ARTISTS WHO HAVE INSPIRED ME

    There have been many artists who have inspired me over the years.  Picasso, L'eger, Delaunay, Kupka, and the list goes on and on.  But in my estimation, Pablo Picasso, is the one who started it all, with his Female Nude in 1910. This extreme fragmentation of form was a dramatic departure from the existing modes of pictorial expression.  He change the rules from reality or representational art to modern art which rests on a very wide range of assumptions, not as familiar but no less valid.

    L'eger in 1914 painted Contrasting Forms using simple geometric shapes and color, he was particularly interested in metallic surfaces and cylindrical forms.

    Delaunay also painted some of the earliest abstract art with three great pieces in 1912 and 1913, Windows Open Simultaneously, Sun and Moon and Circular Forms.  To quote Delaunay "light in nature creates movement in color".  He was more interested in capturing optical effects than painting objects.
     

    Kupka, a Czech painter was the first artist to venture into color abstraction.  He used the power of color alone to suggest movement.  His Disks of Newton painted in 1912 are a great representation of his work.  I use this principal in most of my art as well.

    Yes the abstract or modern art form has been with us for over one hundred years.  You must be wondering, how can something that has been around that long be considered modern, however remember that art in general has existed for thousands of years and will for thousands of years into the future, and I would imagine that a more modern art will emerge, hope I'm around to experience it.

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Art is Fun...

     In 1969, just for fun, I painted Geo Prisms, a colorful display of art using geometric shapes. I used acrylic paint on a canvas board.  Many times you can use lines and shapes to achieve an over all structure and depth.  In this case I used color to make you wonder what the true background really is, plus by inserting the window in this piece it opens up many possibilities for thought.  The lines take you into an abyss, which gives the piece an added dimension.

    My mental process at that time was to look for a less complicated world, which I now have come to realize does not exist.  I personally love the color combination.

     I believe you can truly express your feelings or in this case, capture a moment in time on canvas by using color to achieve abstract art.  Many artists I know take art to serious and it becomes work, they get stressed out and they never enjoy the process.  I believe and always will that for me, art is fun.  If you just let it happen, it will, and you will experience a real feeling of accomplishment.

Geo Prisms, 1969, acrylic on canvas, print available at ADJECTIVEART.COM

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Moving forward in time - My first Acrylic, Oil and Water Color Abstract Art

        MOVING FORWARD IN TIME….   AFTER DOING MANY ABSTRACT PAINTINGS FOR FRIENDS IN THOSE DAYS, WORKS THAT ARE PROBABLY LOST FOREVER, I BEGAN TO KEEP TRACK OF MY CREATIONS.  THE PAINTINGS YOU SEE ON THE ADJECTIVEART.COM WEBSITE REPRESENT MANY YEARS, MANY LOCATIONS AND MANY EXPERIENCES.  ONE OF MY FIRST DOCUMENTED PAINTINGS WAS (MOTION-FIRST OF MANY), WHICH IS ON OUR CONTEMPORARY ART PAGE.  IT WAS A COMBINATION OF ACRYLIC, OIL AND WATER COLORS ON CANVAS, COMPLETED IN 1968.

        I WAS SO EXCITED TO DO THE PAINTING THAT I COULD NOT DECIDE WHICH MEDIUM TO USE, SO I USED THEM ALL.  THE FEELING AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME WAS TO MOVE OUT OF THE 60’S, WHICH BRINGS TO MIND A FAMOUS QUOTE OF CHARLES DICKENS “IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES”.  FROM THE HOPES WE HAD IN J.F.K. BEING DASHED, TO THE VIETNAM WAR REMOVING THE INNOCENCE OF OUR GENERATION, IT TRULY WAS A TURBULENT TIME TO COME OF AGE, BUT WE GOT THROUGH IT.  MANY GOOD THINGS WERE BIRTHED IN THAT DECADE HOWEVER, FROM THE PEACE MOVEMENT TO THE BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY, BOTH OF WHICH I CONTEND BATTLE ON TO THIS DAY.

        THE GREAT THING FOR AN ARTIST SURVIVING THOSE DAYS IS THAT IT GAVE ONE A LIFETIME OF EMOTIONS AND EXPERIENCES TO PLACE ON CANVAS, AND I AM.    (MOTION-FIRST OF MANY), WAS MY FIRST AND EVERYTHING I HAVE PAINTED SINCE EXPRESSES A FEELING FOR THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT IN TIME.  AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, I LOVE TO EXPRESS MYSELF WITH COLOR.  I THINK THAT COLOR CAN CHANGE ONE’S MOOD.  BY USING COLOR IN ABSTRACT ART YOU CAN ACHIEVE BALANCE, STRUCTURE AND THE ILLUSION OF MANY DIFFERENT SHAPES.

MOTION FIRST OF MANY, 1968, OIL, WATER COLOR AND ACRYLIC, ON CANVAS.  PRINT AVAILABLE AT ADJECTIVEART.COM

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ADJECTIVE ART…VIEWING LIFE FROM AN ABSTRACT PROSPECTIVE - Part Two

         WELL TO CONTINUE THE STORY, ONE BY ONE HE BEGAN TO WALK NEXT TO THE LONG SHEETS OF BLACK AND WHITE PAINTED PAPER AND PROCEEDED TO TELL EACH ONE OF US HOW TERRIBLE OUR WORK WAS.  WHEN HE CAME TO MY MASTER PIECE HE CONTINUED TO CRITICIZE EACH FOOT OF IT, LIKE HE DID TO MY FELLOW CLASSMATES, UNTIL HE GOT ABOUT TEN FEET IN AND HE STOPPED AND SAID, SOMEONE GET ME A PAIR OF SCISSORS.  I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO CUT IT TO SHREDS  BUT INSTEAD HE SAID NOW THIS IS ART.  NO ONE WAS MORE SURPRISED THAN I WAS, BUT HE BEGAN TO EXPLAIN THAT IT HAD ALL THE QUALITIES NEEDED TO BE A GOOD PAINTING.  FIRST IT HAD BALANCE AND STRUCTURE, IT DID NOT FEEL LIKE IT WAS FALLING OVER.  SECONDLY IT HAD TEXTURE AND UNUSUAL SHAPES, WHICH ADDED TO THE STRUCTURE, AND WITH THE BLACK AND WHITE OVER LAPPING YOU COULD NOT TELL WHICH WAS THE BASE SO IT BECAME KIND OF INTERCHANGEABLE.  OVERALL IT WAS PLEASING TO LOOK AT, RATHER THAN UNSETTLING AND THAT IS REALLY WHAT WE’RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE AS ARTISTS.

          THE NEXT WEEK WE WE’RE ASKED TO BRING BACK OUR BUTCHER PAPER BUT THIS TIME WE HAD TO BRING IN THE THREE PRIMARY COLORS RED, BLUE AND YELLOW IN TEMPERA PAINTS AND THREE HOUSE PAINT BRUSHES.  AND WELL YOU GUEST IT, WE WERE ASKED TO COVER THE PAPER, BUT THIS TIME USING THE THREE COLORS ONLY WITH NO MIXING TO CREATE OTHER COLORS.

          THE TEACHER THEN BEGAN TO CRITIQUE OUR WORK SIMILARLY TO HIS PREVIOUS SESSION EXCEPT HE WAS MUCH MORE CRITICAL THIS TIME.  FORTUNATELY MORE STUDENTS GOT THE MESSAGE AND PAINTED THEIR PAPER MORE DELIBERATELY AND HE FOUND MORE PIECES THAT FIT HIS DESCRIPTION OF ART.

          WELL WHEN HE CAME TO MY WORK THE CRITICISM CONTINUED AND ONCE AGAIN HE FOUND A SECTION THAT HE CUT OUT AND ADMIRED.  I WAS STILL RATHER CONFUSED BUT WHEN HE EXPLAINED WHAT I HAD ACCOMPLISHED, I FINALLY GOT IT AND IT CHANGED MY ART AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION FOREVER.  WHAT HE SAID WAS THAT IT HAD THE SIMILAR BALANCE, STRUCTURE AND TEXTURE QUALITIES AS I HAD IN THE BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING FROM THE PREVIOUS WEEK, HOWEVER I ACHIEVED IT ALL WITH THE USE OF COLOR.  NOT ONLY DID THE PAINTING HAVE INTERCHANGEABLE BASES, IT HAD GREAT SHAPES THAT SEEMED TO SYMBOLIZE IN HIS MIND RECENT POLITICAL EVENTS.

          WELL I HAD NO INTENTION TO SYMBOLIZE ANYTHING, BUT HE SAID THAT IT WAS NON-OBJECTIVE ART, MEANING THAT IF THE OBSERVER SAW SOMETHING IN YOUR PAINTING OTHER THAN WHAT YOU INTENDED, THAT’S A GOOD THING BECAUSE IT GAVE THEM SOMETHING TO RELATE TO AND THEY WOULD GENERALLY FIND IT PLEASING.

          THUS BEGAN MY JOURNEY IN THE WORLD OF ABSTRACT, SOMETIMES NON-OBJECTIVE AND ALWAYS DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVE ART.  

STAY TUNED...

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ADJECTIVE ART…VIEWING LIFE FROM AN ABSTRACT PROSPECTIVE - Part One

MY CREATIVE JOURNEY THROUGH ART ADJECTIVES BEGAN IN THE EARLY 60’S,
A VERY CLOSE FRIEND OF OUR FAMILY HAD A BROTHER WHO WAS WHAT IS NOW AN EXTINCT BREED OF HUMAN KNOWN AS A BEATNIK.  NO ONE UNDERSTOOD HIS PURPOSE EXCEPT HIM AND HE EXPRESSED IT VERY WELL THROUGH HIS ABSTRACT SCULPTURES AS A TEENAGER I WAS INTRIGUED BY HIS WORK AND HE EXPLAINED EACH PIECE WITH PASSION.  AS WE TALKED I REALIZED IT WAS HIS WAY OF EXPRESSING HIS FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS THROUGH HIS WORK.

EACH SCULPTURE REPRESENTED SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT TO HIS SURROUNDINGS, HIS POLITICS, HIS FRIENDSHIPS AND HIS LIFE IN GENERAL.
OUR DISCUSSIONS LEFT A LASTING IMPRESSION WITH ME AND JUST SIMMERED IN MY HEAD UNTIL THE MID 60’S WHEN I ENTERED COLLEGE.

MY FIRST CLASS AT COLLEGE WAS AN ART CLASS TAUGHT BY A BEATNIK, AN UNUSUAL FELLOW WITH A GOATEE BEARD AND HE SPOKE WORDS LIKE COOL MAN AND DADDYO.  I REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY NEAT UNTIL HE TOLD US TO BRING A ROLL OF BROWN BUTCHER PAPER, LARGE CONTAINERS OF BLACK AND WHITE TEMPERA PAINTS AND A COUPLE OF HOUSE PAINT BRUSHES TO THE NEXT CLASS.  THEN I FIGURED HE WAS JUST CRAZY.

WELL I FOLLOWED HIS INSTRUCTIONS AND FOUND A VERY LONG ROLL OF BROWN BUTCHER PAPER, THE PAINT AND THE BRUSHES AND BROUGHT BACK TO THE NEXT CLASS.
THERE WERE ABOUT TWENTY OF US IN THAT CLASS AND IT WAS HELD IN THE LONG BASEMENT OF A FAIRLY NEW DORMITORY WITH PAINT ALL OVER THE FLOOR.  I JUST FIGURED THAT PREVIOUS CLASSES WERE JUST MESSY.
THEN HE PROCEEDED TO HAVE US ROLL OUT THE PAPER FOR ABOUT THIRTY FEET, AND PAINT THE PAPER LEAVING NO BROWN SHOWING.  WELL WE ALL JUST LOOKED AT EACH OTHER NOT UNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSE FOR HIS INSTRUCTION.  THEN HE INSISTED THAT WE JUST HAVE FUN AND EXPRESS OURSELVES, SO EVEN THOUGH I THOUGHT IT WAS ALL VERY STUPID I COMPLIED.

IT WAS A LOT OF FUN AND VERY MESSY AND I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT MY CLOTHES OR MY HANDS OR THE FLOOR BEING COVERED WITH BLACK AND WHITE PAINT BECAUSE IT WAS COOL MAN.
WELL IT TOOK US ABOUT TWENTY TO TWENTY FIVE MINUTES TO COMPLETE THE TASK AND HE BEGAN TO CRITIQUE OUR WORK.  THAT’S RIGHT I SAID CRITIQUE  WHAT WAS THERE TO CRITIQUE, IT WAS JUST A BIG MESS BUT HE WAS REALLY SERIOUS.

MORE TO COME...

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My First Thoughts

       I've been in art so long I can't say in words what I can express on a canvas. 

       Perhaps I just blogged and didn't know it, hey that wasn't so difficult after all, I think I'll try it again.

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