New work 2010

The new year began with some much needed time off and time on. I took a week off from each of my jobs to focus on some new creations. Painting is my passion and is too often neglected for quicker and cleaner creations. Art is art, and I'm happy anytime I can create, but there is a difference in satisfaction from medium to medium.

I got out the watercolor paints and after cutting apart several fiberboard boxes from Christmas, the painting began. It's been cold, very cold, and my work space is in the unheated garage. Out comes the portable heater... and the stocking hat.

Back in the Game

It's been six months since I've been able to write anything. I took on another job beginning in June of 09, and have only had time to create. Finally, after six months of working long hours for others, I've found the time and energy to create and write to you about it.
This series of stripes was created in the month of May 09, just before my responsibilities increased dramatically. Starting with a pencil line sketch and adding color with watercolor paint to help bring my visions to life. I see these works as meditative pleasures... maybe more pleasure for myself, but hopefully for others. When you look at them, and let your eyes and mind begin to evaluate the arrangement of color, line and texture, you'll see certain shapes jump forward, others move back and around to front again. A whole universe within simple lines and color emerge.
There is plenty of room for interpretation, but it is left to you to make the connections, follow the lines and determine the outcome within yourself. Each piece is 'finished' by each viewer... in a different way.
Look at these lines. Is this unfinished, or 'in progress'?... maybe the empty space is there for a reason. Now focus on the green area. Moving up from the bottom, are the colored shapes (lines) pushing forward, or in front of the green? Is there any implied movement? Where are the defined shapes? Are they shapes joining together, or falling apart? Where does your eye take you?

There may not be anything profound about these pieces, nothing revolutionary... but when I take the time to gaze onto the paper with these lines and color, I feel a peace that is necessary for happiness and sanity.

Life - the game, the art, the creation...

This topic seems a little deep, and maybe it is. Thoughts about life can also be fun, like a game. "The Game of Life" by Milton Bradley, is what inspired these thoughts today. Taking chances, strategy, getting to the end and avoiding mishap

What I'm most interested in is the ability to control my life and the outcomes. By control, I mean deal with and handle in the most positive and constructive (creative) way possible (at the time.) To navigate the game board without regret. I feel that I am creating my life, like a painting, by choosing how to navigate through certain events that come my way. Except, unlike a blank canvas, I have been given a "work-in-progress" a collaboration of sorts. I am certainly not alone in the painting called my life. Whether alone or not, it doesn't really matter, I still am responsible for choosing how to respond to events in my environment, or how to continue creating. Creating is a form of control, and in some, or many ways, Art is like life.

to be continued...

visit scottgarrette.etsy.com to see my creations