Leaving Home

Among the wisest outlooks ever revealed to me is, “In order to see truth, you must give up everything you love and everything you hate”. Wise indeed because we often base perceptions and actions on one or the other, which is why we’re frequently wrong and also why we frequently don’t know we’re wrong. It’s why our politics at present are so catatonic as so many believe ideologically without regard to common sense or human decency. Fair disclosure: I’m among the first to do that.

But this is an art blog, not a political one, so before devolving into histrionics we turn our attention to the subject of intention. When I’m functioning under the above outlook I will open a capture because it interests me in any number of possible ways, without an intention for where it wants to go. Then I will start throwing things at it and see what works. Let the work become what it wants to become – don’t force the question. When I’m NOT functioning under the above outlook I will open a capture with an intent of what I want to do with it, and nine times out of ten I’m wrong. Generally I’ve had the good sense, if the techniques I’ve employed aren’t working, to back off and look to see what does work. I’ve demonstrated that my genre of Abstract Realism can include wide variations, but Noir stands apart.

​I’ve stated I believe noir or black & white photo art is just another form of abstract, and while I believe that I also accept that noir strikes a much more traditional chord. On occasion, I will try to develop a work into both a color abstract and a noir version in parallel, and while sometimes that works usually it doesn’t. The two require divergent approaches. There is a point where I may have to accept that a work I might have conceptualized in vibrant color is simply looks better in noir, and vice versa. The more tightly I hold onto a notion I love, or reject something I hate, the more likely I am to screw up. I have artistic sense in lieu of political or interpersonal talent.