Exposed - New Art

New art entitled: Exposed. I have been thinking about using more sustainable materials in my art making. I also want to add texture to my work so cardboard fits both criteria. This piece was inspired by both landscapes and decay. I like the idea of creating art that looks as if it is in transition. After all, everything is in transition at all times. Nothing is stable.
See more on my web site: brianraszka.com
Soon to be on my Etsy site.

Artist-John Yoyogi Fortes. See his show in San Francisco!

Art fans-if you are in or going to be in San Francisco during the month of January get yourself over to the SFMOMA's Artist Gallery at Fort Mason to see the work of John Yoyogi Fortes.
He's one of my favorite artists and I was fortunate to see some of his work at the Artist Gallery during a recent visit. The good people at the gallery were nice enough to show me some of his work. The gallery rents out work and has a large storage area. They brought out Mr. Fortes' work and unwrapped it for me to look at. I also was able to take a look at Heather Wilcoxon's work. What a treat.

 

The work shown is:

Lolo's Pipe
Acrylic and collage on canvas
50"h x 40"w
2009

(used with artist's permission)

 

Check out more of Mr. Fortes' work on his website.

SFMOMA website

Breaking Through Creative Blocks

I am sure that I am no different than most people that are involved in any creative job in that I occasionally go through a creative block. It is a scary place. Normally ideas come to me easily. In fact, sometimes it is hard to keep up. Sometimes they will come just as I am nodding off to sleep and I have to decide if I should risk falling back to sleep, get up, grab my sketchbook and jot them down.
For me there are two types of creative blocks: one is when I'm working on a project and I just hit a wall and cannot think of any good ideas. That is another thing, most of my blocks are not really times of no ideas at all but just that they are times of less and bad ideas. The other type of creative block is a general block. I'm not working on any specific project but at the same time I'm not having any good ideas just pop into my head.

What to do?
I usually panic if only a little bit. Experience has taught me that, "...this to shall pass" Once I recover, I decide what method I am going to use to get through this tough time:

1. I will usually leave a project alone for a time. Get away from it, get a fresh perspective. This option is only available if the deadline allows.
2. Another trick I have learned is to go a look at good work either on-line or in a book. Nothing gets me more motivated to come up with ideas than seeing other good ideas. I'm not talking about stealing ideas here either but just looking at good work. It seems to get the creative juices flowing. I never did like that saying, "creative juices".
3. If deadline doesn't allow getting away-I will draw. Drawing anything will usually get me back on track. It gets the right side of my brain working again. Try drawing with your non-dominant hand for an extra zap. Try drawing a scene by drawing only the negative spaces or try drawing an object in front of by drawing the side of it you can't see. There are a lot of tricks out there.
   
4. For more general creative blocks I'll try all of the above plus I will try drawing someplace other than my studio. I can get too comfortable in the studio and I find this can lead to a block. Definitely getting away from the computer helps.
5. Do something completely different. Do filing, update your mailing list, do some marketing; there is always something tedious to do. Tedious work will usually jolt me back into art mode.
   
6. Sometimes the only thing that will get you through a creative block is to just keep going. Keep creating until you find your not in a block anymore.

Welcome to the other side of the block
What ever you do don't panic for too long-that will just prolong the torture. Sometimes these blocks are telling you that you are working too hard. You could look at it as an opportunity to regroup and maybe the experiments you use to try to get you out of a block actually result in good work, who knows.

What do you do when the block strikes? Let me know.

Smokin - Created on my iPhone!

One of the first images that I created using the iPhone app.; Brushes.
This could be very addicting. It was a bit awkward at first using the application but I got used to the interface after a while. What did become apparent was that it forced me to go back to old ways of making art. There are only 4 layers and the back and forth required to change brush sizes and transparency levels made me simplify things. All to the good, I think.
I say only 4 layers but can you believe we can create art on our phones!
This type of work just may spill over into my paintings.

Yet Another Bird Illustration

Yet another bird piece. This time I'm experimenting with a new medium; Gouache. And, a positive message. I don't know about you but I'm getting sick of all the bad news. This is my attack on bad news. Enjoy.
5"x7" Gouache on panel.

BUILDUP - Art of Nature Series

BUILDUP - 27"X40" Acrylic and oil on canvas. Continuing my series of Art Of Nature. My inspiration here being round forms found in nature: stones, cells, etc.Detail

Mimic - Art of Nature series

24"x24" Acrylic, oil, graphite on panel.
This piece is titled, "Mimic" is a reference to forms in nature that are similar. My inspiration for this was a leaf of an oak tree. Not sure which variety but it was one that I picked up on a walk last fall. It had a great shape like a puzzle piece. I was also thinking of the leaves of the Dusty Miller plant. These shapes are similar to the form of a mammals vertebrae.
I was also experimenting a bit with getting back into oil paints here. The underpainting is done in acrylics and then I use oil on top. I'm using Alkyd oils as they dry faster than regular oils. I can add on top of them after a few hours. I add a little Galkyd to speed up drying time even more.

Detail

Art in Nature - "Lichen"

LICHEN
24"x24"
Acrylic, Oil, colored pencil and graphite
I am starting a new painting series based on shapes, textures and colors that I observe in nature. My intent with this series is to create abstract paintings that will, if all goes well elicit in the viewer an emotional reaction.
I am getting back to some basics with this work. I want to get away from any representational imagery and focus on the act of painting; building up textures and colors. My process has evolved over the years and I have done this building of colors and textures as a background in all my paintings. In some cases, I have liked how the background came out more than the final painting.
I have many ideas sketched out on how to proceed but I find that each painting finds it's own path once I start it.
I enjoyed making this piece which I've titled "Lichen". The circular pattern and texture reminded me of lichen on rocks. I found out something about lichen; it is pollution intolerant meaning that if it's growing, there is no pollution present. Kind of a, "canary in a coalmine" sort of thing for above ground. I like that.

Making plans, art plans

The current state of my art desk/area.
I find that I think about making art far more than actually making art.

Swan monoprint

Monoprint I did as prep for a painting. I like the line quality that you can get in a monoprint and the unintended bits of texture around the image. I use waterbased blockprinting ink, roll out an area on a sheet of glass, place a sheet of paper down on it and draw on what will be the back. Keep in mind that your image will be backwards. I also experiment by wetting and blotting the paper before printing-it gives the monoprint more of a watercolor effect as the ink bleeds into the wet paper.

Is this done yet

Dramatic change on this painting this weekend. It wasn't working for me so I went back in. It is starting to look like something.

new painting...con't

More work done on this painting. It's about to change drastically. Not really happy with this direction.

Start of a new painting

Started a new painting this weekend. 3'x4'. This one is going to take a while. These are the early stages. Stay tuned.

Making art

Preparing for the FRESH PRODUCE show at Anno Domini Gallery in December. Here are a few process shots. Sneek peak.
Things get a little messy.

Utter chaos. Seems to be the way I work.
This is how my pieces start. I make supports out of panels with framing glued to the back so that the piece appears to float on the wall.