View of Mt. Shasta at dawn.
This site is a snapshot of my process as an artist. I work on many ideas in series; all in various stages of development. Earth & Sky is the oldest series of work. People have complained that the pieces in this series are unfathomable, particularly the pure light "Portraits of Archangelic Energies". These tap archetypal streams from the deep unconscious and while it is understandable that the average viewer might not be able to recognize the images, I do believe they can feel the intent because, when presented with a pure light piece with no commentary or title, even the complainers start talking about angels.
"I go back and forth on the question:
'To be understood, or to paint the furthest reaches of the vision
as I can perceive it and wait for the culture to catch up.' Ten
years ago I decided it was important to communicate in a way
so as to be minimally understood and created a series of pastel
paintings in Golden Gate Park. (See, Cherry Blossom below). Due
to over stimulation, sight has been reduced in most people to
numbness. (It is part of the reason that the Archangel pieces
are so difficult for people to see.) To address this problem,
in the landscape work, I have increased the contrast between
highlight and shadow making the pieces more dramatic
This is a site photo taken from one of my favorite park locations. It was taken with a digital camera. Note the curious distortion of the fir tree to the left. I have noticed that digital images are different, more "fish-eye" or curved than conventional 35mm photos. It is a new view of the world. The 21st century.
The inner mood, emotion, mental state, and general perception of the artist will always be imbued in the work and even the Cherry Blossom series reaches transcendental states at times. People can see that. It's just easier for them to understand what they are looking at when they see a shimmering cherry tree than if they see a pure color field of diaphanous clouds and light. Same idea, just a different rendering. Having created a series of work that at least is clear as to the subject matter (energy and light still figure in with these pictures - only cast into a readable form) and painted in a way so that most people today can see the image, I am now going back into the Earth & Sky series to seek the limits of that vision.
The "Dog's Dream" (work in progress)
The "Miniature Worlds" series is a completely playful project between myself and other artists. My favorite piece at this time is, "A Dog's Dream". In that piece I created a room with walls of clouds. The furniture is covered with photographs of the landscape. I placed a photo of a dog in the middle of the room and had a cut-out photo of a friend, seen through an open window, running freely outside.
Rephotographed, it looks quite realistic. The story of the piece is: "The dog stays at home while it's master is at work all day. Sitting on the furniture it dreams that the couch is made of grass, the chair a field of flowers and the walls of the room dissolve into the open sky while its spirit runs free."
Comments are welcome. If you would like to be connected with other commentors, please indicate that on your email. I will add your name to an email group and periodically connect you all. The internet is an exciting arena for the exchange of ideas between people separated by great geographical distances. This is an invitation to join in a global discussion. PatPreble@aol.co