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Monday, June 20, 2005

good news - bad news

ok, so i've had a pretty crap day. my car's auto transmission has died. so i'm in the process of getting a loan and getting a new car. i'll find out in a few days if i've been accepted, then i can go shopping! that is some good news out of some bad news.

ok, so i have been reading the dune series by frank herbert [i'm up to book 4 'god emperor of dune']. As i was reading book 3 'children of dune' i came across a statement which got me thinking. as you may know i am a christian. i am not overly religious [at least to me] but i am completely committed to Christ, and my church.

the statement from the book was thus: [this is The Preacher, speaking to a priest of Muad'Dib]

'You, Priest in your mufti,' The Preacher called, 'you are a chaplain to the self-satisfied. I come not to challenge Muad'Dib but to challenge you! Is your religion real when it costs you nothing and carries no risk? Is your religion real when you fatten upon it? Is your religion real when you commit atrocities in its name? Whence comes your downward degeneration from the original revelation? Answer me, Priest!'

i find this quite challenging. you see, for me my belief can easily cost me nothing, and in my society carries very little risk. I personally don't fatten upon it, but some might say my church does. and people have certainly committed atrocities in its name. so i guess the question is: is it real? do the actions of men and women affect the reality of God? does by personal struggle with spiritual things possibly indicate that there is no God? i don't believe so. but i can see why some people might conclude that.

i believe the that my faith can cost me, and carry great risk, if i stepped out of my self-made shell of comfort and familiarity. i just might be able to have a fresh experience of God. faith does not some easily to me. i doubt. i question God's hand. but i also cannot deny the things about God that i have experienced [and continue to experience]. i am not looking for answers, at least not simplistic ones. i don't seek comfort or 'good feelings'. what i seek is the truth. and the faith to adhere to that truth through every storm.

anyway, i guess that's something... byebye - sye :)


Monday, June 06, 2005

art - the pics

well, i had a bright idea. i currently have a digital handycam... so here are some rather low-quality pics of the paintings. not just the most recent one, but all of the ones i like (which are the only ones i keep).











ok, so the above pics are in order of creation. pics 1 & 2 are from 2001, 3 & 4 from 2002, 5 from 2004. the below pic is the new one from last week, with a detail shot to show how many layers it has [i was painting that canvas for over 6 months, with many other pictures underneath]. hope you like...






thanx for looking, byebye - sye :)

art

well hello, i love art. and loving art has led me to be someone who tries to create it. i used to paint a lot. now i paint maybe 1 or 2 pictures a year, and even then they are often unfinished. BUT last week i had a bit of a burning desire to paint, so i dusted off my brushes and finally finished a piece. i had been working this canvas for about 6 to 10 months [i can't remember when i got it]. so it is quite satisfying to have it done. the picture is not going to blow any minds or change the art world, but it says what i wanted to say and that's all i seek when painting.

ok, so doing this picture led to seriously think again on the nature of art and painting in particular. as an amateur, i hold no illusions about the quality of my work [it's amateurish] yet i feel a certain responsibility to justify or explain what i do. you see i mostly paint abstracted scenes with no real point of reference to the natural world. that said some of my work [like this latest picture] have direct reference to things we know, yet are rendered in such a way that they are not at all 'real' looking. they look painted.

well, because most people ask me what my pictures mean, i feel a need to explain why i create, and the intent of most of my work.

because i am a rather selfish person, i tend to create pictures that generally mean something to me, and not a lot to others. you see, when i paint i'm usually painting for the sake of painting, not for a finished picture. i find the process of applying pigment to canvas a therapeutic one and stimulating one. when i'm painting i can focus on the world of the picture and forget my daily life for a bit.

this attitude to painting has led to the majority of my work being totally abstract, and the rest being heavily abstracted. so when it comes to interpretation, i believe it is completely up to the viewer to take [or place] whatever they want. each picture has a meaning for me, but that does not mean what i see is what the picture is about. as the viewer it's you who finds what the picture is saying to you. of all the pictures i have ever painted i can only think of a few that have a specific purpose when painted, that is, i had a message in mind when creating them.

ok, so i'll try to talk more about the nature of art and what it's all about for me more, but right now i think i've said enough. thanks for listening. byebye - sye :)

ps, i don't have a digital camera, so i can't upload a pic of the pic, sorry... you'll just have to come to my place to have a look...