Colours of Intent

It takes more than patterns to Paint abstractions

2010-11-10T12:17:00.000Z

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.

2010-11-09T14:38:00.000Z

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.

2010-11-09T13:52:00.000Z

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?

The Life of an artist

2010-08-12T13:20:00.000+01:00

My life is like most artists (I think) is filled with huge emotional ups and downs. Being torn by success and the failures, frustrated by a seaming lack of control and self-belief. Today I feel modern artists and painters are blessed in many ways by the internet and the instant access this offers to the whole world of art. You can paint and within hours the image can be viewed on the other side of the world by an individual that you might never have meet and who might never have know about you. Wow the sheer power of that is in its self staggering and despite feeling that I am only a small part of this instantaneous world of communications I have a part to play which is of real value to me and I hope to others too.

Image then how I felt when the very tool I use to access the incredible frontier began to fail.. Slowing down, crashing, reducing my ability to get online. I did every thing I could to solve the problem but the virus had got deep into the system and refused to budge. When I finally got my PC back from the computer doctor, I was distressed to find that every program or application had to be removed to solve the problem. This computer is my life line, every word, image and file is stored on the hard drive and my deepest fear was that I would not be able to recover the valuable information on the hard drive.

Thankfully most of my work, images and file’s are saved but sadly not all, in some cases I must start again from scratch and the loss of months of hard work, planning and study is for me a personal disaster leaving me teetering at a emotional brink that I am only just starting to pull back from. I must apologise to all of you who follow me for the delay in making any post for the past few weeks and hope that your understanding and support will encourage and uplift me. Thank you for contributing to this community I deeply appreciate your valuable time as I realise that all comments allow us to learn from our mistakes and build on our successes

I have been busy but that's not an excuse

2010-05-21T14:34:00.000+01:00

The last few weeks have just flown past and without even seaming to notice I just found that another week had gone by without even taking the time to check my e-mails or anything. I have so much work and material building up, but that is no excuse, not to have posted something on any of my blogs or social sites. Oh what a waste IU chide myself.... The simple fact is that if I don't do it, it just wont get done but that is one of the benefits or drawbacks of working for yourself. Its not the lack of motivation but rater the lack of TIME... I can make all sorts of things be that paintings drawings or money but I cant make a single second and that's the killer...

Just one week away from my desk and I can see the number of visitors drop on my sites. Oh shore, I might paint a lot, "but if no one is seeing what you paint, then whats the point" says a friend... Well In my mind its not about selling its about painting, but who am I kidding it's just a flip of the coin. On the one hand you cant sell without a product and on the other you cant sell without a customer. Which brings us back to Marketing or Selling ! more accurately which came first the chicken or the egg...

Anish Kapoor at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima)

2010-04-19T13:47:00.001+01:00

I got the chance to spend some time at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) at the weekend just for an hour or so. Its always worth the visit even if its only to tee this fabulous modern building within the hart of the town.

Despite being told by a friend that the exhibition at the moment is not very good I was delighted to find several pieces by what I can only describe as my favorite sculptor Anish Kapoor that is coinciding with the launch of his new work Temenos. Which is is soon to be unveiled in Middlehaven, Middlesbrough.

I have over the years made a number of trips to this gallery and have to say that I have always enjoyed the time spent their and would highly recommend to anyone to make the effort to visit the institute of modern art in Middlesbrough as I know you will not be disappointed.

A big thank you to Temenos for leaving a valuable coment that we can all benifit from and a link to some pictures of the official launch of Temenos, pictures of Anish's art installation at Middlehaven.

MJo-art on facebook

2010-04-16T11:29:00.000+01:00

I have Finlay succumbed and made a facebook account for my art. I have to admit that social networking is something that I often seam to shy away from however you are welcome to follow MJo-art on Facebook so that you can keep up to date with my latest work, articles and postings that I regally make across the Internet on variety of sites.

I look forward to welcoming you to facebook and getting to know you all a little better

fascinating and interesting methods for making art.

2010-04-01T13:13:00.001+01:00

Whilst looking and researching for those 50 simple and fun painting techniques I came across many fantastic and novel ideas, websites, blogs and images that literally blew me away . Admittedly some are just too complex or time consuming to consider and include in my list of 50 easy, fast and unusual painting methods. I mean the title says it all and I did stick to my brief in this case.

When I started the list I naively (perhaps) thought that finding 50 things would be quite easy and straightforward. However once you sit down and think about you quickly realise its not as clear-cut as that. Often we use different words for the same things or we are limited by the processes itself…

In painting for instance we are reduced to the following processes,

Applying : Adding paint by brush, fingers, sticks or whatever.

Removing : remove paint by peeling, dissolving, rubbing, wiping, scratching or scraping.

Reactive : adding, changing or removing colour by developing, staining, chemical reaction or glazing, thin layers that effect the colour below.

I fully accept that this is not an exhaustive list but I am positive you get the idea as many artists often use all or some these on the same canvas. The combinations of these three processes might well lead to a vast arrays of effects but it has to be admitted that essentially you only have three ways to paint.

However during my research I did find some fascinating and interesting methods for making art. One such Fantastic artwork I found was art formed from burned out cars which is in my opinion a Reactive Process. The artist John Garghan finds and photographs the burnt out wrecks and the effects are printed on glass. These images are visually stunning and I would highly recommend taking a look at his website and blog to fully appreciate the
artwork he produces.

John Garghan website
John Garghan Blog

50 fun, simple, creative and interesting art ideas.

2010-03-18T12:56:00.001Z

As a modern and abstract artist I love and enjoy a challenge especially when painting... But like all artist ( I'm certain) I find that the greatest single challenge is the blank canvas... it literally terrifies me, it is almost paralyzing. I Set out with all the enthusiasm and energy necessary but as my brush rises to the canvas the fear grows, seizing me, tying me up in knots, my hand shake as a cold sweat brakes out....

Its madness, all the preliminary studies, research and sketches seam to mean nothing. All I can hear is the little voice inside my head screaming at me... What if its the wrong colour? what if you put it in the wrong place? what if you mess it up? what if you are wrong? what if you are right? Its Total madness. Total agony.

I read books on developing a positive mental attitude and dealing with fear and doubts to no avail... I know that there is no such thing as the wrong colour or wrong place, I even understand that there is "No right or wrong, just dose it work!" and work is what it is all about.! any good artwork or painting that I or any one can produce is about energy. Raw energy that the artist binds within their work. The energy that is bound in every brushstroke, that literally leaps off the canvas and make a painting vibrate with a life all its own.

Fear like all deep human emotions creates energy and vibrancy without it paintings can feel flat and lifeless and no amount of artistic skill or talent can conceal or hide this missing inner energy that all exciting paintings need. I for one keep this painting to keep me focused... (No matter what I personally feel about this piece) it still posses an inner energy that I constantly seek to capture and reproduce in all my work and paintings.

However if we consider that fear like all emotions add emotional content, and is a vital part in any modern or abstract paintings, despite any understanding we as individuals might have of our deep emotional stance, we, as artist must to some extent live with and encourage extremes of emotion if we are to paint worthwhile artwork that touches the human psychology that all of us have been conditioned with through out our lives.

Finding solutions that work
Faced with this paradox I found myself struggling both to balance the need for fear and to overcome its personal effects. The solution is essentially simple "take action" "Just do it" the more you face a fear the more that fear diminishes and recedes, this I can vouch for... as once I have made that first mark all my fear vanishes leaving me buzzing with excitement. The fact is that most fears are not real they are just phantoms that are easily banished.

The more that I have considered this the more I have come to realise that it is not the painting that is holding me back or even the feelings, but rather the value that I as an individual artist I have for the modern and abstract art that I lovingly paint and devote myself too as a slave. I simply value my art to high and as a consequence I'm frightened that I will "cock it up" and make a mess of it.

Art Is Fun ! especially modern or abstract art, even the making of art should be fun and it seams that I have forgotten this…. The solution to this is to get back to basics and start to have some serious fun with what I do and paint. Seams simple don’t it, but How. I sat down and started to write, throwing ideas about and seeing what happened then it hit me.

Make a list of 50 fun and interesting art ideas. Keep it simple, make it fun and don’t take it to serious. By using different media and techniques that are outside the box, radical and even unorthodox, I can play with Ideas, colours, shapes and concepts in a fun and novel way. I know that most of pictures and images produced will probably just get thrown away but that’s OK. I will have fun and explore art as it should be and when I’m ready I will be able to just paint.

The list itself started with a stream of creative ideas, but by the time I got to 42 things started to get a bit more challenging. I have covered all sorts of mediums from pastels to inks, water colour to acrylic, photo and film mixed-media and found objects, even. Dare I say it “Installations”. I have had so much fun with the list alone that I’m buzzing with excitement and energy and cant wait to get started….

I have been making art or modeling in one form or another for all of my life however it struck me that to simply dismiss the product of this project would be remiss of me... Lets be honest the success and failures of any artwork are of value not just to me but to any that have an interest in art and painting. What I should do is make a record of this body of work recording the Good, Bad and dam right Ugly, how it was made, the media used and what was learnt or gained in the making of it...

Now all I have to do is decide how best to do this ? Do I put the work on this Blog ? Create a new Blog dedicated to to this ongoing art project ? or something else ? what to do ? If you my readers have a suggestion I would welcome your input immensely.

the best Hubpages article... how to paint a better picture

2010-03-17T12:24:00.001Z

Making better art is as much about how you see the world as it is about what you do within It. I have just written my best Hubpages article to date. The article, entitled "How to pain a better picture" is despite how the title sounds not about painting skills or style but rather how I as a modern artist deal with the problem of focus and objectivity.

Being an artist requires a lot from me and painting I have realised is only one small part of what I do... Reading, learning, understanding and growing as well as writing are vital to producing fantastic modern art. Hubpages is just one of a number of places that I invest my time and energy as well as this blog I write several others and contribute articles and comments across the internet all of which allows me to channel my thoughts and I believe and hope is as much a benefit to others as it is to me.

2010-03-04T13:43:00.001Z

Thank you for contributing to this community I deeply appreciate your valuable time as I realise that all comments allow us to learn from our mistakes and build on our successes

Art is a universal world wide language

2010-02-24T13:17:00.003Z

I believe that Art is a universal world wide language.. I is not that pictures speak a thousand words its just that we understand the words spoken. last night while drifting around on the web I came across a shot video file for CHANGE an artist action group in Montréal called the ATSA that help the underprivileged there.

As an individual I am not a big supporter of charities although I do make regular payment to CARE International and I do buy poppies in November, in fact when ever I see the stand I empty my pockets of all the change I have (sadly my pocket are not deep) however I was so struck by the video I left a comment and decided to have a closer look at the ATSA and there CHANGE initiative.

I have to say I am impresed and have included links so you can get involved or just have a look as I have done ether way the world is a better place if art can and is used to help and not just as a soap box for radicals..

change website
ATSA website
CARE International

update on MJo-ART's web-site and studio improvements

2010-02-18T22:11:00.000Z

Time has a way of flowing like the flood of a river, at one moment is sedate and peaceful or at others a torrent of force and surging energy that threatens at every moment to carry me away or engulf me. So it has been with me and my recent endeavors.

Since just before christmas, time has been my foe and adversary, however The new web-site is taking shape with better content and a more comfortable lay-out. I can now say that within a few months I will be able to set a launch date which I expect to be some time in the summer or sooner if I can find some quiet time to reflect on those niggling wordings that still don't quite sit right on the page.

The improvements to my studio are also going well now after I have solved some problems with damp and moisture during that cold week or two of snow and ice which got into the plasterboard and brought the ceiling down. Mmmm...More expense and effort involved but it is now all painted and I am moving forward with grater purpose than before.

I seams that it has been so long since I last painted but that is the joy or bane of being an artist in today's modern world You must at times devote your self to the mundane of Marketing, self promotion, web-design, writing and business planing along all manner of other things rather than putting paint on Canvas.

Modern art in Barcelona

2009-11-17T15:03:00.002Z

I gave two friend a lift to London the other night, so that they could go and see Moby playing at the Palace theater. On the way home we soon all got chatting about Art and Barcelona as it is a place we have all visited at one time or another. I spent 5 wonderful days in this city with my girlfriend a couple of years ago. While I was there I managed to visit a number of art galleries and exhibitions that where going on at the time which was brilliant. Although the Picasso Museum was fabulous and is so well known I am however always surprised that the museum of modern art in Barcelona MACBA is hardly talked about. Not only is the building a brilliant example of modern architecture, the collection of painting, art and sculpture is stunning and well worth the time spent immersing your self in for an hour or two....
the beautiful photo from: MorBCN

Adding and Improving links

2009-11-17T11:15:00.000Z

I have not been feeling very well for a while "got a cough to my cold" as Forest Gump put it so eloquently in the movie. However I have not been Idle and sitting around feeling sorry for myself (with "Man Flew"), instead I have spent my time doing research and adding or improving links to my website. Content might be the flesh on the bones of websites but Links are the life blood of the Internet allowing users to follow threads and develop or gain new knowledge. This is all part of my plan for the new and improved website which is slowly taking shape with lots more new content, paintings, information with HTML coding and all fully Search Engine Optimized to enhance my visitors experience of the site...

I have added links and uploaded pictures to places like My Space, Local artists, Digg, and Devaint art to list just a few I have also put together a new free website on snappages as an experiment both to test the simplicity and applications of the platform, as a number of people have asked me for different ways to develop a web presence that is free and easy to use. Clearly this is not the only place you can get a Free website but many sell advertising space or have banner advertising which in my opinion down values any site. This Snap Pages site took me an afternoon to put together and I have to say that it is simple and effective, although it lacked the flexibility that I have become accustomed too...Anyway give it a look and let me know what you think.

A link to: My site on Abstract and Modern Art
A link to: Snap Pages for Free websites

Hope and the essence of life it's self

2009-09-24T12:20:00.002+01:00

This post has taken a long time to write it has been a long and difficult and personal challenge to compose forcing me to confront many difficult issues.... so where to start! well since this financial recession started which I have to admit has had a huge personal effect on my both personal and working life drawing me away from painting and imposing financial restrictions that challenged my core beliefs, attitude and sense of personal value

last year was the worst for me! It forced to take a Job for a time as a chief just to put food on the table and keep the wolf from the door, the emotional and psychological effect was devastating at a creative and imaginative level drawing me away from painting, drawing and any creative act’s, even activities like reading, writing and play where affected. For a time I believe that I had lost hope its self….. But art and the very act of painting is what makes us alive it drives the soul and feeds the mind it is the blood that courses though my veins it is the very essence of who I am…. Without it. I am nothing!

Finally I can now, with all honesty say that the worst is over. I have begin work on improving and enlarging my studio space although this might take some time as it is economically restricted to a degree. I have started work on updating my website Mjoart.com with a new layout, copy and images. I am also helping a number of individuals and business with marketing and web design projects that all involve creative applications and solutions. I have become involved with Marketing and website of a local cleaning business D.K.M. Cleaning in Essex and is doing very well and I am writing. Writing about all sorts of things, things that I had never seen myself writing about such "Small business websites!" on Hubpages.. But I have! I am writing about myself, about self help and improvement, about marketing and business, and about art, painting and the essence of life its self.

But best of all I am Painting and Drawing.

making a small business website work

2009-09-22T21:21:00.000+01:00

making a small business website work

Improving and updating my web-site

2009-04-26T15:01:00.005+01:00

The week before last I had the chance to visit some close personal friends in the north of England for a week of rest and contemplation. I had been severely limited by one and all to only two hours a day of work, which for me offered a real challenge of what would I do while I was there.

They had all insisted that I spend some real and meaningful time with the people that I love and care about and I have to admit they did have a point as I invariably soon find myself getting absorbed by what ever it is that I'm doing at the time and as a result don't spend the sort of time I should with my kids or friends.

Chilling out, reading, walking on the beach, chatting, seeing a live rock band, driving in the beautiful North Yorkshire moors and visiting local attractions all did me a good deal of help after the recent period of intensive work and the resulting stress and pressure's that come into our daily lives reducing our time and energy to be truly creative and adventurous in the endeavours we take on.

Resting and relaxing as did I had the chance for the first time in what felt like an life time to really find the time to think and explore ideas in a refreshed manor, free from the restraints that I had forced upon myself I was able to make a number of important decisions that I knew needed to be made but had avoided for the most part for the wrong reasons.

Despite buzzing with all the new images, ideas and excitement that are struggling to free themselves onto the canvas that is constantly in my minds eye I realised that my web-site was in desperate need of improvement and a new lease of life which is long overdue and is one of the decisions that I had the chance to make during that wonderful restful week away.

After a few days of planing and thought I have finally started to create a temporary web-site while the new pages and layout are being constructed and fully developed making it essayer and more interesting for my visitor's to get the most from the contemporary art and modern abstract painting that characterise my painting style and I will be making regular posts so that every one will have the chance to be kept fully up to date with my progress.

What do i find....?

2009-04-26T14:41:00.005+01:00

This blog is all about art or that's what i believed but even I have a sense of humor especially when I pop onto the blog to make a quick post about what I have been up to lately and find a Google advert in the sidebar promoting Laser Vision Surgery which I just found so amusing considering my last post "Discovering myself again" which concentrated on an injury I had to my eye! well we are all entitled to a giggle once in awhile.

Discovering myself again

2009-03-29T13:05:00.003+01:00

Its been some time since I had the chance to write anything for this blog which I have found very difficult from a personal point of view. It forced me to review a number of aspects of my day to day life and all the feelings that are associated with that. The simple fact is that I injured my eye and also had to weather the recent financial storm that threatened to overwhelm me.

The injury to my left eye has left a permanent scar on my retainer along with a 2mm cataract which has affected my depth perception and light tolerance making it hard for me to focus for prolonged periods resulting in a deep sense of frustration and self doubts that I have struggled with.

As an artist I fully except that financial security will always be a challenge however I found that the recent extreme financial climate forced me to go out and find a job just to keep the wolves (banks) form the door for a short while but even part time employment drained me of enthusiasm and inner energy that any creative activity and self motivation demands.

As I became accustomed to the fuzzy and blur of my eyesight and have driven the monsters from my door I was approached by a friend seeking to exploit my skill and knowledge of internet and design to create and develop a website for their new business venture. She was putting together a cleaning business and after showing me the numbers and business plan I quickly got involved in this enterprise as the marketing Director.

The resulting web-site www.dkm-cleaning.co.uk has for me proved an enormous success in creativity, design and confidence offering as it does the chance for its clients to improve the quality of life and huge time saving benefits that such a simple act of cleaning someone's home really has to offer. I personally am delighted to say that even with my limited knowledge of the internet I have managed to create a web-site that is ranked on Google and achieves good placement (page 4) on Google and (page 1) on Yahoo which is already winning customers for this growing domestic cleaning company.

Now I feel that all my trials and tribulations in creating a unique artist website to promote my work, paintings and artistic beliefs is an accomplishment that I can truly be proud of as a creative process in its own right.

Little Pink bunnies

2008-03-19T20:45:00.003Z

Along with a group of others this local property investor I know walked us through to a conservatory. What I saw amazed me. In the large open space the floor was covered in a patchwork of green, felt and baize over which where hundreds of little pink bunnies hopping about. You know the sort of thing you would find on a market stall, small no bigger than your hand, stuffed with batteries and all fluffy, shocking day-glow pink, hopping about and making an awful racket of mechanical sounds and squeaks. She was stood there pleased as punch with herself, in a sexy little nightie that left little to the imagination and to be honest with you even I have never thought of her in that way. She fielded the barrage of questions with ease but no one asked Why? Art it is, but she is not an artist why had she done this I had to know. "Because she could", "Why not" and "It seamed like a good idea at the time" where some of the responses that she gave to my question. Finally she admitted that she "I Just like It" and went on to add, "The funny thing however is that all the bunnies can hop anywhere, but they don't, they stay in their own little area or territory within their own groups and if they do stray into another area they get knocked over you don't see it, it just happens. Each tribe of bunnies keep to themselves they don't mix or anything its weird. I did not plan it, it just happened that way". I found myself saying, that in all the studies, test and computer models that have been carried out over the years that I have herd about the same thing happens, larger groups sub-divide and define territories for themselves its one of the great mysteries of life, we then got on to discussing its merits as art.

I woke with a start, the cold still, darkness itself seamed to be shaking me awake, It was a dream thank god for that. But more likely It was a nightmare, all these little pink bunnies hopping about in my head it could not be anything else but a nightmare could it? I lay there awake for what seamed like an age trying to understand, Why Pink Fluffy Bunnies? Art for me is the study of the human state and the little pink bunnies is just a reflection of that, most of us spend our whole lives desperately trying to fit in to our chosen group we even put other things in what we decide is the group that they belong to, I mean who said that Picasso is a cubist painter! the fact is that his cubist period only lasted for a few brief years of his long and productive life and yet we still class him as a cubist painter . Why? The truth is that my vision of the bunnies represents great art and my investor friend is stood on the very edge of an automated society both fascinated and involved yet aloof from the whole is as equally a part of this fantastic piece of artwork. I am not a great fan of instillations however this is certainly something that I would one day like to undertake, but perhaps something other than little pink bunnies would be called for, for my own sanity.

Essentially the creative process follows two courses, the first and perhaps most common is that of the route of discovery and exploration steadily heading towards an unknown goal, tentatively feeling your way forward through each stage ultimately to a finished work . The other is the top down approach as I call it, Here starting with completed or near completed piece and unravelling or exposing the layers in an attempt to comprehend the hidden values and meanings that relate to any given idea. I am intrigued by the Pink bunnies idea as although it is a finished work all be it in my own head it still requires both methods of this creative processes in its completion and the involvement of my scantily clad property invertors friend giving it a greater dimension and depth that is necessary in such a piece.

Believing we can.

2008-02-23T17:25:00.002Z

Hear we are again another leap year is almost upon us, how did that creep up on me I only noticed when someone told me during the week. What will you do with an extra day ? Mmmm I think I will paint. Paint what ? Dose it matter I don't think so I do really get so much out of standing in front of a canvas and bashing at it with a brush. Sounds dreadful doesn't it! I almost feel guilty about saying it like that but it dose seam to be like that. bashing out Ideas, bashing at the canvas just letting myself go, letting the Ideas flow exploring, questioning desperately trying to understand the whole process and finding myself. all the answers are hidden inside, all I have to do is let them out. That's what painting is to me , just letting it happen or shutting my eyes and paint, that's what I call it. Sounds easy don't it but its one of the hardest thing there is and the reason is that we spend so much of our time believing what we are told. Believing we cant, believing that its not allowed, believing that" NO "is a good word, believing what the teachers said at school (god that was a long time ago) believing what the papers say, believing what someone else thinks and it all clouds our own thoughts it stops us from doing anything. It stops us from trying.

When did all this start? at school, while we are children, Who knows. but it is up to us when we stop. Stop telling ourselves we cant and start doing. Believing we can. Believing that "NO "is a bad word, Believing The only good thing on the TV is the punch line from the Nike adverts "Just do it". Painting has allowed me to see this, it allowed me to know that there is no right or wrong. just dose it work! and I love it I love the way my life is. Its not always easy, but it is always worth it and now when someone tells me I cant, I know I can. I might have to do it some other way but." I can" I just have to find a way because I believe I can and what's more "I do". I also believe that anyone can, its not just something that is hidden from us, its a choice we all have. We just need to take action and the whole world opens up to us. I have art to thank for that and I am so thankful for that.

I am very proud of my website

2008-02-05T23:47:00.000Z

At long last My website www.mjo-art.com is up and running. Creating a web site from scratch is not always as simple as it sounds and at times this has seemed to be a mammoth task that I have often wished that I had not started in the first place. But I am so glad that I persevered. I have gained so much more than I could have believed possible. So why did I develop this web site? I was completely computer illiterate and a techno-phobic on top of that Dyslexia has over the years given my confidence a good bashing or that's what I told myself. However as an Artist I needed a platform to promote my self and my work, so despite my fears I decided to bite the bullet and just get on and do it. After all of this hard work I'm greatly delighted with the result and I'm sure if you visit my website you will feel the same.

To create my website from scratch I had to do a good deal of research. One of the questions I asked myself was what is a website?. Another question I asked myself was How do they work?. From this began a long journey of exploration about the internet. First you should decide what you want your website to do and draw a simple diagram with all the links from your home page to all the other pages in your site. Once you have chosen the programme you wish to use of which their are many available like Microsoft office, Dreamweaver or Serif web plus. Try them out and make sure you are comfortable with them. I had buy one I was comfortable with. Decide on a theme its important to have the same style throughout with the navigation in the same place on all your pages. You can then start fleshing out you pages, don't be afraid to chop and change things or even start all over again and try and see it from a visitors point of view point. Try and use the same common easy to read type face throughout with a font size of 12 or more if possible and use high contrasts as this will make it easier to read.

So what makes a good web site? Well its content, a few pictures, short snappy paragraphs with catchy titles. Good copy is essential, all of this will get and keep your visitors interest, not only do the search engines like it, so do visitors and if you get it right they will keep coming back time after time. One way to test this is to get as many people as possible, friends and family to explore your web pages and listen carefully. On one occasion I got some friends to look at my site and pretended to be busy with something else while I listened to what they said about my site.

Finally there is Hosting and domain names. As for your domain names, do you want Dot.com, Dot.org or Dot.co.uk, also It is best to get them sorted out early on and think about other ways to spell them too, as you might need to own more than one. We all make mistakes and that's the one I made, Ah well. Hosting for me was the real challenge. Don't just go for a cheep hosting, you get what you pay for in all things and hosting is no different. Try and find out as much as you can about them first, do they have an office, are they on the phone, what sort of customers and services do they offer and send an email to test how good they are at responding to there customers. I was stunned at how few even sent an automated message let alone a response to my enquiries, (only one). Don't they need my custom? In the end my perseverance paid off and I finally found a hosting company I am happy with and I can contact them.

I have realized the web is a lot like painting it requires all the things that make art so interesting. Colour texture, stories, shape and form to list but a few, but unlike painting the web is a constantly evolving creation that the internet is and your views will greatly enhance and develop my website. Please feel free to take a look at my web site www.mjo-art.com and let me know what you think as I would be very interested in your opinions.

Pollock or Bollock's

2008-01-13T16:56:00.001Z

When I was growing up I can remember, My mum used to say that all those squiggles, lines and drips are a meaningless waste of time "how can that be art?" you know the sort of thing if you can't see what it is, then its pointless and its not art. Its not that I grew up in an uncultured household, Quite the contrary. I always viewed my parents as liberal and progressive. We used to watch news or current affairs programmes on the TV about art, history, music, science and design. Go to museums and galleries. We even had modern furniture and one chair was in that classic Bauhaus design we now see in museums. Personally I just could not see the difference between many of Picassos painting and Jackson Pollock's paintings. its just I preferred Picasso stuff.

I remember watching documentary's that they had on the TV. One was a bunch of young girls rolling around on the floor covered in paint, while some weirdo prattled on about how he was shifting the boundaries of art, or something. Another, was some Bloke with a cigarette in his mouth, muttering incomprehensibly because of it, while throwing paint all over the place, or that’s what it seamed like. It looked like a lot fun, But art ??? OK I was young and perhaps a little naïve. It all seamed like it was Big on B*** S***, Small on brains, lacking any commonsense and with far too much dope involved. As an artist. I have since tried a few of these things. Muttering with a cigarette in my mouth. Throwing paint around, even rolling around with young girls, (sadly without the paint.) OK, perhaps I am still young and a little naïve. What I can say, it is it is a lot of fun and the B*** S*** is as real today as it was then. But is it art ?

For years I just could not get my head around Jackson Pollock, It's not that I did not like his work, I just could not get my head around it. I loved Abstract Expressionism and the work of many of the great exponents, such as, Franz Kline, Rothko, Motherwell, Clyfford Still. But Pollock was Bollocks I just could not see its value and had put all the fuss down to the B*** S***. It really was as, Craig Brown, the artist, critic, and satirist said "astonished that decorative 'wallpaper', essentially brainless, could gain such a position in art history alongside Giotto, Titian, and Velazques." Or the Reynolds News in a 1959 headline said, "This is not art — it's a joke in bad taste." I continued to study his paintings as I came across them. I just could not fit them to my understanding of art, no mater which way I looked at his work.

However, when I went to the Guggenheim in New York. I got the chance to see a number of his early work, drawings and sketches and the penny dropped. For the first time I was able to put all his later paintings into context and follow the projection of his work to its understandable conclusion. Or as he, himself put it. "When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well." It is with new eyes that I now look upon the work of Jackson Pollock though I must admit that, I do not like them any more than I once did, Its just that now. I understand.

Today I am exploring and experimenting with many of Jackson’s and other artistic styles and modern painting technique which am writing about in “outside the frame” a blog that is all about exploring art, painting and media in as many different ways as possible. During these forays into this method of action painting that Jackson Pollack is so famous for I have made a number of interesting observations and insights that have increased my personal understanding of myself and modern abstract expressionist painting and have included some links for you to follow to learn more at the bottom of this article. What do you think? please leave your comments which are always valued.

drip and splash technique of painting
exploring Jackson Pollack’s early work
Jackson Pollack and his method of action painting

So who or what was Salvador Dali?

2008-01-13T11:20:00.000Z

Sitting in a café recently I was asked what I do ? "Well " I said "I paint." " What like an artist " he said. Now that’s was unusual, normally people think I'm some kind of painter & decorator. "Yes just like an Artist" I said. "So what do you paint? Stuff like Dali? I like his pictures". Pictures not Paintings, I thought well I suppose he has only seen prints and posters on the wall of his flat and only the common images we all are forced to consider as the extent of his work. "No I'm not a surrealist, I'm a modernist abstract painter" I replied and noting his blank look, added "what do you know about Dali?" He smiled, pushed aside his coffee and sat back, saying "Not as much as you I bet" . I grinned back, his smile was infectious "probably not", I said. Less than five minutes later he had gone and I was left to consider what did I know about Salvador Dali?
(Salvador Dali)

What is surrealism? The expressions of thought's without the requisite for any control, reason, physical or moral focus or presumptions. Well Dali certainly fits that picture In my view. He was an eccentric Spanish painter known for doing unusual and excessive things to draw attention to himself. He loved anything that was gilded, luxurious or going to extremes. His whole life was as surrealist, as is his work. He has been quoted as saying, "There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad." Well that’s open to debate! Perhaps we must define madness more fully. To my mind madness, momentary or lasting is simply operating outside of the normal rules of society and there's nothing wrong with that on occasions.

Whilst in Barcelona I visited a Dali exhibition and wow what an eye popper that is. The collection is full of photo's, drawings, artifacts' and memorabilia, presenting Dali as a showman. What surprised me the most was the constant reference's to sex. The drawing's in particular are full of sexual images and suggestions which seem almost pornographic and far removed from the classic examples of his work that we are most familiar with. As for the man himself? He explored many media throughout his life. painting, sculpture, writing, film and photography. In his youth, Dali had embraced both anarchism and communism. Later he supported Franco. the fascist leader of Spain. He also had a fixation with Hitler, however he was not an anti-Semite. By the time of his 1970 book Dali by Dali, he was declaring himself an anarchist and monarchist. So who or what was Salvador Dali? (Barcelona, the square neer the Dali exibition)

In my own opinion, Dali was an obsessional human being, bound, uncontrollable by his own persistence of ideas and emotions. He had a passion for art even from an early age and devoured every artistic style he came into contact with. He was a devoted husband and a showman on the verge of madness. He exploited his own madness as a showman and exaggerated his showmanship as madness. He loved living in Spain. The only time he lived in France or America was to study art or avoid war. The fact that he chose to live in Spain while it was ruled by Franco. (He was one of the few intellectuals to do so.) shows how passionate he was about his nation. I doubt very much that he truly cared about politics. But he realized it was necessary to have political views and would use them to exploit or exaggerate his own self image if necessary.

He spent his remaining years back in his beloved Catalonia. After his wife 'Gala's' death in 1982, he seams to have lost the will to live and finally died in 1989 at the age of 84 in Figueres the same town he had been born in in 1904. WOW what a life he lived. He lived it all, every minute, with out compromise and although I might not admire his work I certainly admire his life.

Louise Bourgeois at the Tate

2008-01-04T21:27:00.000Z

Me and my girlfriend recently had the chance to get to the Tate Modern in London and went round the Louise Bourgeois exhibition they have on there at the moment, OH what fun…..We just loved it….all the looks we got for our laughter and giggles that we both found hard to suppress, all the sexual references and a real sense of fun which is displayed in much of her work. But that’s the point of art. To get a response, any response will do. (Someone else said that I think but I can’t remember who) anyway we can only hope to get the right one if we worked for it hard enough. The day my best friend Michael came round for a coffee. We chatted for a while telling him about what we had seen at the Tate and our thoughts about the work of Louise Bourgeois. Michael told us that while he had been studying art at Falmouth he had met her at a gallery open evening. He described her in much the same light as us. All I can say is keep up the good work Louise the world is a richer place for it.

New to this

2008-01-04T15:38:00.000Z

Hi ya all, I'm Mark and I have just started this Blog on my laptop. That way my laptop won't just be collecting dust and I will have the chance to put forward my ideas and views that don't belong on my web site. I don't intend to add to my blog every day but often enough to keep it interesting and vibrant. (I hope you will find it just that way). So why a blog? I'm not a computer expert and up until a few days ago I had no real idea what a blog is for let alone how to cerate one. More new skills required. I have still got a long way to go but it all starts with the first tentative steps. Those steps stared by asking a few questions and doing a little research in to. What is a blog? Why do I need a blog? and what benefit will I get from having a blog?

The simple answer is blogs are not what I thought they were. They are not just mini web sites, or some kind of chat page or just another means of communication, that would distract me from my real purpose, painting. Of cause having a blog will help to promote Me, My work and My web site but more importantly it has proved to be a valuable tool in understanding my work, the work of others, what I'm doing and why, as well as a means to collect my thoughts and frame them in purposeful and meaningful ways.

My research led me along many paths. I looked at other peoples blogs, articles, posts and web sites. I made decisions about what I wonted to say or achieve and the feel that the blog has. I learned that content, links and pictures are what makes any blog work or fail. I found that there is a huge amount of information freely available and that communication is only one small part of being a blogger. A blog is not just one thing but rather like an car the blending of many parts to form a whole that requires fuel, time and constant maintenance to allow it to run smoothly. I found some site very helpful Like http://www.emptyeasel.com/. which has lots of good articles and the excellent articles for artists by Kirsty Hall, which I found very helpful.

The benefits are not just mine it seems. As a life time dyslexic the written language has always presented me with challenges and will continue to do so, however. I have found that this Blog and my web site have opened a world that before I had only glimpsed. In this new world of mine I know and can see that my work and my life has improved enormously as a result. If though this blog I can in some small way enrich, enlighten or uplift the lives of others as this blog has done for me then we are all one step closer to our goals.