Triptych

Started a new piece this week. It's going to be a triptych with a somewhat spiritual and allegorical feel. My other recent drawings have somewhat shied away from saying anything in a direct way leaving interpretation to the viewer. This piece is referencing Genesis, nothing esoteric or inaccessible there. It's also making figures the prominent visual focus. Although buildings and houses are still important, I think that human figures are going to be a much larger part of my work in the coming year. Images to follow...

Back to School... for Massage Therapy?

I have a bachelor's degree in Painting, and I am certified to teach art. My teaching certification is presently gathering dust on a shelf, relegated there by this crummy job market and virtually zero funding for education in this country. I'm certain after three years it's also infested with weevils. So what should an artist, working in an unrelated and unfulfilling industry, do as his next career move? MFA program? Nope. I'm headed to massage therapy school.

I have come to a conclusion recently. What I am doing is not as important as being engaged in something that agrees with my worldview. In other words, I don't have to be making money with my art. Make no mistake, I'm still trying to do that. But I need to do something that is going to make me feel at peace again. The corporate grind is eating me up. After visiting the school and talking with my wife, this feels like where I belong.

I need to make art in tranquil environs. Anxiety and upheaval are not good for my art. Many artist have opposing ideas, I'm sure. But after all the yoga and meditating I've done this is what I need. I want my life to be dedicated to healing.

When I see my yoga teacher in her sweats and covered in tattoos I think to myself, clearly you have nothing to do with mainstream society. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. But I know that I need to be with people on that plane. This corporate life is not for me. In my clear thinking times I can be grateful for what my corporate job has allowed me to do and what is has taught me. But I need to move on. I'm excited to start my new endeavor and think it will inform my art in ways I haven't even thought of yet.

Downtown Gallery Opening, part II

Ok. So with USB cable problem fixed I am finally able to post photos from the opening to my blog and website. Since my work is on small, rigid and unframed pieces of canvas board, I was originally going to display them on thin strips of wood trim painted white. I imposed on my dad to fabricate the trim, and as usual, he did a fantastic job. He even made a little lip at the front of the trim so when the work sat on the trim like as on a shelf, they wouldn't slide off. But when I got to the gallery, looked at the space and discussed it with my good friend Melanie (who installed the rest of the show) we came up with this:

I decided to display the pieces collage style. I felt like it was a lot more dynamic and encouraged eye movement. The work is simply affixed to the wall with some poster putty stuff. It's sticky, but won't damage the walls or the work. Sorry, Dad. I think I can use those mini shelves for another project in the future though. Here are a couple of detail images from the installation.

Opening at Downtown Gallery

The opening was a major success. The little gallery was jammed full of people. And most importantly I was able to share it all with my unfailingly supportive friends and family.

I was not familiar with my fellow artists until the opening. They proved to be quite talented, friendly and genuinely interested in what I was doing. It makes things even better to be showing with such a supportive group. I was particularly impressed with Anna Zatorska's paintings. The misty landscapes reminded me of Monet. But unlike Monet the paint was so thick and textural that the pieces almost took on the quality of a relief.

Oh and by the way I also sold a piece! It was to my uncle, but nevertheless, a sale is a sale. Pictures will be coming soon if I can ever figure out what's wrong with my camera/computer.

Press!

I received my first piece of press in my life, I think. On November 12th the New Britain City Journal published a nice little article on my upcoming show at the downtown gallery in New Britain. Unfortunately they do not as of yet have any online content so I can't give you a link to the article. I think I'm going to try to find a way to scan the article and put it on the blog somehow.

It quotes my artist statement from my submission of work about a year and half ago. Now I'm using the statement on my page. It's not as dramatic, shall we say, as the one in the paper. Nevertheless, I'm pretty psyched!

Update:

Today (Nov. 15) I discovered that the press release found in the New Britain City Journal also appeared in the New Britain Herald. This time I was smart enough to go to the New Britain Arts Alliance website to find the article. Again, I felt my quotes were a little dramatic. I have since revamped the artist statement from where those were culled. So now it's a little more subdued. It was a nice press release nevertheless.

Also, I went down to the gallery today to install my art. Since the pieces are quite small, I did it in one improvised flourish, collage style. Not bad for doing it on my lunch break from work. Photos will follow the opening on Friday.

Introduction

Welcome to ArtWalks. If you are reading this, hopefully you have seen my website dancollinstudio.org. It features my artwork, artist statement and contact info for commissions and such. This blog is here to offer further insight into my process and what inspires me. To me life is art and the unexamined life is not worth living. I realize these are cliches, but what I'm trying to convey is that a variety of things feed my art. This blog will be about my walk or journey as I try to make stuff.

Trust me I love the stuffy pretense of a gallery or museum as much as the next person. I love sipping wine in a tweed jacket while some flunky in an ill-fitting black vest serves me little quiches on a silver platter. But if I'm being honest, that's not really my world. I tried to make art with that world in mind and it was, at least in my opinion, not tremendously successful. It was unsuccessful in the sense that it didn't feel like me. I get energized to make art through mundane, everyday things. I make little drawings, and they comfort me. When the scope gets a little too big and the ideas get a little too grand, I try a little too hard and just get over analytical. That's why I started making tiny drawings of houses.

In addition to art I will be writing about all things that I feel make the world a little more tolerable, good food and drink, music, literature, and cultural events. In a week, I will have my first important show it what feels like a long time. It prompted me to get off my behind, make a website and a blog and re-establish art as a prominent force in my life again. There's an ebb and flow to this sort of thing. Link back to the website for details on the show in the news and events section and stop by if you can.