Odd Nerdrum

Neo Rauch and Odd Nerdrum are my two largest influences right now.  They keep me going when I don't have the time or energy to paint.  I have been studying the both of them when I have a moment, at work, after Sophia goes to bed.  I've tried to show her, but she tends to want  to get a little too close to the book...  I have a book that has some pretty decent images from his show in 2007 at the Forum Gallery in New York and Los Angeles. 

The image below doesn't even begin to show the extensive amounts of color he uses in a small area, or the roughness and texture he produces with his signature style.  I think at this point I've stared at the images in that small book for a few hours, and am just starting to understand what it is to build up color and texture.  I've started applying some of his technique to the figures in my paintings and am definitely pleased with the results so far.  I think what I enjoy most about his work, is how it is almost impossible to discriminate between layers.  There are points where you can tell what color is layered on top, but for the most part it seems that he sands down his paintings quite a bit, and scrapes off layers of paint.  Creating a very interesting and a very complex surface.  It's wonderful, but so very time consuming.  This leads me to Neo Rauch......

Enclosure

Oil on Paper, 5' x 11'

Anamnesis

Oil on Paper, 10' x 5'

Anamnesis: recollection, or loss of forgetfulness.  Tied to the idea or philosophy that we have knowledge from previous lives.  (I am a little unsure of how I feel about the idea of actual reincarnation, but I do like the idea that human instincts could be the passage of information from previous generations through our genes)

My work had been about memory.  I had first started in this direction in the interest of preserving the memory of my mother, and dealing with the loss of memory of her after she had passed away.  After the initial works I started to broaden my interest.  I began looking back to my entire childhood, preserving memories, adding to them, embellishing.  Blurring lines between actual memory and dreams.  My work became a blurred reality.  

This piece in particular was a very strong memory.  It was a mixture of two nightmares I had as a child.  One about a large fire.  The other about being chased by someone who wanted to stab a needle into my spinal chord.  The entire next day I kept feeling the back of my neck thinking that I could feel the prick of that needle.  

This piece is like a medical history.  Bringing me to the more commonly used definition.  It isn't a "real" medical history, but it was very real to me at age 9.  Throughout the piece there are medical diagrams of the spinal column and the spinal chord.  I can still feel that tingle at the base of my neck.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Life is a bit hectic with wedding planning and all I want to do is work on art and jewelry, but well, I don't really have the time, but I keep managing to make a little time...I am planning something amazing and exciting, and I can't wait to see it into fruition.  And I hope it is everything I hope it will be.  Beyond that, the post below is my etsy shop.  I am hoping to start selling at some handmade markets.  But for now I just have to wait till I have time to make more.

Figurative Studies

Here are a couple examples of my figurative work.  I have always enjoyed working from the figure.  There is something very natural and straight forward about the process.  Skin tone is one of my favorite things to paint, as well as one of the most complicated.  Both of these were done in about 9 hours, in class.

WHAT IS ART????????

About year into college my dad asked me how I defined Art.  No one had ever asked me that question before.  I was tongue tied.  What is Art?  In three words.  I had no idea.  Since then I've been mulling over it in my head.  Not constantly agonizing over it, but it's been back there in my dreams and subconscious.  And then the other day it came to me.

I was walking down the street thinking about Marcel Duchamp who I believe changed art forever in an amazing way.  He's brilliant, and art would not be what it is today without him.  At the same time I hate him sometimes for how he changed art.  He might have killed it.  The last brilliant shocking artwork.  I haven't seen anything like it yet for my generation.  Point being.  Marcel Duchamp made art by stating it was Art.  So thats it.  Something becomes Art when you state it's Art.   Simple, to the point, maybe a bit too obvious, but if you stop to think about it (if you care as much as I do about logic..) It's true.  People will step into a gallery and as a performance, do the same thing that they are doing at home, but because they are stating it's Art, then it's Art.  Maybe not good Art, but Art.

I might be the only person out there who thinks that this is soo interesting.  When I first thought about it a couple months back, I was so excited.  But now, it doesn't seem that great.  It actually depresses me a little.