Wahoo!!!! I couldn’t think of a better place on the island to hang my work
Tweet: @BocadosBistro: It’s official, Duffy has his own wall at Bocados. Come and see some great art, enjoy a glass of wine and great food..
Come check out the gallery at www.duffymasterson.ca
I have two new releases on my website (links below). Please check them out and be sure to contact us at duffyinfo@duffymasterson.ca if you or anyone is interested in purchasing any of the originals.
LINKS: http://www.duffymasterson.ca/Early_Morning_-_Hummingbird.html and http://www.duffymasterson.ca/Descending_Eagle.html
Breathing is something most of us take for granted. I was once educated by a Hallmark birthday card that asked me on the front “Do you want to know the secret of life? Then look inside”. When I opened the card it simply said “Keep breathing – Happy Birthday”. While it seems a simple piece of advice, it couldn’t be more accurate. Sometimes stopping and taking a deep breath can change your entire outlook on life. Think of that for a moment, a simple breath of air can literally change your life if you’re in the right frame of mind at the time. Knowing that breathing is the most important thing, and everything else cascades down from that, can provide you with a unique perspective.
I learned the value of breathing the first time I stepped into the ring as a martial artist, and before knowing the secret of breathing, I simply burnt myself out in the first minute or so. I thought, “I’m just out of shape”, by my Sensei took me aside and told me what I was doing wrong. From that day forth, armed with the secret of forcing the air out and knowing the breathing in will take care of itself, I never felt tired in the ring again… at least not unless I spent a few hours there, and that is an entirely different story. The long and the short of it was, controlling your breathing was the key to success in the ring; That and a damn good teacher.
Recently I purchased a handmade Lakota flute and it very quickly taught me the value of breathing again. To issue forth the beautiful music this instrument is capable of, (not saying that I am there yet by any means), you have to teach yourself to control your breathing. While quite different from the martial arts, it was the same lesson. Once you master this elusive skill you can actually provide yourself with a euphoric buzz after playing for a few minutes rather than gasping for air like a fish out of water the way most amateurs do in the beginning. It’s really very Zen-like and inspires you to play more.
This lesson extends to creating visual art as well. I found when I first started painting that I was holding my breath doing difficult transitions. Knowing that there are always a lot of difficult transitions, I would come away from my sessions feeling quite exhausted. I quickly realized what I was doing to myself, and corrected the problem, and now I pay just as much attention to my breathing when I’m painting as the painting itself. The bonus is a heightened sense of awareness that makes the whole experience that much better.
Now-a-days I quite often go out on our porch in the evening just to breath in the sweet, cool night air. I bring myself back to a place where things are simple again and remind myself to keep breathing. After all, that IS the secret to life you know, (according to that magical, life transforming Hallmark card), just keep breathing.
Existential angst is hardwired into all of us. Some combat the inevitability of our being by keeping their idle hands from being the devils playthings, while others gaze deep and hard into the abyss and rage, rage against the dying of the light, like our good friend Dylan Thomas.
Some people cope by being fatalists, while others are determinists. Some people feel they have a destiny to fulfill, while others feel we are merely high tech rats in an elaborate maze with only the ability to choose between left, right, or straight ahead. One thing is for sure, anyone who ever tells you they have the answer is either delusional or looking to sell a self help book.
Myself, I think there is a rainbow of possibilities between the black and the white and I will likely spend a life time entertaining every one I can. My primary thought is that the big Kahuna has spotted our path with sprinklings of darkness in order to shine a brighter light on the here and now. To use an artistic reference… you need light to show dark and dark to show light.
I think we need a karmic wake up call once in a while in order to remind us to enjoy the life we have. We shouldn’t be checking in the rear view mirror every two minutes to view what has past and ultimately can’t be changed, while ignoring the winding road ahead which could lead to great things, or could easily mark the end of the trip if we aren’t paying attention to what we are doing right now.
Why are we here? What is the purpose? Have I been watching too much of my Northern Exposure DVD’s lately because my cable is out, and thats why I am so introspective…. perhaps. What I do know is this; By choice or by chance, it’s a hell of a ride, and we have the ability to hit the reset button every single day and look at things anew if we want. I say go out and experience this life as fully as you choose while you can, and try not to let life happen TO you… because it will… it most definitely will if you let it.
Well, I’ve done it. I’ve made the move. I have broken away from the fold and installed and configured my own instance of WordPress.
For the most part the move was painless, but to say that there is an art in doing your own website maintenance would be an understatement. I spent the better part of 3 hours installing, transferring and configuring this sucker and while the theme still isn’t quite right, I’m starting to feel at home.
Going forward this blog is going to see guest posters, and more interesting articles on art, the making of art, and just about anything else that art effects.
So please, take a look around at the new digs, (there’s not much different from the old one), and let me know what you think. I encourage everyone to comment freely, let me have it… I can take it.
Thank you for your support and please stay tuned. There are many other good things to come.
I use Grumbacher acrylic paints. There, I said it. I’m not one to come out and whole heartedly endorse a product, but in the case of Grumbacher acrylic paints, they have been my go to choice of medium for many years.
I think it has to do with the constancy mainly. The smooth feel, and the way it blends effortlessly on both the palette and the canvas just makes it right for me. Other big brands have a “sticky” quality that I dislike very much. I prefer a fluid application whether I apply the paint thickly or thinly and this stuff delivers. I stopped thinking about the paint and more about the painting since I switched to this brand many years ago, and as many of you know, this is a HUGE deal. Anytime you can remove the technical from the creative you end up with a better product.
The presentation of Grumbacher versus other brands, I find, is mainly a lack of contrast. Now while this sounds very much like a negative, for me it is what I am looking for in a paint. I would rather lay my stokes down and leave them, than have to apply wash after wash to achieve an aesthetic closer to reality with levels of atmosphere. Other brands have a tendency to look plastic in their presentation and need to be subdued with thin layers of white or grey.
Overall, I would recommend this product to anyone from beginner level right up to professionals. If you want an acrylic paint that stands the test of time, and is a joy to use, this is it.
Ok, I admit it. I have an obsession with brushes. The moment I walk into an art supply store I immediately want to buy a brush. I can’t help it really. It doesn’t even matter what kind of brush it is, sable, bristle, craft… I just need to buy a brush. This “need” reminds me of the movie Conspiracy Theory, starring Mel Gibson, where his character, Jerry Fletcher, has an inexplicable need to purchase a copy of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, throughout the movie in order to quiet the voices in his head. It’s later revealed that this was a hypnotic suggestion placed in Jerry, as a failsafe, in order to track him down through the purchase of the book and capture him in the event of his escape from a top secret assassins factory… which of course is exactly what happened.
Now, I’m not saying I’m an escaped secret assassin, (not to my knowledge), but there is still that need to find a nice brush and bring it home. Now I don’t always buy “that” brush. I quite often resist the urge quite nicely thank you very much. Partly because the logical part of my brain screams “you can only paint with one brush at a time, and you already have a hundred brushes… smarten up!”. That screaming brain is usually enough to make me put down “that” brush and walk away and look for something I actually need… Oh, I don’t know… like a canvas to paint on perhaps!
But there is just something about the feel of a new brush. That point of endless possibilities that comes with an unspoiled brush. “Think of what this brush can do”, I say to myself. Flashes of murals swirling around in my head, wanting to put it all down at once, and THIS is the brush that can do it. This is THE brush.
And therein lies the rub, as Sherlock Holmes would say. The head sees an instant painting. The brush does all the work inside the head.. but when you get that sucker home… The second you walk through the studio door the delusions of grandeur bolt like a scared rabbit at dinner time and you’re left there standing in middle of the studio, staring at that 10 foot by 10 foot canvas that the brush told you to buy, holding it with a death grip growling through clenched teeth “You did it to me again… why did you do this to me again….”
And then the work begins.
Shifting focus can be difficult, but as a wise man once said “… if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting”. Since I’ve been on Salt Spring Island I’ve been scrambling to “catch up” so to speak. My mind has been on art 24/7, but my actions have been dedicated to survival. You have to keep a roof over your head and food in your stomach, but there comes a time when you have to make some changes to align your actions with your thoughts.
I’ve recently decided to get back to teaching painting, an endeavour I very much enjoy. There really is nothing quite like seeing the joy in a students face when they learn a technique that furthers their own painting, or to show someone who has never painted before that they can express themselves in any way they choose once they are freed from the mechanics of the medium.
Teaching is a wonderful way to get your own creative juices flowing again, or in my case, to get yourself from just thinking of painting and get back to actually painting. And this way you also, hopefully, benefit others as well, and how can that be bad?
On another note, I am diligently working on a few larger pieces in preparation for hanging on a few walls here on the island, and I am considering putting together a show of my work as well. I was at a favourite establishment of ours the other day and they wanted to know if I would consider hanging in their place, and of course I was flattered but not so flattered that I didn’t immediately jump at the chance. This means I have to get to work on a few originals to hang ASAP. Sometimes you have to put the pressure on yourself in order to produce, especially when your time is limited and it is easier to procrastinate than drag your self off the couch after a long day and get into the studio to pump out some product. I always initially hate “me” for doing this to “me”, but I’m usually grateful after the fact when I’m hanging on a wall other than my own, and even more so when I get a sale from it.
To get what you want, or where you want to be in life, you have to change things up once in a while. You have to deviate from the path in order to break new trails and see new things.. because if you go down the path that everyone else has gone down, you will end up in the same place they did. And I don’t know about you, but I would like to end up in a place a little less crowded and a little more unique.
“Go not where the path may lead, go instead where this is no path… and leave a trail” - Ralph Waldo Emerson -
What is art? Well, by definition, art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination typically in visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power. This is not to say that other forms, like writing or public speaking are not an art, or any other endeavor that elicits an emotional response in another person without having a tangible object to admire and touch but lets stay with the visual form for the purposes of this essay.
You will note, that the textbook definition of art did not include the words “good” or “bad”. Art is simply the application of skill and imagination. However, when discussing art on any level the question of good art versus bad art always rears its ugly head. What is good art… what is bad art… after all, isn’t one mans trash is another mans treasure?
Critics were tasked, so very long ago, by very busy people, to preview exhibits and determine whether or not it was worth the time to see based on the taste of the employer. The public was still left to go and judge for themselves. This then evolved into critics talking to other people on whether or not the show was suitable for their employers which in turn translated into the public following suit in an effort to solidify their own standing in a class society. Fast forward many centuries later and you have newspaper critics telling you, the public, what is good enough to see, and what is not worth seeing. Way too much power if you ask me.
To put it simply, good art is what appeals to the general masses and anything that does not fit into that tight little package is deemed as bad art. Following this logic, vanilla ice cream is good as it is clearly accepted by the majority as such, and all other ice cream is bad. I don’t know about you, but I like a good bubble gum ice cream once in a while… call me a rebel.
To make it even worse, politics has its boney little hand in the art world as well. Most national collections are owned by governments, and therefore have a vested interest in telling you that their collections are good, their shows are good, and they do this through government controlled media outlets… yes, hard to believe I know… that the media is corrupt… it’s blowing my mind as well.
So where does that leave us then? I think, now, more than ever in history, we actually have the voice to say… “hey, I like that.. I don’t like that”. I am pretty sure there have been no beheadings as of late for identifying our individual tastes. So lets go out and decide for ourselves what we like and what we don’t care for and leave the labels “good” and “bad” for describing hair cuts, not art. After all, art is the application of skill and imagination and how can a critic possibly tell you what you feel when you are in the presence of someone else’s skill and imagination.
Critics and art snobs are people who spell art with a capital “A” in an attempt to instill a sense of reverence in order to inflate their own feeling of worth, essentially living by being firmly perched on the backs of the working class. Artists spell art with a lower case “a” because they know where it came from.
It sounds humorous when people offer the advise to not quit your day job, but no better advise could be given. While it’s true that a day job can get in the way of producing art, it also feeds it in the way of materials, experience, and the drive to someday quit your day job.
The romantic notion of quitting your job and becoming a starving artist loses its appeal, just about the moment you realize the emphasis is far too heavy on the “starving” part and not enough on the “artist” part. This has nothing to do with the quality of your work, oh no no no… it’s simply a matter of economics. Art, like everything else that is exchanged for money, is a business. Like every business, you need capital to run it. You need an income to pay for materials. You need and income to do some marketing. You need an income to eat. In short, you need that evil day job to finance your operation until such time as your work starts exceeding your day job. Only then can you transition from work stiff, to artist and leaving that “starving” part behind.
Treat your art like a business and you will be up and running in no time. If you don’t know how to do this, then find someone who can help. But make no mistake, art is a business like any other… and a big business at that. The trick, or the “art” you might say, is in finding ways to keep as much money from the sale of your work as you can.
