Painting 5

After the last painting, I left the Collin County college for a few reasons, the biggest being the distance from home. It was just not convenient for me, and frankly, it wasn't the type of atmosphere that was inspiring to me, and inspiration is really a big facilatator for me and my work. As a graphic designer, I search out inspiration every day, which really translates that I borrow from others to do my job. Well, when you under a time crunch and you have a hangover, what do you expect? I'm not being serious for the most part, but a trend in advertising and design is just one good idea "borrowed" a thousand times over. Fine art is that way too. Art movements! The impressionist era. copy, copy, copy to some extent. This painting, not so much. I mean, who would come up with this hodge podge of unrelated items but me. This is all me baby! No borrowing composition, nothing. The days of copying other people's art has come to an end thanks to my new school, The Creative Arts Center of Dallas. A place that is somewhat more convenient and definitely inspirational! When you travel from downtown Dallas to the Plano suburbs everyday, what's convenient anyway?

So My first assignment is to create a still life of personal items that represents me. I took this assignment very seriously and when I see new students painting "pretty" still lifes. I burn up just a little because I feel they are trying to make a pretty painting and not a meaningful one, which basically translates to "I wish mine was pretty". Yes, each item speaks to who I am in a vague, shallow way. I drink coffee every morning, so I have a mug. Yawn! I like to read, so I have a book, although I must confess I haven't picked up a book in over a year. I'm only interested in Harry Potter and picture magazines these days, and Harry is months away. The Bhudda head represent travel both physically and spiritually. I don't do much of either these days. The measuring cup, it's because I love to bake, the hammer is for my love of home repair. Bogus! Lies! Yes, I enjoy baking and do it about as much as I read and I'd rather take the hammer to my forehead than to a nail for home repair. So the painting is all me and not much of me, but at least I didn't borrow, steal or copy it. As for the execution. It was from life and that made it more challenging and rewarding. The drawing is definitely off. The hammer sags, the metal cup awkward. But look at the metal! And the book is a source of pride with the pages painted with enough suggestion to be real, but not overly detailed. The composition is trangular and vertical, so it's in the right direction, although it's somewhat lost on the canvas. I painted a red underpainting and I love the effects of the red coming through. So it's a love hate relationship. I still didn't feel comfortable with the paints and it definitely shows that I need to spend more time on my drawings, and I have it proudly hanging in my closet where it will remain!