New Abstract Painting : Flightpath, part 2

"Flightpath | 2" 9x9" Mixed Media on paper.

There were two butterflies, a small white one and a monarch. Together they danced among the flowers. It was a beautiful blue sky day, warm, but a large cloud was threatening rain. There was a breeze… the leaves rustled and the birds sang.

Can you see all that in there?

Inspiration can be a tricky thing. And "explaining" a piece of art even trickier. I am, at the moment, trying to write an artist statement for this new body of work I'm starting... and yes, I'm pretty sure this is going to turn into a body of work. I'm 6 pieces in and I've got 4 or 5 more started.... I've got so many ideas for potential subject matter flying around in my head that I feel compelled to keep going. And that's how it always starts. It's a good place to be. But I digress...

Hilarious, right? You can read more of
these "statements of the Old Masters" at this link. 

So, an artist statement. Have you ever read those things? Usually I get about one paragraph in and my eyes glaze over. Everyone tells me I have to have one... I have to explain what I'm trying to achieve or the curator/collector won't even consider my work.  I will fail to qualify as a "serious" artist. But honestly, I never got the hang of artspeak, even in University. Most of the time it just sounds like a bunch of pretentious drivel that no one really understands. My hat goes off to those artists who can write an honest, decipherable artist statement that still fulfills enough academic standards to qualify. I've tried... really I have. With every body of work I've done, I've tried to distill it down to one idea, and present it in some kind of academic sounding blah, blah, blah. Some are more successful than others. I'm not sure how I'm going to approach this one. I'm thinking of tossing the whole academic approach out the window and going with something that is a bit more authentic to who I am. Yes, I may be a thoughtful artist, but I speak plainly and directly (as you know, if you've read even one post on this blog) and don't go in for big, convoluted expressions. Let's see how that works out for me. At this point, I'm not seeing that I have a whole lot to lose.

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If you happen to live in the GTA (Toronto/Mississauga and area), I will be participating in a live painting event next Saturday afternoon during the Port Credit Buskerfest. It's always a really fun event... this is the first time I'll be anything but a spectator. Myself and 3 other artists, (Lisa Irvine, Christine Newman ( a newbie... straight outta school) and one other yet to be announced) will be working on a collaborative piece at imagemaker gallery on Lakeshore. I haven't done any collaborative work before, so this is a totally new, exciting adventure for me. If you're around for Buskerfest, pop in a see what we're up to. Hopefully it will turn into something fabulous, but even if it's a flop I'm sure it will be fun.
We start at 4 pm, and continue into the evening until about 8.