Changethethought

“My paintings are large, complex designs that attempt to reflect my sense of the times we are living in, and both how richly interesting they are and how difficult it is for most of us to navigate their uncharted waters. There is a great push and pull, the lure and the repulsion, the fiction and the real, the known and the unknown. And we live in this swirl of delicate gestures, driving desires, fantasy, economic complexity and interdependence, isolation and hope. I am trying to render some notion of this rich fabric.”

Amazing paintings from Terry Rodgers. More here.

written by Christopher | tags: Acrylic Painting, Art, Terry Rodgers

Bag Painter artist statement:
“Years ago I saw a book of black and white crime photographs from the past. I found it amazing. The characters and crime scenes looked like surreal glimpses into the history of human interaction. Much more intriguing for me were the mug shots. Portraits of people who had just been caught. Despair, frustration, anger – so many expressions could be read on the faces. Each one of these images has a story. Often times I have no idea what the real story is, but it’s hard not to make one up. One of the reasons I paint them is to bring out another possible story, for people to look at and think about. The majority of the images I base my paintings on are from the 1890’s through 1950’s.

Originally I began using charcoal and white conte´ crayon on paper bag. The way the wrinkles, folds and texture added to the piece really appealed to me. In 1999 I painted my first 4 mug shots in acrylic on paper bag with a limited palette of 5 colors each. Paper bag has been my main substrate ever since. Brightly colored acrylics have a different effect on the brown bag than on a typical white backing.

I try to bring new life to these practically discarded portraits of criminal and human history. Using an everyday, disposable item as the surface gives new life to the bag as well. It is my hope to get people thinking about the past, their present, and how we all affect both.”

written by Christopher | tags: Acrylic Painting, Art, Bag Painter, Mug Shots

Wow, I have seen Adam Haynes work before and I am sure I have mentioned it but I stumbled across the ocean image this morning on FFFFound and I was just blown away all over again by his work. It is all just fantastic. The fact he paints that flatly and captures that much detail is really amazing. Great stuff. It’s worth a second browse if you are in need of a little dose of inspiration.

written by Christopher | tags: Acrylic Painting, Adam Haynes, Art, Stickfort