Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | When Fainting with Mark Rothko
A searing moment. Trying to define what has occurred. You saw the painting and felt something awaken. Now it fades as you faint into the light. And only a dream awaits.
“The most important tool for the artist fashions through constant practice is faith in his ability to produce miracles when they are needed. Pictures must be miraculous: the instant one is completed, the intimacy between the creation and the creator is ended. He is an outsider. The picture must be for him, as for anyone experiencing it later, a revelation, an unexpected and unprecedented resolution of an eternally familiar need.” ~ Mark Rothko
This will be my last posting of 2012 (US Eastern time zone). See you … in your thoughts, in 2013.
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Emerging Colors with Mark Rothko
This piece is heavily influence by the work of Mark Rothko.
The imagination is found inside the events of the day; forming various associations and perspectives in which to see things in a new light. Emerging with experimentation and discovery, the viewer is free to find what is hidden.
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Fading Light with Mark Rothko
Today I had the pleasure of attending a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina. The exhibit was entitled The Decisive Decade | 1940’s. The work was an exploration of his association with myth, and dreams leading up to his more prominent work in abstraction. It was a very informative exhibit. I was fortunate to have seen, years ago, an exhibit of his more well-known work from the 1950’s and beyond at a Philadelphia Museum of Art retrospective. I really like his work, as I do most of the abstract artists of that period. While viewing the exhibit at its conclusion, I felt inspired to perhaps again, start doing some large-scale painting. Something I have neglected to do over the years. His work in abstract painting, as he described it, was to fill his sense of deprivation. Deprivation was the central motivation for his abstract work. Hard to explain, but only the abstract could fill the mystical union of the unconscious and the formality of the outer world. Forming an entity unto itself in abstract terms. As I sat there and pondered the use of this medium and style of painting, I suddenly wanted to find the simplicity to express with my hands–outside the box of the computer. Simplicity being the center of this revelation. Bold flat colors, simple geometric forms in which to speak directly to the viewer. A contrast to my digital work perhaps. Which leads me to this piece “Fading Light with Mark Rothko”. It is a combination of the two worlds. Digital and painting. I often find myself pursuing visually an image of multiple themes and layers; ideas built around my personal experiences. One thing I discovered in this exhibit, was Rothko’s desire. A desire, in his pursuit of the abstract, to leave his personal interpretation behind, allowing the viewer to incorporate their own consciousness into the work. Again in this piece, I am searching for a more direct expression.
As part of this Post Canvas and Paint: Variations series, I will periodically be attempting to post a piece that leans toward a simple form of visual composition. I also will be using these posts as a place to experiment with the various Adobe Photoshop tools. Remember … “Nothing is ever collected in one moment”.
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Trust
in a deciding moment
a transition of thought
from fear to trust
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | We See Ourselves
In a moment while sitting with myself, I thought only of things you said to me …
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Light and Dark
Well for the last several months, all of the art I’ve been posting has been created using a Samsung phone and the PicsArt app. In some instances, I combined older digital work, with newly created pieces. It was a challenge to work in such a small environment. But I must say, it did feel like I was walking around with a sophisticated notepad and colored pencils. Now I am happy to say that I am now sitting in front of my new Windows 8 desktop. Big screen. More processing power. And although I am now using the pre-installed Adobe Photo Elements instead of my more familiar Corel Photo Paint Pro, I am happy to have considerably more freedom to create art and the capability to write with more depth and length. I have always used Corel over Adobe, so this will be a learning curve. Here is my first entry using the Adobe software. I will be experimenting and posting the results.
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | A New Morning
a new morning
with colors of possibilities
what will I find
that will bring me
peace of mind
lost just over the horizon
are the wishful memories
and waking realities
– life is
what life is
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | A Barren Autopsy
a barren autopsy
of ourselves;
the lack of compassion
for a deep sense of lost
and stolen innocence
what do we see
when we look in the mirror
on cold December nights
but the tears of children
falling from our eyes …
As a society we are becoming numb to reason. And as a consequence, we may one day lose our humanity.
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Last Train To The Beach
years ago
it felt like yesterday
the last train to the beach
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | A Circular Response
all too often
life brings us full circle
with a response too late
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Last Train
The night was falling
into a distant rumble;
churning and grinding
like tearful strokes
dreaming in memories;
the sound
and the acid smell of diesel
eating away this very moment
our every gesture of things promised
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | Echoes Without Canyons
an endless echo of memories
timelessly reverberating
– adrift
in a fathomless canyon
Post Canvas and Paint: Variations | A Place To Find What Was Lost
an endless road of memories
a journey of searching dreams
the place to find what was lost
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 