Sunday, April 07, 2013

Caught in the Act




Three shots of me painting, at the gallery in Laguna Beach. Plus a peice in progress. I think these are the first pics ever, after all these years, of me making art. Caught in the act!

9 comments:

Everything n Nothing At All said...

Holy wow! That is absolutely beautiful.What inspired this piece?

CM said...

You talking about that great glowing icon -- that is the Kalachakra Mandala -- it is an 'industrial strength' spritualy cleansing symbol, it eats up negative energy and confusion and converts it to serentity and peacefulness. I'm still working on it, but when I saw that it started working/ really popping I put it on display. I have some other wrok like this -- I have book on Buddhist iconography that I draw from. I like it!

Everything n Nothing At All said...

Wow! Pure coincidence, I'm studying Buddhism and Taoism.

It's really an attractive piece, very magnetic. These kind of art pieces I can analyze and observe.

Hey do you put your art work on display?

CM said...

Nice! I practice Buddhism every day, Dzogchen, a Tibetan kind of Dharma, and I've been studying Taoism for many years. Well, not so much studying Taoism, but enjoying it and the outlook. Zen Buddhism, which I very much like, is basically a fusion of Taoism and Buddhism.

If you ever have any questions about Buddhism or Taoism, I could probably give you feedback, and also suggest someone/ or a book to take you farther.

I've displayed my work on the wall, on the floor, wherever people want it. Even on the ceiling. I mount my paintings where the viewer can go behind the poainting and see through them. I tend to not be overly formal with my presentation, I like it when there is not much of a barrier between the viewer and the work.
:-)

Everything n Nothing At All said...

haha That's really funny! I would love to see more of your work. I was under the impression that you drew cartoons only. Do you have specific style that your more inclined towards?

Taoism is amazing, its a philosophy and it's all about self improvement. Their philosophy is there is no easy fix unless you make an effort. That kind of perspective I can respect and even follow. Buddhism is something I'd be willing to explore but it really piles on the guilt on me.

CM said...

I'm a multimedia/ use anything to make art, kinda person. I like using recycled or thrown away things, junk, and whatnot. I'm inspired by 'Dada', and artists like Max Ernst, Duchamp, Man Ray, Picasso, Paul Klee, Chagall, Miro, Alexander Calder, the list goes on. I also like Cubism, action abstract painting from the New York School in the 1950s, and ‘pluralistic’ themed stuff from the 1960s and 1970s. I also have a very strong conceptual art bend. I've done much work and I weave my cartooning though it, as well. So I guess I'm inclined to very much all kind of artistic expression, of any historical artistic tradition, and you never know how it is going to turn out. Recently I've been studying the colorful and vibrant Neolithic decorative painting and motifs from places like Catal Huyuk, and incorporating this into my art. I love art and making art, the connections it makes with me and others. It is an adventure only limited to my imagination! I’ll have to dig around and see what pics I have, I generally don’t take enough of them. : - )

CM said...

Buddhism should no lay any guilt on you -- Buddha was teaching kindness. That is my understanding of Buddhism. Whatever is genuinely kind, and unselfish -- whatever is motivated by love over hate, that is the essence of what Buddha was teaching. Buddha taught it comes from within. And we can do it, if we follow certain reccomendations.

Taoism, I love Taoism. It helps me go with the flow. It helps me not take things so seriously. I've written a bunch of Taoist stories, if you ever want to see them, let me know.

Everything n Nothing At All said...

Wow that's really amazing! I'm a bit ignorant in "pluralist" category. Cubism I've worked with, abstract art sometimes really puzzles me. Basically, you don't tie your self down to specific genre of art creativity. That's interesting, most of the artists I've met like to focus on one style.

lol one thing I do dutifully is take pictures of my paintings. After I labor over them for hours I decide to send picture to my friends so they can "ooh" and "ahh" over them. Also sometimes my paintings look better in a picture.

Do share! Everything your paintings and stories.

Chinese art, culture, and religion have always held attracted me. At one point I wanted to major in Anthropology specifically towards Chinese culture.

CM said...

As I understand it, the ‘pluralistic era’ or ‘pluralist era’ was from about 1968 to 1986, loosely. Conceptual art really got going there, as well as fusions of performance art, ceramics, sculpture, painting, and other disciplines. Minority viewpoints, and women’s voices in art gained prominence.

Some art historians feel that the ‘pluralist era’ was a time where there was no dominant genre in the mainstream art world. There was a lot of combinations of disciplines, and a lot of experimentation along conceptual art lines.

I am very much a conceptual artist at the root of what I do, so I feel free to borrow from everywhere to express my ideas and concepts. I have BFA in Conceptual Design. So that could explain it.

But I also don’t believe in boundaries or boxes, for a drawing to have to be just a ‘drawing’, or a sculpture should just be a ‘sculpture’, or a painting just be a ‘painting’ – I want more, and there are ways to increase the context of any work, involvement of the viewer.

I like it when the viewer becomes involved with any work I do, where my work lives in their imagination.

I also like the play aspect of art, and above all -- making art because it is FUN!, and creativity is where my imagination is not constrained, and my ideas can be expressed in varied ways and media.

Many words! Better stop/

Taoist short stories, I have many of them, but here are a few:

http://giganticjet.blogspot.com/2013/03/frog-school.html

http://giganticjet.blogspot.com/2013/01/mt-saddleback-has-no-snow.html

http://giganticjet.blogspot.com/2011/08/chung-tzu-on-reading.html

http://giganticjet.blogspot.com/2010/10/lao-tzu-and-every-leaf-in-forest.html

I love Anthropology, and I had to study Chinese art for three semesters when I was in college. Possibly I may decide to get back into Egyptology, and hieroglyphics – always a fascination of mine.

I’ll work on getting you some pics of my art – I’ll have to ask people to take pics of them – friends steal my art and they don’t give it back.