Photography- Finding beauty in every day things

I have always being interested in photography and even attempted to get serious by taking a couple of classes at IIP in New York. There are centain photographers that I admire like Henry Cartier-Bresson or Diane Arbus or the photo-journalists of Agency VII, but I will never be able to emulate them. For me, photographs have another dimension, less grand and more intimate. They are the view of the unusual, surprising and beautiful things around us. I have been collecting a few of these. I try to have have my camara ready, not only on vacations but just around here, tripod and all. It takes time, and effort because there is always something more urgent to do, but....the results could be rewarding. None of the pictures are retouched, just cropped to focus on a detail.

As I roll Up My Sleeves

It has been a long time since my last post as life and the urgent daily tasks have taken over the important things I like to do. These past nine months have been filled with experimentation of new techniques, ways and visions. I have been trying out new ways to express myself, new ways to present the ideas that get may mind so excited and happy to be alive. These ideas come quickly, but the nitty-gritty of making them work is what takes time. Last summer, I went to see the Bruce Springsteen Exhibit at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia at the urging of a great friend visiting from Germany. I walked through the exhibit taking in the history, just curious about it. However, the experience changed when I sat to listen to a recording of a Springsteen interview in which he explained his thought and work process. I was suddenly transported to my own reality. What takes time is making those ideas work. The rolling up of the sleeves, getting a painting, or a print or a metal sheet be what I wanted, is what takes the most time for me and for him as he explained so well in this interview. This is what has taken most of my time these past few months. The few hours I had to spare were used making those ideas work. I am still doing that. And one day, in the not too distant future, the song will be written and the images will all come together. The volcano brewing inside will make its showing. And you will be the first one to know. Thank you for being there and encouraging me. It is a lonely place many times.

In my studio..those fleeting moments of creativity

I have been thinking about creativity and my art, and how I come to create one image or another, one painting, one sculpture. I work in my studio in the wee hours, as you may know. There is something about these magical hours for me. If I can stay awake, there are no distractions, no pressures, no time. I sit in my studio, sometimes reading, others just listening to music. My mind is quiet, a little aloof. I will be thinking about a painting, a sculpture, all day long - how to change it, how to add something, how to make it as I feel it should be and then a fury of thoughts will rush into my mind, thoughts held from the day, waiting in my subconscious, ready to come out. These creative moments happen mostly at night because it is when I let my mind wonder, out of the mental to- do list. Those are my moments of creation, those fleeting moments where there are no boundaries, no constrains. An idea runs through and you have to grab it! Then, the real work starts. These ideas have to be put into concrete pieces. Crafting the painting, the sculpture, making it work will consume many hours and days. Experimenting, changing, adding, subtracting is part of the art. It is a struggle and I welcome it. It thrills me. Paintings and sculptures will hang in my thoughts all day, at the supermarket, at the pick-up line for school, while driving. [That is maybe why I like driving so much, you can get lost in thought.] And then, go back to the studio.

I have been working in different themes: The Economic Crisis has been a central theme...Se acabó la fiesta (The Party is over), Just Go (Carpe Diem). These are the pieces I have been working on…two of them have been selected to be exhibited at Philadelphia City Hall. More on that in my next post..

A life without Art?

When I was living in Spain, we used to visit a Lebanese restaurant in the Chamartin District. What I best remember, besides the wonderful mezes, are the brown match boxes - the folded ones- placed on every table.   Inside the flap, printed in blue letters, was a Lebanese saying...." si tienes dos Reales, compra una hogaza de pan para tu cuerpo y un ramo de flores para tu alma"   which roughly translates as "if you have two dollars, buy a loaf of bread for your body and a bouquet of flowers for your soul." This saying had stayed with me, even though, I cannot even remember the name of the restaurant or how it looked like.   It appears from time to time and it is always when I experience beauty around me, and the thought of not having it. Last night, I had the privilege of attending Itzhak Perlman's performance at the Kimmel Center. The beauty of the sounds filled the Hall. I felt how the music filed my mind, transported me, moved me....but then, when it ended I wondered what would happen if suddenly there was not music, there was no art around us. How poor our lives would become!  How gray the surroundings would be without music, poetry, paintings.....without human expressions of beauty.  The music last night filled me with joy.  As the Hungarian Dances were performed, images of gypsies, colorful dresses filled my thoughts.  My mind is already working on my next paintings. Art and beauty feed creativity.

The artist as a mother ( or full-time father) or...

It was noon and I knew the lecture was about to start.  I got in my car and flew to the city...I did not want to miss Alex Kanevsky's lecture at PAFA.   I really like his work and had never heard him speak.  It was my chance.  I got there 20 minutes into the lecture, but it is all I could do....  After the lecture, I run into a good friend and fellow artist.  Our conversation made me go back to a theme which is often in my mind: The artist as a mother, or full-time father, or full-time anything for that matter. To create one needs to think, to concentrate, to create.  Every artist has a different way to do it.  But the common theme is time to do it.   When I sit in front of an empty canvas, I sometimes stare at it for a long time.  Other times,  I read or look at pictures, but what I need is time.  If you are a mother, you are pulled in many directions.  It is not easy to find time to get away from it all and concentrate on a regular basis.  We want to be there for our children, be in every activity.  We demand ourselves to run perfect households.  We multi-task easily.  We run from one activity to the next all day long.  But concentration, that is another matter.

Getting into deeper thoughts, into one's mind and subconscious, getting into the creative self is not easily achieved while running around, as efficient as one can be.  Ideas, thoughts flow into my mind all day long, but I need time to develop them.  To think about them.  I need time to sit and stare at that canvas.  It is hard to stop after running full speed, and just sit down and empty oneself from everything to reach that point where creativity flows. That is why I paint very late at night.  It is my time, the time I steal from my sleep so that I can reach that point.  It is my price.  The artist as a mother .....- in our society - is not an easy proposition. But it is worth it!

I will talk about the lecture some other time.

Instruments of expression

I was thinking that even though my primary medium of expression is oils on canvas, I have a tendency to keep all kinds of objects that have special appeal to me, in spite of their current pariah state.  I feel they tell me something, like a deeper meaning  that somehow would be revealed at a future time.  I know they would be transformed into something else at some point.    What are those?  Wooden wine boxes, cardboard pieces, wood pieces, stones, it is hard to explain but the common theme is "things that are different even within their own category."  They will eventually help me to express a thought, instruments of expression.

Thoughts on brush strokes

While driving, I was thinking of brush strokes.  That thought took me to Knox Martin, one of my teachers at the Art Student League in New York. He was one of the most full of life, fun loving people I have ever met.  He was not a teacher, but a "maestro."  Very frequently, he would walk into class with his cane up into the air swearing very loud about something.  It was the Russians, or Tintoretto ( he loved Titian) or something back East somewhere.  It always made me smile.  This day that came to mind,  he was critiquing one of my paintings.  He took my hand very gently, opened my palm  as it was a canvas, his fingers a brush:  One, two , three.  Each stroke was gentle but  determined.  "This is the way you do it," he said.  Then he moved on. I would never forget it.  When I am 83 like him, I want to have such a thirst for life.

My Bulls

I have been engrossed in the image of the bull lately. The bull is such an earthy animal, "anclado en la tierra", uncomplicated, strong and noble. It is such a symbol of the male, the "macho."

And at the same time, it is a fierce animal. It is the symbol of the American financial system, and the symbol of greed, optimism, richness. That is what I want to explore in my images.