Stickin' Ideas Together

Does this name sound like a rock star's? In the art world of "live painting" Jesse Reno is exactly that. Jesse paints with his hands, with crayons, pastels, kid-quality paint & brushes. He paints on canvas, cupboards, wood panels - anything he can get his hands on. In addition, Jesse has painted many murals, done live shows (both public and private commissions), publishes his own books of his art as well as a line of running shoes! His work is primal, soul-filled, naive & honest. He is a music-loving, tattooed-frenzied artist. And he's driven to succeed as a self-supporting artist. And successful he is. Last summer I had the pleasure of attending one of Jesse's workshops. It was liberating, inspiring and frustrating. Jesse's approach is to demonstrate his techniques, provide gentle guidance and offer a class crit at the end. The liberation I felt was attributed to the techniques he employs: mixing paint right on the painting surface and often wit...

Art cards are a wonderful, affordable way to share artwork; they are a gift and greeting in one. What I love most about printing my own cards is having multiple images of my work. Since I create original artwork for sale, the concept of "more than one" is novel. And once they are printed palm-size, the images appear extremely tight and crisp and brand new all over again. Cathy Church at Tartooful and I are currently investigating the possibilities of broadening the sale of my cards beyond her gallery boutique and my close circle of supporters. I hope you'll check back soon for an update of where you may be able to purchase your own palm-size collection of art cards.

The title of this blog is the title of a book I'm currently reading. No, I'm not experiencing any particular health issues. I picked up this familiar-sounding book after my yoga teacher mentioned it to me. Turns out when it was published in 2004 the author, Gabor Maté, was interviewed by The Georgia Straight. And, as it turns out, I was fascinated by some of his insights and kept the article - which I have since found. This book is about "the link between emotions and disease". Repressed emotions build up a lifetime of stress. Not surprisingly, to me at least, there is a vast link between the two but many medical professionals and disease-affected people don't acknowledge it. One of the most basic stressors is our lack of personal boundaries -- our inability to say NO. Another interesting cause of disease is stress from childhood events: "Physiological stress, then, is the link between personality traits and disease. Certain traits--otherwise known as coping ...

Last night I was fortunate to attend the Museum of Vancouver's opening of Fox, Fluevog & Friends . It's a retrospective of Vancouver's own Fluevog phenomenon. However, I'd like to talk about not what I saw at the exhibit, but rather what I felt: I felt energized. To me, the exhibit celebrates Creativity Expressed. Creating from that deep place of need. Expressing that need like two new lovers in lust - exploding and spilling over with raw, unbridled energy. To me, that is LIVING. Experiences like that reenergize my own creativity. I came home jazzed up with new ideas as well as a "solution" to a block I was having with a painting. I couldn't wait to get into my own stuff. Cheers to both the MOV and those who inspired the exhibit. I encourage you to check it out and celebrate these locals who daily strut their creativity.

Recently I received an email from a high school gal, Heather, who lives in South Florida. She plans to study photography after high school so is wisely taking her photo class seriously. Her assignment involved an assemblage project and her research lead her to my site. She inquired after some of the techniques I use in order to apply to her project. Heather's Creative Brief The project I'm working on is an assemblage sort of like Joseph Cornell.... My meaning for the box is for the viewer to see all sides of the box because everyone has a need to know everything they can about an item and/or person, like Pandora's box. It started as just the box being the center of interest but I started adding a story to it. See my model has a possessiveness of the box so I photographed her with the box in different locations and I'm planning on transferring them into the box in a montage like your work or Robert Rauchenberg then inside I want to assemble it somehow like Cornell to sh...

Amazingly we're a good 1/3 way through 2010 already! My seeming disinterest in blogging (last entry Oct. 09) is actually a somewhat recent realization that I didn't have a link from my site to my blog so no one knew it existed. Don't bother asking why it's taken so long to correct the issue; the answer is lame. So I made my way through the entire Style Statement book which, by the way, I bought. I hadn't realized at first that it's really a work-book. And since I'm one-of-those who actually writes in books, I figured I'd best own it. Besides, I am also one-of-those who actually enjoys the whole self-help-like solitary, self-evaluation experience. It's thought provoking and reflective. And quite frankly that stimulates the artist in me. In case you don't know what the statement is all about, I'll give you the brief low-down: it's 2 words that sum up "who I am". The first word is intended to represent 80% of "who I am"....

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie McCarthy of Style Statement. I have her book on order from the VPL. I can't wait to read her book after meeting her. She approaches life from the place of "why not try something new". She exudes ease and fluidity. A very wonderful experience to encounter. I hope I can make use of her talents with you, my clients. How enriching would it be to have your custom painting created based on your own, personal TWO WORD style statement (read: personal brand). Think about it... I believe we could create a powerful, lifelong treasure to hang on your wall. Here's to trying something new. Check Carrie out at http://www.stylestatement.com/ Cheers.