It takes more than patterns to Paint abstractions

With rumours that Myspace might be sold off or close, OK. I have never been heavily in to myspace, however, I was surprised to find the last time I logged in, they have added a worthwhile blog via Wordpress and as a direct result I took full advantage of this by setting up, very much a personal blog for myself. Obviously a lot of what I write will be about art and painting, but also about the other aspects of my life. Like music, books, dance, bikes and places of interest. All of which make me who I am and glides my hand and thoughts.

Its just called Mark’s Space. That I will probably fill with odd notes, things I do, places I go, as well as thoughts as they spring to mind. The latest post I wrote, just to kick thing off is about my personal feeling to abstract art and well worth the read.
http://mjopainter.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/abstract-artwork-is-more-than-just-patterns/

Different by far, a painting that breaks the mould.

The shape of things that are
80 X 65 cm, oil painted canvas,

Far removed from the normal style of simple abstract paintings and the minimalist lines or shapes that normally predominate in my work. This abstract painting is an expression confusion and frustration, using textures and colours that are very different, but also exciting and distinct. I truly feel that this painting breaks a mould and pushes the boundaries of my abstract artwork.

Despite being about disorder and frustrations. It has a calmness and ease that belie its subject. The green is vibrant and energetic bursting with life and in complete contradiction to the warm greys and reds. It is both fugitive and pastoral while holding firmly to the abstract.

For my self I cant quite decide if I like it as a painting. But the real value for me, was what I gained as and artist and painter from pushing beyond the fears and doubts that would have had me maintain, the status quo. How dose this abstract painting make you feel ?  

Creative writing, one of the joys of being Dyslexic.

I spend a lot of my time struggling with words, I write a lot of stuff that never gets seen. I write mostly offline, flitting between programs like “word” or “Office” because of the Thesaurus and Spellchecker.  I back this up, by online reference on Google and I might at any one time, jumping from as many as 5 or 6 pages, just to produce a short column of readable text…  Reading and rereading over and over again, until I think it makes some sort of coherent mass. But to others, it often seams to be just compete nonsense. 

OK. The more that I write the better I become at it. But the more I write, the more new things I learn and have to incorporate in the gibberish, that my two finger typing skills allow. That’s what others tell me when they Proof read it. OK I rambled on a bit there and I spelt that word wrong.  “But It made perfect sense to me” at the time, though I have to admit. I often don’t quite see the world the way others do… Oh the joys of being Dyslexic. 

It feels to me, that over that last few week I have been writing and writing and getting nowhere fast. Just amassing vast amounts of unfinished work, or publishing stuff that no one is going to read.

It feels to me, that over that last few week I have been writing and writing and getting nowhere fast. Just amassing vast amounts of unfinished work, or publishing stuff that no one is going to read.

• A 5 page article on simple web design                                    as yet unpublished 
• 50 to 60 content rich web pages for my new website               as yet unpublished
• A 9 page website for a clearance company                           published
• 2 articles about paintings                                                      as yet unpublished
• 2 press releases                                                                   as yet unpublished
• Content for a new blog from Myspace                                 some published
• Content for this blog and others                                           as yet unpublished
• Comments and critiques in places like “Flicker”, “Buzz”, “Facebook” and such alike                                                  published

On top of this I have cleaned and tidied up the studio (I do work in a mess at times). Re-photographed and catalogued all my paintings. Painted some fantastic new paintings that are braking new ground in art and insights. As well as the normal hectic family life, I attended a fantastic marketing seminar in London and have made trips to the British Museum and art galleries, all of which has given me a lot more to write about and consider.  

Making online writing Simple
However good online writing is in essence. Draw them in with a Headline. Capture there imagination with a Summery and keep the content shot, to the point and snappy. It all sounds so simple, For Google content might be King. but for me, the reality is. That I really struggle with the Headline.

Today we all live in a sound bite world. Headlines dominate and content is dead. Every where we look, everything we hear, is a headline. Online and Offline. The newspapers, TV, even Twitter and Facebook are all about the sound bite…. What can you say in 120 characters? How much value can you condense into a few lines of text? Where has the big picture gone?