Posts Tagged ‘Painting’
Self Portrait with Lungs and Plants
“Self Portrait with Lungs and Plants” Oil and pigments on Canvas, Marianne Slevin 2010
So I still am alive and well! My no tech week seemed to trigger off a long spell of almost no tech. I think once we get out of the habit of something then it can be hard to do it again. I think a lot about making art is habit, so it is really important to develop good habits, as the more we do the better we get. Sometimes we are not in the “mood” but that can change once we don’t expect to be” perfect” (in our own our own eyes anyway). Surprising our selves can be one of the best things we can do in our art practice, why are we so afraid of the unknown? Art is a journey some times difficult sometimes easy but always exploratory. The painting above was a journey that took many twists and turns, and surprised me many times. Yesterday I came to the end of that particular journey, I had been trying to unite the figure (myself) and the rest of the painting, and finally I think I did.
Wonderful Nature And The Inner Art Critic
“Dazzled by Red Cabbage,” photographs by Marianne Slevin
Today, I am going to begin to write a little bit about, how some of my paintings or other art pieces come about. Well, just about everything that I am anyway aware of, effects my art work! That which I put in and also that which I omit. What is left out of an art work often says as much as what is in it. The art making process is a sort of distillery of time, space and experience. Sifting through the river bed at a rapid speed, honing in when there is a sparkle as not to miss anything precious.
Over time our specific areas of interest become more developed, embracing new ideas that fit in with the growing picture. I have always loved nature, now that love of nature is finding nature in all sorts of places, such as the kitchen.
There are many parts to this art making beast, but it may be helpful for them all to join hands and cooperate. Many artists talk as if their inner art critic is a dreadful unruly beast that they would be better off without, and perhaps they are right, but perhaps our inner art critic could be useful if we listened to them and gave them a little of our time, maybe they are just angry cause we think we know it all.
May I suggest a meeting with the inner art critic; a constructive interview. Hear what they have to say, and have a conversation, debate and put your side forward too. This may stop future torment in the studio mid movement! Which is far worse and hurtful. Put that dreadful little voice to rest for good or take some advice that could be worth taking. Grab it by the horns over a coffee or Jasmin tea! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could actually made peace with our inner art critic?
Releasing the Grip
There are many things that we believe about ourselves that keep us in a nice neatly wrapped up package of what we call ourselves; such as I am a vegetarian, I am good with horses, I am good at cleaning, I am never angry! The truth can be a little different sometimes! Often for the sake of easiness we will put ourselves into a box. I am a painter sometimes and a person who does different sorts of creative things, and if I try to make too much sense out of what I do it starts to vanish.
The pressure that comes from trying to be a professional artist aged 30 something can lead to feeling that by now I should know what I am doing. I should be clear and concise and be producing large bodies of work all finished and ready for hanging neatly in a gallery. That the work should have an undeniable style and theme. Now the truth is more messy then that and hopefully less boring too. The truth for me is that certain themes come and go over the years, that there are several different styles and every piece of art I make is different, this could be to do with the fact that I nearly always start a painting with pretending that it is the first painting I ever did, and seeing what emerges. I think that when you see an artist’s work that all looks very similar it probably has come from a more conscious place in the artist, and that is a valid way to make art too. I think that often galleries and the audience are more comfortable with it. This is probably why so many artists feel that they should make matching work, it looks much more together on an application.
I often intend to make a series of drawings or paintings, but after about two pieces I have lost the desire to continue, it just feels fake. Though this may happen naturally over time if it is not forced. A few times with certain types of art work I have made a series of them, such as painted text scrolls, but when I try to make a piece similar to other work it just feels like a clone and not the real thing! How ever this could all change and this time next year I could be working on “Wind blow tree No.105”!
Don’t Think, Merge Instead!
Riding “Iago” at Dunmoe Riding School 2009
Often it is necessary to think a great deal before you do something and after, but during it is often better to merge with what you are doing: your surroundings, the computer, the horse, the materials that you are making art with. Giving away the control can seem a little scary, but the times when something goes really well for me I am usually not doing very much! As my riding instructor used to say “like nothing” when I and the horse would jump or do some flat work well. This makes me think about when I am doing art, that I probably think too much a lot of the time. Thinking can limit the possibilities and sometimes stifle creativity. If we allow the parts of us that are usually without a voice to express themselves then we may come across something of a delicate and/or profound nature.
“Maybe Human” one of the paintings in “Merging 3” exhibition by Marianne Slevin
In August, I was in a three person show called “Merging 3”. I was the person who wanted to call it Merging. At the time I was not really sure why, but the other night while reading the book called Spiritual Alchemy the author, Dr.Christine Page wrote about how when people merge with what they are doing there are greater results. In an experiment people guessed heads or tails on a computer game, most people got around 60% correct but the difference between the people who got around 80% was that they talked about merging with the computer.
Painting and drawing are exercises in merging for me, merging the different parts of me and the materials that I use and often the environment. I also attempt to merge with something greater then myself and if I am thinking too much then that will hinder any voyages into the unknown.
Into Existence
These are three of my resent pieces, they are paintings that have grow out of drawings or even doodles; just seeing what will come out when I let go of control. I am really enjoying using the pigments that James gave me, it is such a different experience to squeezing paint out of a tube.
Salmon run 1 Mixed Media on Canvas Marianne Slevin 2009
Salmon run 2 Mixed Media on Canvas Marianne Slevin 2009
Please excuse the shine!
Into Existence Mixed Media on Paper Marianne Slevin 2009
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