Inspired All The Time

Inspired all the Time.

People ask me "how do you paint so much?"  "how do you stay inspired?"

I think the real question is: "where does creativity come from?"  I will do my best to answer these questions in this article, but really a book could be written on each subject.  No artist has a right answer or right way but they have "their answer, their way".

"How do artists do it? How do they keep creating?"  I will say in a very general way,  artists are usually born that way.  For what ever reason at a very young age they created, drew, painted, clay, collage and made a lot of messes.  Well this sounds like most children growing up, so what then really deciphers who will grow up to be an artist who will not?  

Growing up around creative people, creative parents and siblings helps to stimulate the initial seed for creativity.  Growing up with a sister who is a great artist, a mother who was always painting or doing a craft, a father, although not artistic,  was creative in that he worked on custom cars, always had a new idea for an invention of some sort or another and found creative ways to solve mechanical problems.  I was always positively motivated and encouraged to create all my life by those around me.  My parents could see that I had a gift for art, so they always supported and encouraged me to continue.  Sometimes lack of encouragement can drive one to create.  It's in the nature of the artist to rebel, those that were never encouraged or even criticized for drawing all the time found a way to flip that inside their mind and that drove them to create even more.  Almost like a reverse psycological  .

So, if you're a person who is born with it, how do you keep it?  How do you keep painting?  And where do I believe creativity  comes from?  Honestly sometimes it's harder to turn it off then to turn it on.  For instance, I have so many ideas I constantly remind myself that I am just a vessel for this creativity to flow through. I allow this creative energy to channel itself through me.  The more I give to the energy the more my physical being is capable of doing more work.  That is a huge psycological  advantage to the artist in seeing themslves as a channeling device for the creativity to flow.  It's an advantage because if you envision the creative power inside you that motivates you as being something greater then who you are, your name, your physical identity, then the creative power will always exist and it is up to you to allow it to move through you.  

So what is this creative power?  Where does it live?  Where does it come from?  Creative power is raw energy, it is energy that is focused in a productive act of creating.  It could be a painting, a dance, a bridge, a building a clay pot.  It is all just raw energy to begin with feeding through our sub conscious mind and giving an identity to the conscious mind which the artist chooses to create.  Then it becomes manifest in the physical.

As an artist, I believe this energy lives all around me, it is the very miracle of life.  It is the harmony of the heaven/space.  It is the idea that out of all the galaxies and all the empty space and all the planets, we have life on ours and it's all happening right now.  This energy lives right now, it's all around you.  We are on a planet with billions of people all living and breathing, fighting, loving, sharing, building and destroying, it's an over abundance of energy all around.  The miracle of just "being" and sharing this life time with whomever else is on the planet is pretty amazing to me.  As long as I am conscience of this happening I know there is a field of energy that I can tap into any time and moment that is endless.

But amongst all this energy there are times when this miracle can be forgotten. There are times when you need inspiration to be awakened.  I will share a few methods on how I continue to be inspired when I feel that my ability to receive this creative energy is low.  I know that the creative energy is always inside me and out there, so how do I now allow myself, my imagination to be receptive to the creative channel?

I surround  myself with other creative people.  Being an artist, all  my close friends are artists.  They all are working on projects, murals, paintings, graphic design, music, dance.  We feed each other; we talk about our creative processes;  what techniques are being used;  what styles; who inspired them to create this piece. etc. etc.  There is so much information other artists have to share that will help to open your door.  Aside from sharing with other artists, as an artist it is very important to be around other artists.  As an artists, I have already stated it's in your nature to rebel.  Rebel against the way "normal" people perceive the world, our very act of creating is the act of rebelling.  Governments don't want it's people to create , it wants it's people to follow.  We use our imagination to free our selves from whatever political or social episode the rest of the world is having.  In doing this it creates separation from the norm, from the masses and this can be lonely.  Driving a artist into personal exile because they feel nobody understands them or excepts them.  That is why you must as an artist surround your self with other artists!  It's healthy to know that there are other people that feel the same way as you, that think similar and share the same challenges as you do.  Yes, you are unique being an artist but you are not alone. Network and help each other build.

If I am feeling the creative block and there is no one that I can connect with at the time to share and network with,  or I really do feel like being alone but I need to get the juices flowing and I can't,  I take a brake and exercise. 

To change ones mental attitudes, you have to change ones physical physiology.  Get up, move, stretch, go for a run.  If you mentally feel stagnant, it's probably because you're physically stagnant.  Everyone knows exercising is healthy but when you exercise, you allow new blood,and new oxygen to go through your body re-engerizing and stimulating your body and mind. In stimulating your mind you stimulate your imagination because that's where your imagination comes from.  When I exercise, I don't think about my art projects.  I love to exercise. I am a, martial artist so when I train, I am thinking about my martial art technics. If I am jogging, I am thinking about my stride.  But as I think about my current physical activity there are times I can not help my mind from wondering into the depths of my creativity thresh hold.  This is usually the moment when I have a creative brake through. I get that puzzle piece that I needed to go forward with whatever project I am working on or the fresh new idea for the new project I'm about to start.  Try some exercise, doesn't have to be major, don't over due it, if you're not used to it.  You just need fresh oxygen and good blood circulation.

Let's just say for whatever reason, I can't exercise.  Well then, I use books and the internet to stimulate my creativity.  I read a thought provoking book,  something metaphysical, books on my favorite artists, or a good fantasy or science fiction book.  Books feed my mind with new images and ideas.  Those ideas sometimes lead into new visions of creativity.  The same goes for the internet.  I look up photography, animals, figurative, anatomy, dramatic lighting effects, ...  I search for other artists, maybe, I just type in google "abstract art" and I see what pops up.  Do not rip or steal other peoples' work, however, being inspired from them is ok.   Borrow ideas but make them your own,   You know inside when you have ripped a complete idea and when you have borrowed it to influence your style.  There is a difference.  Pop Art is a good example of this because it plays on a subject that has been already created.

Traveling is a great way to open the door up to the creative mind.  This  helps to change your perspective.  Great art and great artists  are made from finding different perspectives that most people are not going to see.  As an artist it's your job to help other people understand there is a different way of thinking .  When I say travel, this doesn't mean you you have to go to some far off exotic place, however if you can  then thats awesome.  Just get out of town for a day trip, go see the city, or if you live in the city go to your nearest forest.  It will help you feel refreshed. Make sure to bring a note pad or your sketch book incase you have any creative brake through.  But don't look for the creative brake through, keep in mind you're on a trip to get away from the struggle in your mind.  Be relaxed, enjoy the moment and let it come to you.

The last area in my life where I get my inspiration from is my dreams.  I am not going to go into too much here.  I feel I could write a separate article just on dreams and using the information in the dreams to help stimulate visions.  I have had lucid dreams all my life. It is just within the past 6 years that I have really been paying more attention to my dreams and trying to think about how they relate to me in the my physical reality.  It has just been this past year that I have been using the imagery from my dreams to base some ideas from them for paintings.  There is a state of consciousness right before you sleep where you can induce lucid dreaming.  I am beginning to control that state.  Now, if I have an idea and it is incomplete, I will think about that idea and at the same time induce a lucid dream and most of the time there are instances where the original idea takes a life of it's own in the lucid dream giving me a vision.  Right now, all I can say is:  "pay attention to your dreams.  Try to remember them, write them down and see if there is anything that you can use in a creative way.  It takes time it takes practice".

 I am not only a creative individual but a full time artist I have the door open to the creativity thresh hold open all the time.  Sometimes I can not paint fast enough to get ideas out.  But when I feel there is a block, those are the solid technics I use in opening the door to creativity.  If you're an artist, see what works for you.  It might not work the first time or one might work better for you then the other.  Just remember, finding ways to open the creative door is just as much a technic as using whatever creative medium you explore, when you're in the creative act.  If you are not an artist and just want to find out a little bit more about a creative process, I hope this gives you a little bit more information on the creative act.

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Modern wall art, Pop Art Is Dead

Pop Art Is Dead... Why?

Pop Art is a style of art that takes the modern culture and the mass media from fine art and fine art values and turns it into something that is out of the norm. This is done because people take the mass media too serious.  Pop Art can be used as an expression to show the comedy and satire in politics, religion, and real world issues. 

Usually, a good Pop Artist will  make comedy out of the current events. A good Pop Artist  will be able to make the viewer ask "what is the artist saying?"  Making the viewer hopefully think a little deeper about some of the past and current modern cultures of the world. 

As long as there is media culture, Pop Art can never die. "Pop Art Is Dead" makes a pun on "pop culture" by playing a joke on the initial joke. But as an artist, "Pop Art" is dead, so come up with something new ;)  Pop Art Died when Andy Warhol died, Basquiat died and  Keith Haring died.

Pop Art is very popular, however I haven't seen a whole lot of Pop Art that points the finger back at "Pop Art".  Most artists will use it so that it sends a message out about the subject matter.  "Pop Art is Dead" is saying that "Pop Art  is done so much by myself and other artists it will Never Die." I hope it never will, however for it to grow and evolve, what is it that an artist can create?  Not just about the Pop Icon that is being depicted,  but what can I say about the "style and the movement" of Pop Art and pop culture?  Pop Art Is Dead isn't about the death of Pop Art, it's about the transition that it needs to take because death is a transition. Pop Art arose from a rebellion against excepted styles.  So now with Pop Art is Dead Series, I rebel against Pop Art in hopes to create more ideas.

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Modern Wall Art: LIve Art, a little glimpse of what it is...

First of all what is a Live Artist, or performance Art?  In my opinion if your doing a creative act, whether it's singing, playing a instrument, dancing, just to name a few in front of a audience then it's All Live Art! My focus however is on Painting Live.

I have been a Live Artists for about 8 years. I started in San francisco and moved to Arizona.  When I first got to AZ I hit the live art scene hard.  I painted live 5 nights a week at different venues, night clubs, private parties, charity events and whatever else I could get my hands on to.

At the time there were only a hand full of live painters out there in the Arizona scene.  We all worked really hard and learned a lot about each other and our different styles.  Competition for space at a venue would get tight sometimes and often artists wouldn't get a space because they showed up too late.

After about a 2-3 years of doing it none stop I started to notice a lot of new artists coming out to paint live.  All of a sudden, if you painted, you probably were a live artists!  I give credit to who ever tries to express their individual talent and skill.  But a lot of the talent that came out kind of lacked that skill.  They had bad set ups, too much lighting or too little lighting, they spread out too much taking up too much room on the floor.  They painted really bad paintings, subject matter and technique were off.  Worst of all some of them would make a mess in the venue, spilling paint or acting a fool.  This all giving a bad name to Live Art.

So I stepped back.  Took about 2 years off from doing any regular weekly events.  I would only paint if I got paid to come out and paint.  I would only paint if I liked the venue and the party.  I would only paint if I thought I would sell work and I would only paint if I got properly represented by the promoter.  Meaning, my name and website on all promotional material and if I thought this promoter really respected me and my work.

My point here is to share a little bit about what it is to have to go out and hustle your art at parties or clubs.  Some people think it's real easy just to set up and "paint".  No, you set up to perform, not just "paint".  Here is a little of the good and the bad.   

Be prepared to be treated sometimes as just a side act, pushed aside and not really taken seriously. To combat this I would: always show up early, be as professional as possible, let people know I do this full time so I mean business.  Try to pick a spot at the location where I would get a lot of viewers but not a lot of traffic.  For instance, setting up any where near the dance floor is a no no.  Sure everyone will see your paintings and you paint, but they will also be running into you and your gear all night.  Try to pick a spot where people go to lounge and relax, vip rooms are good, patios, you have feel it out and you have to have a electrical outlet!

Have a clean set up, be prepared and have business cards and other promotional material.  If needs be I always can paint in just a 4ft x 4ft space.  Always have a plan of execution so that your finished product looks like a great painting that just happened.  Be ready to have to talk to drunks and people that just want to waste your time.  You always have to have a fined tuned Bull Shit detector!  

If your doing this full time I have two old school sayings I go by when I try to sell my work 

1.  a bird in the hand is better then 2 in bush.  So if someone wants a painting and they have cash, let it go your there to move paintings but only if your comfortable with the price and their vibe.  Make sure to take PICTURES!!

2.  Money talks and bull shit walks.  I'll get people 

"hey I love that painting I wanna buy it!" 

Ok great, lets do it, you have cash now, do you want to put a small deposit down on it and I'll hold it for you?  I say.  

If they say no to either one of those questions and say "I'll pick it up at the end of the night, or do you have a card, or I gotta go to the atm" nine times out of ten there blowing smoke up your yin yang.

Also be prepared to work late night,  to be surrounded by drunks and debauchery.  You have to have stamina to be able to carry all your paintings, easels, paint boxes etc.  Most of the time you don't have help doing this.  Management and bouncers don't usually offer help.  If they do most of the time I say "no thank you I got it" just to show I'm self sufficient.

Also be prepared to have a really great time, to sell your art, to meet really cool people, to be treated as if your a local celebrity (after you get your name out), to grow to expand and create hopefully a great body of work!  Honestly if you are painting 3-5 times a week at legit venues there is no reason why you shouldn't be stacking some loot, promoting your self and having fun while doing it.

I wouldn't take any of it back if I could.  I created and have sold some very great work and a lot of people have walked away with some of my modern wall art and abstract art.  I love what I do.  But for me art is about growth and evolution.  Sometimes to grow you have to step back from the picture and choose what battle you want to fight and win.  I think I will always paint live, there is a certain sense of excitement when your painting and everything is going as planed.  But now after putting in my work I know what battles to fight and what ones aren't going to work for me.

There is so much more I could write about painting live.  Such as: promotions, marketing, sales strategies, how to target the right venues to paint at, how to spot real art buyers instead of the ones that just want to try to talk you up.  I guess more blogs to come! enjoy.