"I think that most art which begins to make a statement fails to make a statement because the methods used are too schematic or artificial. I think that one wants from a painting a sense of life. The final suggestion, the final statement has to be not a deliberate statement, but a helpless statement. It has to be what you cannot avoid saying, not what you set out to say." -- Jasper Johns
This quote by Jasper Johns makes perfect sense to me. It's not a quick read, but once you digest it, I think that he is saying what I try to say over and over about getting to the essence . The real thing, the real work comes out despite you. The real works an artist makes are those things which must be made and at their core get at something essential. The process, for me, is still a kind of magic....if "I"get out of the way and let the real conversation with the work unfold. It's happening sometimes in the studio, but not always. It is a process we come to anew each time we arrive in the studio there to work. I'm always trying to get to the things that can't be said....the helpless statement....the one place where we can all meet as human beings, beyond language.
The dailies continue and they are a work in process and a reminder that I must let go and let them emerge as they will....most times I am not so happy with them, but I am honoring them for their place in the dailiness of my life. I share them here and you can find them at MissouriBendMusings
January 8, 2013
January 9, 2013
January 10, 2013
January 11, 2013
January 12, 2013
January 13, 2013
January 14, 2013
This, I am happier about....it's another development beyond the Notes To The Ancestors, but more simplified and refined and on a lovely, delicate green Japanese paper. Well, actually, I can't be sure this is Japanese paper, but it is green and it is an Asian handmade paper. Drawn, then dipped in beeswax and hand stitched, this is no. 1 in the Celadon Drawings...
The title link below the piece will take you to MissouriBendStudio where two of the drawings in the series are listed. Okay, I've probably overloaded you by now....see you soon and enjoy the rest of your week! Cheers!
