  She also advised to leave the brush alone, use a knife - basically large canvas, brushes, requiring the whole to be “good” gets in the way of learning and exploring. I used acrylic and she was clear about a few things - less colors more will make mud and there is still an infinite number of colors if one of your four is a white. Turn your brain off and “run the experiment”.  I think I could have progressed but alas turns out my painting career was simply there to come to terms with my own self acceptance. But stripping the judgment away from painting which lead me to stripping the judgment away from myself is a very important part of being successful and having longevity in what I think is a brutal hobby. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by troph

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Hi y'all. Recently got addicted to making prints of paintings, as in, getting somebody who owns way better cameras and printers than I ever will to make small professional prints  that I can sell at shows.

Hopefully this will allow me to catch up on commissions, as a couple of you have no doubt wondered. What happened before, was with even moderate sales at frequent shows, I was spending all my time painting and drawing more originals just to replace the fast-moving small stuff. If I can sub in nice prints for some of the originals, it should free up work time. Hell, people buy originals and sometimes thank me for the "print," so here are some actual prints.

So far I have 6 paintings scanned and printed, we'll see how this holds up. Maybe I can paint more big stuff and not worry if I ever sell the original.

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

I have been given permission to share this, commissioned by a member of this site:

 

[RDCanecutter 26,379]

Latest adventures have been masses of shows, some of them bill-payers, others more social events. Past couple of weekends I came to understand why ancient people considered the wind a god.

Found a professional photographer/printer to make small 5 x 7 prints out of my big paintings. I stick them in a clear bag with mat board behind them, 3 prints for 40, they move like tamales outside a jam-band festival.

Possible drama: I am on some print-on-demand sites, and recently had 4 of my designs yanked because an anime conglomerate said I violated their rights. I was unaware of their existence and my style is pretty non-anime, so it's probably a web-crawler misidentifying something. I could have let it drop, those designs barely sell, but I figured if I fail to dispute it, it might bite me later on, like not defending a trademark or something. So as part of disputing, I had to agree to possibly appear in Federal Court. Guess I better sell some prints.

[The Royal We 3,067]

I still have my RDCanecutter originals right here on my desk. 

[ChickenNuggets 1,623]

On 3/6/2023 at 10:26 PM, sidis said:

On the topic of drawing, just did this one tonight of my relatively new nephew for my sister. Kid has a huge noggin