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| New series under construction, December 30, 2013 |
Now:
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| Snapshot #9: Direction mixed media on stitched canvas 19.25w x 36.25h inches |
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| Snapshot #10: Priority mixed media on stitched canvas 33w x 17.25h inches |
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| Snapshot #11: Someone Pushed It mixed media on stitched canvas 33w x 17.25h inches |
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| Snapshot #12: K4A Anonymous mixed media on stitched canvas 33w x 16.75h inches |
Not sure that they are all complete... but liking them a lot at this point.
So far I've started this year with these "Snapshot" series, then I jumped over to starting some more abstract works (see previous post), then I travelled to visit my mum for a week, and now I've jumped back to the "Snapshots"... and in between I made a couple of portraits and one plein air landscape painting.
Funny thing: when I talk with other artists they invariably tell me that they focus on one thing at a time. This one thing could be a style of painting with various subjects, or an ongoing exploration of one subject using various styles.
I did spend several years focussed on one thing - the "Ecosystems" paintings which were made with oil glazes on stitched canvas, and I did get very good at making them. However, since switching to acrylics a few years ago, I have developed a habit of jumping back and forth between several ideas and painting styles simultaneously. Lately I have been wondering whether, in doing so many things at once, I run the risk of becoming the proverbial "jack of all trades and master of none".
In the end I tell myself that this jumping between and across ideas and styles should be viewed in the context of a lifetime spent painting, and in the context of cyclical explorations (since each time I return to an idea or style it is with added information from the other things I work on in between), and then it makes more sense, the whole lifelong endeavour of my work does show a continuity of development.
And after all, I only have this one life. May as well spend it engrossed in lifelong exploration of the visual languages.
4 comments:
Great artists like Diebenkorn faced this criticism, so you'd be in wonderful company. Who makes that rule, "jack of all trades and master of none."? If you visit a retrospective of the accepted greats, they followed their passions and their eyes. I love these. I just plain love your work.
XOXOXO Barbara
I don't think you need worry about the "jack of all trades" issue - your pursuit of excellence in each area & line of inquiry make a for a uniformity of craftsmanship, etc that few mixed media artists seem to have.
I think mixed media has to be one of the most difficult of 'mediums' to pull off well...too many artists in this genre don't have a well rounded understanding of each of the mediums that go into 'the mix'. That certainly isn't an issue here in these recent works!
I really like how all the elements in these recent pieces work so well together...
Thank you both for your thoughts.
Barbara, I just had a look at some of Diebenkorn's images online - I was a bit familiar with his work but now more so, thank you! Did not know he was criticized for doing "too many things at once". Maybe a library book on him and his work would be in order at this point...
Russell, thank you for your take - I may not have looked at much "mixed media" work and so have not considered whether my use of various elements is on a par with others' work... I just try to have fun and make them visually coherent!
:)
V
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