When Beaux was born I started painting chickens. I wasn't set out to make profound deep art, I just needed to paint, and chose chickens.
Then as Beaux got older, I was able to focus on my work on a deeper level.
And for many reasons I chose Clowns as my inspiration.
You can read more on the WHY here, that is until I update my website! :-)
http://www.donnalograsso.com/
Then appeared - clowns WITH chickens...
:-)
OK yes, I've simplified my progression a bit...but that's pretty much it. Now, I am exploring the chicken as a stand in for myself...with a new body of work. I struggled with finding something meaningful to paint. I need to be excited about a direction, a path of self exploration, I like story telling -it helps motivated me. When I paint "anything" - just for the fun of it - it seems amateur, undirected, not deep, and not valuable.
I tend to move towards house renovations when that happens, but now I'm excited to have a new focus! This is the best feeling and has me on a major up swing! :-)
When I don't have the excitement of new ideas floating around my head, everyone around me suffers. :-) If I can't feel strongly about what to paint, I don't. Usually house ideas take over until something gives. I clean, make a plan for a wall to be where one wasn't, etc..
Then it hit me...that IS me and IS the subject I needed to explore. Beaux is 7 and a half now, I should be able to do this...well!
I'm also keeping fresh in my mind (frankly because it's been haunting me for 2 years now) -a comment my graduate professor said at my last show (my clowns). He told me that (all but one of the works) seemed lazy. Damn it and yay for honest professors. He was right. I usually paint with the thought of "I'll get back to that section" in the back of my mind. Then once I feel done, I never go back and fix, tighten, improve on those areas. I become satisfied in the whole and forget the things I felt were lacking in the parts.
Going to try to see if I can be less ADD in my art.
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