En ta paume, mon verbe et ma paume (partie une)

I want to tell you about art. About being an artist- my personal story, well parts of it for now.

There is a lot of art out there, some more inspired than others and yes, a lot of bad art, but unfortunately there are a lot of people that are bad viewers. How many times have you heard someone say of someones art, "It looks like my four year old could have done it." or " I like it but it won't match my sofa." and my personal favorite, "It looks like a __________" (fill in the blank with another artists name.)

Making a piece of art is pure bliss and torture, I suppose I have become one of those artists that take themselves seriously. I am constantly trying to create something that will proceed me, something that is new, something no one has seen before. The next step.

I am not one of those artist that sketches bad nudes or bucolic scenes in a book or uses scrap materials to paint bad caricatures in day glow hues. I have been there and done that years and years ago. As I have matured so has my work. My work is very large, the larger the canvas, the more intimate the piece becomes, giving my viewer a more complete experience of what I am trying to communicate- the most important thing you can achieve as an artist is being able to create a visual language- your very own-in which the viewer can start to understand what your message is.

For me there are so many preparations that have to be done to make a piece of art, beyond forcing my hand to translate the vision in my mind, -all rather boring to hear about I am sure- First there is preparing the canvas, selecting and mixing just the right pigment etc. and for my work and the medium I chose to work with, there is the matter of very carefully controlling the temperature and humidity. Ug- It all sounds so nuts and bolts doesn't it?

Now let me tell you what its like to be in the perfect place making art, having your mind and heart flow out in perfect harmony with your hands and materials, It feels like being infatuated with a new love. Its like stubbing your toe in the middle of the night. It feels like telling an intimate stranger your deepest secrets. It is like having the biggest piece of cake. It is the beautiful sadness you feel when you hear a song that reminds you of someone that you've loved and lost forever. When it is right, it make all of this make sense.

I believe there are many artist out there that have been better off never studying art or art history, but I think it's like the saying goes about those who don't learn from the past being condemned to repeat it.

Here is a small list of some art movements I have personally studied - with links compliments of Wikipedia- to give you some idea about what some of us have been up to while you were at the office.

Believe me- if you want to critique someones work it's best to have something to back it up with.

Abstract art
Art Brut
Abstract expressionism
Academic art
Action painting
Analytical art
Antipodeans
Anti-realism
Arabesque
Art Deco
Art Nouveau
Arte Povera
Arts and Crafts Movement
Ashcan School
Asemic
Les Automatistes
Barbizon school
Baroque
Bauhaus
Classical Realism
Color Field
Conceptual art
Constructivism
Cubism
Dada
Danube school
Dau-al-Set
De Stijl (also known as Neoplasticism)
Deconstructivism
Expressionism
Fantastic realism
Fauvism
Figurative art
Figuration Libre
Folk art
Fluxus
Futurism
Geometric abstract art
Graffiti
Gutai group
Harlem Renaissance
Humanistic Aestheticism
Hypermodernism
Impressionism
Institutional Critique
International Gothic
International Typographic Style
Les Nabis
Letterism
Lowbrow (art movement)
Lyco art
Lyrical Abstraction
Magic Realism
Mannerism
Massurrealism
Metaphysical painting
Mingei
Minimalism
Modernism
Modular constructivism
Naive art
Neoclassicism
Neo-Dada
Neo-expressionism
Neo-figurative
Neoism
Neo-primitivism
Net art
New Objectivity
Northwest School (art)
Op Art
Orphism
Photorealism
Plein Air
Pluralism
Pointillism
Pop art
Post-impressionism
Postmodernism
Precisionism
Primitivism
Purism
Qajar art
Rasquache
Realism
Remodernism
Renaissance
Rococo
Romanesque
Romanticism
Samikshavad
Shin hanga
Sōsaku hanga
Socialist Realism
Space Art
Street Art
Stuckism
Suprematism
Surrealism
Symbolism (arts)
Synchromism
Tachisme
Ukiyo-e
Vorticism
Verdadism

There! That took no time at all did it?

In honor of a fellow soldier, here is a little bevvie in his name.

The Van Gogh!_____________________________________________________________

1 tsp creme de cassis

1 tsp absinthe herbal liqueur

1/4 tsp blackberry brandy

4 - 6 oz Brut Champagne
In a Champagne flute combine Cassis, Absinthe and Black Berry Brandy.

Top off to the top with Champagne.

Stir very lightly.

Try not to cut off an ear.

Enjoy!