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...  

Her argument devoid of reason

Her argument devoid of reason, a photo by Mjo-art on Flickr.

a new and expressive painting exploring my response to an interesting discussion with a girlfriend... as you can see it was a colourful conversation that left me confused and bewildered.

Although I don't normally react to events quite so dramatically in this particular instance I found refreshing and liberating to explore my feelings so vividly

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?

The Life of an artist

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

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...