Getting perspective…

• Old abandoned houses along the vast stretches of our state highways are just beautiful to me. I now have a series of photographs that I’m adapting to oils, drawings, watercolors and mixed media, with the intention of a body of work for a show.

Most of the time I am pretty sure of what I want in a piece, and I jump right into it. Other times I want to really deconstruct my viewpoint and dig deep into what I’m investigating. I get out any media I want and start hammering away at the image with a sort of vengeance, really pushing it to the boundaries of the paper’s edge. I try to approach it like it is one minute away from the trash,  so all intention of preciousness or a  finished piece is not part of the process.

Then I alter it one more time by reducing it down. It takes on an entirely different perspective. Colors become clearer, as does composition.  Mistakes and values become more evident and important .

The lessons I learn in my art continue to teach me how to live my life.  When I consider some problem in my day to to day life, I reduce it down, look at it from an entirely different perspective, don’t cling to my idea of the outcome. Rather,  I let it take its’ own course as I allow my thoughts to go all over the idea –  the good, the bad and the ugly. I find I have an entirely different perspective on things  when I go through this process. I can see what I’ve overlooked, or failed to include or consider. I know when I start a new piece what needs to be added, included, or abandoned and now might result in a more well thought out idea.

What have I learned?

I’ve learned that fine art is nothing more than learning the fine art of living.