Beautiful chaos.

Collage materials collected since 2005

It's funny to look through things I've held on to for so many years. It's even more peculiar when they have nothing to do with my past but someone else's.

Found objects are the majority of material I use in my collages - some of the items are random fortunes, receipts, or scraps of paper that caught my eye. For whatever reason I grabbed it an have kept it for years.

Now that I am back using these materials again I need to start collecting and adding to my supplies. Let the search begin.  

All blue.

Today's pallette is blue for a special project inspired by Santorini. 

Finding legs.

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No. 2 - Work in progress, Close up

The creative process is similar throughout different fields. Since I work in advertising my critical thinking for art tends to parallel with the concepting process.

Color series thus far has been in the concepting phase. It's mostly exploring and finding different directions of what it could be but there is no solid idea yet. But now time to mold and shape these pieces into a cohesive body of work. Some will get left behind, some will have new life breathed into them.

I started by evaluating the different pieces - why the strongest is successful and why the weaker ones aren't working as hard. This reflection phase is all about picking favorites and dissecting intuition. I do a lot of listening to my own thoughts and to people who offer their opinion. 

At this point I have decided to go in the direction of No. 1.

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No. 1

For me, No. 1 is the strongest for different reasons. Here are my fluid thoughts on what I like about it.

I like that it looks like a head, it's like a psychedelic skull, it reminds me of kid cudi's album cover, the white space makes you think it could be a brain or represent the inside of what is going on in someones head, i love the colors, its all complex and fluid and maybe that what i like to think is going on in my head.

So then I wondered what a family of head-space paintings would look like. Would they all draw you in and make you think? For me, I can see multiple of these retaining their integrity instead of feeling like half-ass replicas. Lets find out and lets see if this sucker has legs.

I'm jumping off the ledge.

i’ve been reading a lot of artist interviews and have been inspired by their work (thanks great discontent). recently, lisa soleberg, nathaniel gibson, and elle luna‘s art have resonated with me.

i’ve been working primarily on smaller pieces that are very structured and use only black and white.

what i love about their work is the large size, freedom of color, and loose form.

i’ve also been feeling stagnate and uninspired. i haven’t spent significant time in the studio and am feeling depleted, creatively. enter an article about creative ruts. in this article, fear and self-imposed limitations are listed as culprits. it also explored the need to jump off the ledge to make way for creative salvation.

so yeah, fuck it, lets jump.

i’ve decided i’m going to make 5 large pieces completely opposite of the work i’m currently doing. i have 5 free days, and will work until i’m finished.

Studio Prep.

after being away from the studio, getting back into the groove can be a harder task than i would like. sometimes prepping work gets me in the flow and ready to create again. just by being in the studio i can get in the right headspace.

it also helps that i love the prep work.
i love pulling out a fresh sheet of paper.
i love getting the ruler out and trying to fold a straight edge.
i love pressing the bone fold onto the paper making a guide of where i will tear it.
i love taping down the edges of paper.

i hate staring at a blank piece of paper.
not knowing what to do is a hard part of the process.

usually i will keep fussing around the studio, tiding up, reorganizing, etc. until i find some sort of inspiration or have a thought that launches a starting point.

when all else fails – i paint still lifes.

hello flowers, i think you’re beautiful. do you mind if i paint you?

tonight, i am painting flowers.