Monday, December 17, 2007

Introduction

I grew up doodling constantly. As a child, I thought I'd end up some kind of illustrator, but--like my hopes of being an astronaut, a professional baseball player, or the pope--the art thing never panned out. In high school, I took up sculpture and painting. Later, I dabbled in photography. I was never good at any of it, but the arts kept drawing me back in over and over again.

Art is an elusive fascination for me. Trying to steer my instincts toward a satisfying result has always been a little like chasing my own tail. I don't think I've ever looked at a drawing or painting with the relief that it was "finally finished." Clay sculpture always seems to dry just before the crucial detail is pinched, pressed, or carved into it. Art poses frustrating challenges, but they're ones I love.

Most things I've learned about art over the years has come from imitating other artists or a process of trial and error. Public school art classes never taught me as much as dumb luck.

Admittedly, I've made plenty of things I'd be embarrassed to display on anything but a bonfire. Perhaps I'll post a couple of them here for a laugh. But mostly, I want to share the weird stuff, the fun stuff, and stuff that's got a story. I probably won't explore a lot of sophisticated, "elitist art" on here. (Certainly, none of mine is).

Some of my favorite art is from CD covers, tattoos, comic strips, and complete accidents that just turned out to be something pretty. A friend of mine once came to my house while I was stressing over a huge mess. A pressure cooker had exploded and sprayed bean juice all over the kitchen ceiling. She looked up and said, "That's awesome! You've got to leave that!"

One person's culinary disaster is another's art.

I'm excited to share some of my art/mistakes, as well as others' works that have meant a lot to me over the years. Let me know what you think. Thanks for dropping by.

1 comment:

123snacks said...

That bean juice stain IS awesome. I hope it's still there! I occasionally think of it when I'm feeling blue, and it works like a charm. It is the most sublime of ceiling stains!