Q: In the “Black Paintings” you create a deep intellectual interaction and communicate a wide variety of states of mind. I admit that certain “Black Paintings” unsettle me a bit. I see in this series an effective mix between anguish and happiness. Rather than simply describing something, these paintings pose a question and force us to contemplation. Can you talk about this aspect of your work?
“The Storyteller,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 20″ x 26″
A: I’m sure you and other viewers will see all kinds of states of mind, like anguish, happiness, and everything in between. I think that’s wonderful because it means my work is communicating a message to you. Sometimes people have told me that my images are unsettling and that’s fine, too. I would never presume to tell anyone what to think about my work. As one reviewer put it, “What you bring to my work you get back in spades!”
Some of this is intentional, but some is not. My day-to-day experiences – what I’m thinking about, what I’m feeling, what I’m reading, the music I’m listening to, etc. – get embedded into the work. I don’t understand exactly how that happens, but I am glad it happens. This work does come from a deep place, much deeper than I am able to explain even to myself. After nearly three decades as an artist, the intricacies of my creative process are still a mystery. Personally, I am very fond of mysteries and don’t need to understand it all.
Comments are welcome!
Posted on December 20, 2014, in An Artist's Life, Art in general, Black Paintings, Creative Process, Inspiration, Pastel Painting, Photography, Quotes, Working methods and tagged "Black Paintings", "The Storyteller", about, admit, anguish, anyone, artist, aspect, between, bit, bring, certain, communicating, contemplation, create, creative, day to day, decades, deep, describing, effective, embedded, enjoy, everything, experiences, explain, feeling, fine, fond, force, glad, happens, happiness, images, intellectual, intentional, interaction, intricasies, listening, message, mind, mix, music, myself, mystery, nearly, paintings, pastel, people, personally., place, pose, presume, process, question, rather, reading, reviewer, sandpaper, series, simply, soft, something, sometimes, spades, states, sure, talk, think, unsettle, variety, viewers, wide, wonderful, work. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Q: In the “Black Paintings” you create a deep intellectual interaction and communicate a wide variety of states of mind. I admit that certain “Black Paintings” unsettle me a bit. I see in this series an effective mix between anguish and happiness. Rather than simply describing something, these paintings pose a question and force us to contemplation. Can you talk about this aspect of your work?.
