Art Experimentation

Sometimes its fun to create without any barriers or self imposed restrictions. We don't realize it, but sometimes we sabotage ourselves. We say to ourselves that we need to work within the boundaries of our skills. Experimentation in our art usually comes in tiny increments. We learn a new way to blend our paints, or how to use a new brush or we decide we are going to use just a bit more color than usual.

Art has the ability to sustain us when nothing else can. It occasionally feeds our income and definitely feeds our souls

Creating Jupiter Tonans

I've been asked a lot lately to describe better the process I use to create my digital art. The problem with this is that every single piece develops in totally different ways and digital artists use a variety of programs to create their work.

So rather than try to create tutorials around the process, I'm going to post single pieces of work and talk about the process for that one piece.

New Views of the Big Easy

Some new work being finished up and added to the new series. Both Bourbon Street pieces of the a traditional brass band which plays at the head of Bourbon and Canal. This is often the first thing visitors see and hear as they first come into the French Quarter. Click the link to see the complete series.

A Step Beyond the Vieux Carre - The Whispering Voice of Surreal New Orleans

"There is a certain amount of truth to be found in the ravings of every madman. Sanity makes art. Insanity makes extraordinary art."

Views of the Precession Project

Here are a few views of the new 8 story urban ruin sculpture sitting in the backyard. The piece will be left to decay throughout the summer and photographed at various stages along the way. You can follow the series at the this link

"The Precession Project"

Three Apses - Finding Similarities in Bodies of Work

While putting together the new work for the New Orleans Surrealism series I've been encountering similar themes. There are so many pieces in the series that inevitably there will be similarities as to the content. The goal is to keep the individual pieces as different from each other as possible without losing the focus of the overall theme. Here are three views of the altar areas of three of New Orleans biggest churches. See how each one is radically different from each other.

By becoming aware of specific elements within a larger body of work, you have the ability to mix and match different pieces together under those common threads. This is not only helpful to the artist who wants a better understanding of how to put a series together, but it is also an excellent way to get a galleries attention. 

For those interested in seeing the complete New Orleans series, click here:

A Step Beyond the Vieux Carre - The Whispering Voice of Surreal New Orleans

Being an artist has taught me one important thing. That the only limitations to our creativity are the limits we impose upon ourselves. 

The Life and Death of a Tree Spirit - Work in Progress Sculpture

This piece of wood was found in Holt Cemetery last year. Its gone through a slow drying phase over the last six months. Its heavily eaten away in places, so the curing and cleaning process is quite extensive. The piece weighs about 30 pounds.

The shape and grain of the wood make it a great candidate for a new sculpture. There are similar grain patterns to the Sleepy Hollow sculpture which was created from another piece from the same tree.