Three for the week

Remember the Iso50 blog link I posted? Take a look at this guy's portfolio. I suggest looking through his prints. It's nothing short of amazing. Notice also, that he is using common/trite imagery (birds, trees, etc), but he puts it together in such a way where it doesn't matter. I don't find myself looking at it and rolling my eyes, rather, I find myself unable to stop looking.

The month of October. In the past I have really detested the fall. I have an onslaught of bad memories beginning in my childhood that consistently occurred in the fall. These memories follow me around like ghosts this time of year. A few years ago October 23rd, I lost a friend to cancer-brain tumor. I watched her die in hospice. I always assumed that watching someone die would make death easier to process and less terrifying. To that, I would say yes and no. I've been to a lot of funerals since I was a kid. When I was five my grandmother explained the concept of death to me. So I've been well acquainted. What I'm in the process of questioning right now is what I've done with my life. When it's all said and done, I'm not taking any of my "art" with me when I die. I'm not taking any of my stuff. I'm not taking my boyfriend, or my friends. What am I doing? This is a driving force for me.

Note that I think about these things, but I don't theme my work around "death." Just putting it out there.

That was a tangent. Over the past few years, the bad memories have become replaced with good. So while there is the weight of loss that follows me around, there is also the excitement of having worked through a very long, difficult healing process. There is not one without the other. The feeling of fall is completely different than what I've experienced in the past. The excitement becomes as much as a driving force as the questions I have about the time I'm given.

If this is too vague, ask me about it in class. I can't always post everything I want to.

Third influence: boyfriend. This is obvious, right? He is a graphic designer, printmaker, and does some sculpture. In addition, he is ridiculously intelligent (though he wouldn't believe it if you told him). Over a year ago he said to me, "You know what I want to do? Build a replica of a 1920's motorcycle. And if it works, I want to build more and sell them." Within a week, he started his idea. He essentially built a motorcycle from scratch, in his kitchen. He taught himself how to weld in order to do it. He finally sold it, and is starting motorcycle number 2. This time, he is building the frame from scratch (he modified/strengthened a bicycle frame for the last one)-this means figuring out the angles of the frame, making sure he has enough room/support for the engine and wheels, and so on. I don't know if any of you have taken woodworking, but I chose a very angular table for my first project over the summer. It made me want to rip my eyes out. Metal is even less forgiving, I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been to do those measurements, mess up, and then do them again.

He's never been trained in ANY of this, just decided he would do it.. researched, and made it happen. So I think for me in regards to art, "I can't" really isn't an option. I would prefer to say, "I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it," than, "I can't." I would even prefer to say, "I'm choosing not to." Does that make sense? I think it comes down to a choice. I choose not to work on cars or bicycles because I don't want to. Could I teach myself? Certainly. Do I want to? Not really. The same goes for painting. I am not good at painting. I could get better if I wanted to, though it would never be one of my strengths. I'm choosing not to, because I love printmaking and drawing more. It's a choice.