one small thing and the world is changed

Its seam a funny thing, you change one small thing and the next thing you know a whole world has in some small way altered. Perhaps it just a perception but sooner or later that feels like a reality even if it dose not become one over night.

My profile image on Google+

Ok so why all the fuss, well, I changed my profile picture on Google +, in part as a protest over a couple of bills that where going before congress concerning as I saw it the freedom of information and what I believed was some kind of censorship that was being allowed through the back door. 

But you don't even live in the USA some said. True, but the internet don't know that, even if it gave a toss... The simple fact is as an artist my work is seen and interpreted by others based on their values and not mine, my reasons and ideals often mean nothing to someone else.

I knew at the time and had no doubt that my little protest would make any impact on the events of the time. I mean its just a small photo of me that I fiddled with, to almost black out my image. However as time has gone on I have looked again and again at the half seen image straining to see more... Which set me to wondering is that not how we normally see the world around us... 

Do we as individuals and artists alike really take the time to look and see, or is just a collection of half seen images and fleeting glimpses that we take for granted and where we allow our brains to fill in the blanks, assuming that is that we even care about what we see based on the thousands of images that are thrust upon us every day through the media, advertising and the internet.

The simple fact is that few of us have the time to really look at the world as it rushes by. For me Facebook and Google+ are just a collection of images that might catch my eye from time to time drawing me to the headline that might, if its really lucky get me to look a little deeper and even read a few words on a good day, assuming I have the time... and the inclination.

The more  that I have thought about the more that I have been playing with the images I see and have actually stated looking at the idea of painting those half seen images as though that are a reality...  

50 fun, simple, creative and interesting art ideas.

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

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.

Believing we can.

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.