When Shots Range Out...

So those of you who have been following me on FB may have seen some posts here n there about a character I have been developing for the last 4+yrs i call the IdiotBox. Some of the pieces I have done with him have a political message of sorts, some a spiritual, so on n so on. Basically he's like a vessel I have used to get a point across. I'm in the process of branding him to the point that whenever some one sees him they will think of the artist behind him, namely ME! Kinda like when some one sees Garfield or Marmaduke, any way you get the picture. I have been collecting these small pieces of cardboard from work, they are roughly 5.5"x8.5". I do them in a very basic almost stripped down manner. I was inspired to do the first one by a great artist named Mear1 his work is phenomenal. I'll place a link to his website, you should go check out his work. I believe he works out of Los Angeles, but his work has been seen worldwide. Any who I do these small pieces here n there during down times that I have. This latest piece I just finished is titled "When shots range out" it reminds me a lil of a comic book scene, and almost tells its own story. Well Merry Christmas all!!! ENJOY! oh and here's a link to his tumblr account! Mear1 on tumblr

*Basically I start out with these materials and let inspiration kind of take over from there. Something always seems to strike a nerve with me and then the rest kind of lays itself out for me from there...

The difficulty in seeing differently

   I am constantly seeing things different from thee people around me. So when it comes to art that I create it goes w/o saying I see things the same way. It must have been instilled in me as a little child to see things this way and although it has been hard at times, I wouldn't give it up for the world. Several years back I was involved in an auction to raise money for a school and was given the task of painting an old school students desk.

   Of course I was NOT going to just paint this desk with some silly theme and let that be that. No, not me! I knew if I was going to do this, that this desk had to die and come back as something else. A flurry of ideas rushed into my head as I mulled over how I would re purpose this desk into something new. I scurried to try to find the elements I needed for several of the ideas but got nowhere after hitting a few dead ends.

   Finally I rested in one idea I knew I could not only pull off but thought it was probably the best of all the ones I had had up to that point. Time was running out and sometimes crunch time is the best time for inspiration. If your an artist I must repeat...Some times CRUNCHTIME is the best time for inspiration. So never hesitate to embrace that and let go.

   Having only a few more days before I had to return the desk for the auction every step of this idea laid itself out for me like the lights on a runway being turned on in the darkest night. I knew what I needed, where it was, how it was going to look when it was done, the colors, I mean everything! It feels good when you are able to create like this. The feeling is almost euphoric at times.

   The end result is a sculpture in which I titled "The Seed". And I painted the meaning to the sculpture onto the desktop like most kids write and or carve into their desktops while in school. I loved how it turned out so much I went to the auction to buy it back. But after getting into a bidding war w/a teacher that wanted it my wife convinced me to let it go. "You'll never be known for your artistic abilities if no one ever sees your work" she said. It was hard but I walked away from one of my favorite pieces to date.