Today’s post and read looks ahead to three upcoming live events that we are thrilled to participate in. We will be meeting with the art collectors and communities where I can learn about how my artwork influences your experiences. We have three shows comping up. Join us in Charlotte NC from September 16-18, Myrtle Beach SC from October 7-9 and Norfolk Virginia from October 16 – 16 where I am exhibiting. There is quite a bit to do in order to arrive and show. Everything we bring and how we display is intended to create a pleasant experience. How the art is curated and displayed is an intentional decision. This is one of the ways that we are delivering on our mission: This art exists to add light, color and energy into your life’s experience. For anyone who knows me, there is a repeatable process to make it simpler to load and go, set up and breakdown. Evoking Jackson Brown’s The Loadout…
The piece above, Galaxy Red, is our impact photograph. It hangs in the booth and is about 4 foot x 5 foot. It is printed on archival heavy rag paper with roughly a one inch border. The edges are hand torn. These two decisions add texture to the photograph and artwork. The paper is mounted off the mat and creates its own shadow and depth. The frame is a heavy black walnut shadow box. People walk by the booth and stop to consider the energy, the movement and the seeming power that originates from this photograph.
This interactive part of my passion that deeply fascinates me. Allowing my mind to wander, take a photograph in unexplored directions and then engage an audience to consider, discuss and exchange our impressions and thoughts around the art. We are so grateful to be able to get back to live shows. It also affords me a chance to help people understand how the digital image you see on the internet can transform far beyond a simple photograph.
That is the magic that is a live show. People and the conversation that is sparked from the artwork and the question: “What do you see?”. We have a sign posted in our booth to pose that question, prompt your thoughts and open the door to the exchange. For me, Galaxy Red is a powerful image. It has deep crimson reds with the smooth transitions to subtle brighter reds and then filaments of white winding their way into the red. It is a bold statement piece. This transformed version is 1 of 1 and will never be duplicated.
Towards the top left the color transition turn to a more windswept mystical feel. In another contrast of balance would be the bottom left which is relatively devoid of light, movement and activity while the top left is the entry point for all the infusion of energy, activity and light. This is counterbalanced by the more crisply defined lower right corner where the white and red inks interact with each other. This sense of balance exists, perhaps beyond, the more obvious pattern when observing the photo in its whole. Perhaps the balance of the gentle wispy sections and the more authoritative areas are the essence of photograph. Finding, and striking that balance is essential. As in life, an overabundance or absence of something leads to imbalance and decompensation.
Moving in closer the subtlety continues. Each ink stratum of leads to a new, and seemingly, infinite layering and transition between color, definition and the sway between power and whimsy. The delicate nature of the process and the fibrils of white and reds build, layer upon layer, tendril within tendril to build towards a more complex structure. The materials have no innate sentient nature, but they behave. They do so with subtle repetitive ‘habit’. A gentle breath helped to accelerate the movement and entry of the white inks into the reds while in the Petri dish. A shared energy existed between the artist and materials, albeit for a few seconds while the photo shoot unfolded.
This is where photography helps me. While it is not a full time endeavor, it is a substantial creative outlet. Weekends and evenings are redirected to what would otherwise be idle TV time. Now that would be counterproductive, unlikely to create joy in my life and take me 180 degrees away from the mission statement in the early part of this post. Suffice it to say there is karmic balance here. I enjoy this work because of its balance. It distracts me from our current broader realities in a healthy manner, focuses my mind on creativity and engages me with spreading a message of positivity, optimism and light. The activity brings balance to a deeply analytical and scientific method mind with a creative artistic one. It is an ember to be nurtured and one that will eventually take light and build a brighter warmer fire.
So we will end on those two notes of optimism. There is more photography out there to be imagined, created, printed and shared. There is nothing but good will that is paid forward by my sharing with you, my audience and community. Have a wonderful upcoming weekend.
Join me in a fireside chat via Zoom in the evening to discuss any aspect of my artwork. To qualify, and join a video conversation send your contact information here and let me know what you would want to talk about. The selected participants will receive a 25% discount on any of my unlimited edition pieces of art. I will personally sign the piece at printing. Even more, the gallery is offering this purchase risk free for you. Free shipping, Free return, and no questions asked if you are unhappy with the art work. You can keep the print for 30 days to enjoy the selection in your home or office. This risk free offer does not apply to metal, acrylic and other specialized media prints.
Cheers,
Jim