Creative Influences » thinking

Taking Art to the Street and Promoting Peace

Kim — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:39:17 +0000

This is an image of an installation in Brazil of artist, JR. Tomorrow, 2 March at 5:00 pm Pacific Time, JR will reveal his wish to change the world. He has been given this year’s TED prize and will receive help in making his wish come true. You can learn more about JR on the TED site and sign up to learn how to watch JR’s talk live tomorrow.

If you do not know about TED, I so encourage you to explore this site further. You might become hooked! Also, this image was provided by TED and the artist.

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The Gift of the Holidays

Kim — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:28:25 +0000

It is the season for giving, although artist seem to always be giving of themselves. As many of you know this autumn has been a challenge for my family, although there are many who face challenges beyond my imagination. Earlier, I was asked if I would be willing to donate some of my work to Minnesota Adopt (a non-profit organization working to place children in adoptive homes), and I was honored to do so. Because of some size restrictions, I donated this triptych of 5 x 5 inch tiles. This piece is titled Progression and is in acrylic with powdered pigment.

May you all have a Very Happy Holiday Season and may 2011 be all you can imagine!

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Kindness

Kim — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:41:35 +0000

Kindness never harms anyone! I hope someone is kind to you today and you are kind in turn.

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Left-Brained Stress

Kim — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:13:48 +0000

It seems all I am getting done these days are quick sketches. I have to say it doesn’t feel all that good as I am still inundated with left-brained activities. My current focus is for this all to stop as we (in the northern hemisphere) head into the autumn months. I am so ready to get back into the studio to play. In the meantime, I continue with the sketchbook work and hope that will bring some wonderful inspiration. I can say it gives a bit of relief to the uncomfortable linear tasks I have been dealing with – maybe it is the reason for the curves . I hope all is well where you are and creativity time is easy to come by.

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Do you recognize the good when you are in the middle of it?

Kim — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:12:20 +0000

Is our society so involved with the negative that we can’t see the positive? It seems society, as a whole, is so focused on the negative that when we have good times we don’t even recognize them until they have past. If that is so, how do we enjoy each day? I suppose we can only do that as a collective body of individuals. I think that is why I love so many bloggers – in general, they see the good! Good only bring good! Don’t you think?

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100th Anniversary!

Kim — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:10:32 +0000

No Silly, that doesn’t mean me! The place I visited is celebrating it’s 100th Anniversary of being a National Park. Do you know it? Here is another hint…

This is beargrass and grows up high in alpine regions. Do you know now? Okay, so these are the ones who really like the beargrass, and I saw several of them on this trip. Actually, this is a small one – a cub.

One more hint. I will give you a longer view from the Continental Divide…

Isn’t this beautiful? Maybe it is in the eyes of the beholder, but to this family Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton National Park in Canada (collectively known as Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park) is a place we find amazing beauty. This is the oldest international park in the world. We love it there and I just spent two weeks contemplating the beauty this earth shares with us! Inspiration is at every turn and I have returned with so much I can hardly get anything else accomplished.

So now you know where I have been. Do you know this park? Do you have a favorite natural place to visit? Does it fill you with inspiration?

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Finding Grace in Life

Kim — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:20:38 +0000

from my sketchbook

Grace happens, it seems to me, when lives touch. We each have the opportunity to find it each time. The exciting part is we get to choose it.

Looking at Life Sideways It has been far too long since my last post,...

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DC Door

Kim — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:57:24 +0000

Sweet Little Door in Washington, DC

A little door found while walking through a DC neighborhood. I couldn’t resist doing this little doodle. I continue with some sketching through these hot summer days and consider the goodness of slow art. I hope you are staying cool.

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New Landscapes

Kim — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000

12"x6" acrylic on hardboard

The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust

…I will add, new landscapes never hurt, however

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What Does A Painting Mean To You?

Kim — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:22:44 +0000

As you know from my previous post, I am enjoying Peter Clothier‘s book, Persist. There is so much packed in this tiny book, I wonder if I will ever stop contemplating it all. One of the subjects he brings up is how visual artist have it hard because this is one area where often the work which took hours, days, months or years to complete will be brushed away with a glance. If you look at other art forms, this is often not the case. Consider writing, by nature it takes time to read or with performance art you are often captivated by the story being told and asked to remain in your seat for a film, play or dance. When Clothier observed people in Museums, he found if they stopped they stopped to read the little bit of information by the work, then moved on. He thinks visual artist need more time given to the work they are sharing. I couldn’t agree with him more. Let’s look at some art:

First, let’s look at Shangri-La by Andrea Hupke de Palacio:

used with permission from Andrea Hupke de Palacio

Now take a long look at this painting or go to Andrea’s blog to view it larger. I mean really get into it. Think about the face…look at those eyes and stare deeply into them, consider the head covering, too. I don’t know about you, but I can get lost in there. The colors she has chosen to use are magnificent. I want to swim in the colors. Can you imagine what it took to just paint the colors in the right place? I can imagine she was lost in her own place while doing this. When I really look at this piece, I seem to be able to feel the grit of the dirt beneath my feet, the crunch of the dry grasses and a cold winter wind. It takes me back to a more simple time in my own mind. The countryside is cold and I am looking forward to a warm stew and roaring fire when I bring the goats back to the village for the night. I look forward to the taste of wine and tangy taste of goat cheese. I can feel all of these things and more. Goodness knows, I am not thinking this is what Andrea was thinking when she painted this piece, but it is where it transported me. She started me thinking with the painting and few, well chosen words. I was easily transported from there. The thing is you have to spend time to get yourself into the place of your imagination. The key, by the way, is the title of this piece – Shangri-La. Where does it take you?

Unfurling

You have seen this one from me before. I call it Unfurling. I would like for you to try again with something very different to really spend time with this piece. Allow it to consume you just like with Andrea’s painting. When I created it, I felt one thing, but now I sometimes feel something different when I see it. With paintings like this you often hear things like…”I like it” or “I could have done that” or “My five year old has done something very similar.” I have answers for all of those kinds of questions, but what I ultimately know is that the viewer is not allowing themselves the opportunity to feel this painting. I know there are a lot of feelings in there, because I put them there. Artists do that! What someone else feels is not what I probably felt as they have their own life experiences to draw on.

The point is that it seems viewers want to be told what a painting means to them, if they even take the time to stop and have a longer look. Is it fair to the artist who probably just wants to have an opportunity to bring a bit more humanity to the viewer? They probably just want to help them touch their own shangri-la, right? Clothier suggests an hour meditation sitting in front of a painting to try to get to know it and to understand what it means to you, the viewer. The artists is done with it, now it is the viewers turn to have it touch their heart, speak to them, to bring their own humanity to the surface. If you have ever had a painting move you to tears, you know just what I mean. This can happen with many paintings. Once you learn the technique, you can slip into the world of that particular painting with ease.

Please, share your experiences of really taking the time to look at paintings. I wonder if after the first time you might view them in a different way?

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