The Fate of Your Art is as Unpredictable as the Weather

Weather is an uncontrollable force of nature. Unless you control absolutely every facet of it, then it remains unpredictable. Anything can happen. 

Your art is the same way. Think about it. You can control some of the factors early on by how you create your work, the message you place within it and the techniques you use to build it. Like weather prediction, the closer you are to the point of origin the easier it is for you to predict. But once its let lose, you have no way to predict it or gauge its impact in any other way except by looking at past factors that influences other pieces of art similar to it.

You can predict your arts course in the first few days, but after that its like predicting a hurricane two years from now. Its impossible. So why do so many artists seek to control their work long after its left their hands? 

"How Do I" The Art of Being an Artist - What is Experimental Art?

I find that many artists have a vague understanding of what Experimental Art is. Also called Avant-garde. I admit its a very difficult subject to find information about. Here are a few links put together to better inform you on this intriguing aspect of the art world. I will add to the list as more information is found.

Image of the Day - The Revenant Crystal

It was from this one piece, originally created approximately 4 months ago that has spawned an amazing array of art that includes sculptures, paintings, digital art and body art. 

For anyone following the Assimilation Art movement, this was what began the whole process. I've included the chart below to show how one piece of art can lead to many.

Image of the Day - The Spirit Forge

This is how artistic obsessions begin, with a single piece of cypress driftwood a few months ago, to large complex driftwood sculptures such as the Spirit Forge. This piece uses seven pieces of cypress to create the appearance of standing stones rather than wood.

To see complete info on the piece click here: The Spirit Forge

The Art Influencers

I've looked at every side of who and what an artist is and what makes some artists popular and others not. From Da Vinci 600 years ago to Ai WeiWei in the present times, these masters of their craft share one commonality. They are influencers in the world of art. Almost without exception the most popular artists throughout time influenced the art world around them.

Lets look at Da Vinci first. Here was a man who was an ingenious artist. There is no doubt that his mind was filled with ideas every moment of his life. But would those ideas have ever been seen if the man hadn't also been a great influence on the art world at that time. He carved a niche for himself where almost everyone respected him and his name rose because he forced the art world towards new ideas. Yes it was his art that first and foremost made him who he was, but it was also the mans intellect and how he moved amidst the world of the Renaissance that brought him to prominence. In many ways he was the Renaissance. He embodied it within his beliefs.

Trapped Within a Maelstrom of Muses

On some nights I feel trapped within a maelstrom of muses. I am not sure its something I can ever fully express. Its almost like my mind gets caught in a hurricane of ideas where the mental winds are a gale force and every thought leads to another and another until everything is a blur. Every thought contains within it the seeds of an idea for artistic expression to the point where I literally get lost within it.

"How Do I" The Art of Being an Artist - What is Metamodernism

What is Metamodernism and how does it interact and stand apart from past periods in art such as expressionism and impressionism?

How One Piece of Public Art Can Destroy the Artist

In the past few years there has been a lot of public criticism over a statue of Lucille Ball done in bronze in her home town. I must admit that the poor statue is hideous. Recently the city decided it was time to put evil Lucy away and replace her with a newer version by a new artist. 

One of the things I found interesting about the controversy was how hard it was to even find out the original artists name. It was almost like the city sought to bury or remove the artists very mention. Upon a bit of research I did eventually find his name and took a look at his website. I found his work to actually be very well executed. 

Explorations Into the Art of the Graphic Novel

Until recently, graphic novels as an art form really held little interest for me. Part of this was from lack of education on my part. I'd only seen graphic novels that seemed like nothing more than cluttered comic books.

I felt like I was not giving the art form a chance and added it to my news service so that I would receive a regular flow of information about this genre of art.

"How Do I" The Art of Being an Artist - Understanding Arts Residencies

Many newer artists are not aware of what an "Artist Residency" is or how many opportunities exist in this area for artists to strengthen their skills. Here are some of the more helpful links available on the subject. Also follow hashtag "ArtistsCall" on Twitter to find Artist Residencies coming available.

Image of the Day - Oberon's Fortress Afire

This was lit with a simple red and orange Halloween strobe light purchased for $10.00. Its given me inspiration to go out and buy a second one and see if I can attach it to the underside of the next driftwood sculpture to light it from within.

Playboy and the Demise of the Artistic Nude

You would think a gay man would have no stake in the debate of whether Playboy should have discontinued its photography of women. But as an artist who is an advocate for the beauty of the human body in every form and every gender, it matters a great deal to me.

I Am Not an Art Educated Man

A recent conversation with one of my interns left me thinking about education. We were discussing the differences between expressionism and impressionism when he said "I don't get what your saying. You were educated in these things, I wasn't."

But I wasn't either and I told him so. I have no reservations about telling people that anything I know about art I found out on my own. I attended no school, read no large volumes about the history of art. I never learned technique or why you use one brush instead of another. I could care less if I get Manet and Monet mixed up.

Sometimes we get way too caught up in labels and learning to the point where it biases us against those who come by their knowledge merely by teaching themselves.

The Art of Being an Artist - Learning About the Visual Artist Rights Act

Many artists are not even aware of the existence of the United States Visual Artist Rights Act (VARA). This is a law that all artists should be aware of and how it relates to their work. Even if it does not apply directly to your art it is always wise to have firsthand knowledge of all laws applying to artists. 

Image of the Day - The Revenant Doorway

This is a prototype sculpture for the Revenant series of art. Read about it here:

The Revenant Doorway

Showcase Artist - Myck Mtika

Myck is the first of our new showcase artists. Please check out more of his work on Twitter or on his Facebook page at:
www.facebook.com/artmyck

Artist: Myck Mtika - Fine Artist
Email: artmyck87@gmail.com
Location: Mzuzu, North Malawi
Twitter: @Art_Myck
Mediums: Oil, acrylics and mixed media.

I am a painter based in the northern part of Malawi. I'm more focused at displaying my skill and use of materials within my environment such as fabric, tree bark etc. I believe everything around me is a motivation in its own kind. I also like interacting with fellow artists from all walks of life, it helps me deepen my skill.

Image of the Day - This Terrible Death

The Fourth Vision of the Revenant Cycle

The photo work for this session is almost complete. The Fifth Vision of the Revenant Cycle begins on October 17th.

The Art of Being an Artist - How Do I Ship Art?

This is a question a lot of artists have. Now that shipping internationally is an every day occurrence, many artists are not really sure how to do it. So we've compiled some links from the experts to help you out and some services that specialize in this area.

Image of the Day - Cypress Driftwood Sculpture

This is a very large piece of Mississippi River cypress driftwood brought in yesterday to the studio. It will soon become part of a large sculpture. To read about it click here:

Mississippi Driftwood Project

When an Art Idea is Just Plain Dumb

Okay, this one is partial rant, partial advice. And I apologize to the artists I am tearing down in this piece, but there is a lesson to be learned by all.

We have to face it. As artists there are times where an idea we have is absolute and total bullshit. It happens. Sometimes we do it on purpose, sometimes we just miss the obvious that the idea we are working with is "just plain stupid".

One of the best examples of this came to attention this past week at ArtPrize #7 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Artist Jeffrey Augustine Songco decided to put up a length of chain link fence and string 2,700 pounds of Mardi Gras beads on it. (see the piece here)

Now with all due respect to the artist, the concept for this eludes me. Perhaps its because I live in New Orleans and am 3 minutes from the parade routes. These routes are strewn with these beads for miles along fences, trees, telephone poles, homes, restaurants, umm...well everywhere! But I am just having a real hard time seeing the art in this. In fact the beads used for this are what we call "throw away" beads. They are sort of the rock bottom end of bead'dom. In fact when these are thrown from the parade floats locals don't even bother with them a lot of times. We are out for premium beads!

Image of the Day - Mississippi River Cypress Driftwood

This beautiful piece of wood was nothing but a grayish piece of driftwood yesterday. After extensive sanding, polishing, staining and a gloss finish it was transformed. It started as an experiment and surpassed my expectations. This piece when completed will be called the Guardian Scepter and will be used in the upcoming Fifth Vision of the Revenant Cycle and woven into the Revenant legends. After that it will be sold as a stand alone sculpture.

You can check out what it looked like yesterday after just its first sanding was completed

The "What Can it Be Game" - Going From Object to Art

So I went out driftwood hunting today along the banks of the Mississippi. This river is amazing for the simple fact that it has debris floating in it that begins thousands of miles away in the far north of the continental United States. It begins at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it makes its way 2,320 miles before it lets out into the Gulf of Mexico. I am fortunate to be only a handful of miles from the end of this journey. 

The river banks at this point (at least where they aren't blocked by the levee's, have some pretty amazing debris. I handpick the wood for my driftwood sculptures. Today I took a bit of extra time to look and examine the various pieces lying in a flood plain. The interesting thing about some of this driftwood is that the trees it comes from (I think perhaps cypress trees) is flat on one side and rounded on the other. Each piece has an amazing personality and I love to work with it.