I have nothing relevant to say compared to the gravity of the drawing that is in front of you. Of course, you see the reproduction; the actual drawing is more glorious. There is an expanse within me that is my present self-awareness; this profound self-awareness is allowing me to increase my self-perception of the art I make as I make it. My perception is my gaze upon the exterior-to-me world in which my art resides. Thus the realm in which my art is perceived in much enhanced compared to that I have perceived before now. The testimony to this increase in perception is the art itself.
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For two days in a row the savior of my drawings has been a graphite stick. There is punch to these drawings. I am enjoying it! Profundity is issued by showing-up, day after day; doing the work. Continuity is important. Reflection is important. A jump in my knowing is occurring. This is happening NOW! When I write, "NOW!", I mean over the recent period of time. Perhaps this enlightenment will not end anytime soon. I must maintain my health and well-being to extend this period. I just revealed my greatest worry. This living, this discovery, is limited by mortality. I am within a great effort to extend both, both mortality and this period of profound discovery.
![]() "Inertia to Movement" (2019 No.6, state 2), oil on canvas, 64.5x64.75 inches {"Emotion is the moment when steel meets flint and a spark is struck forth, for emotion is the chief source of consciousness. There is no change from darkness to light, or from inertia to movement, without emotion." -Carl G. Jung (1875-1961), "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious", 1955, translation R.F.C Hull} Drawing 12·06·2019 is much better than state No.1 (shown in yesterday's post). I show the drawing before the painting "Inertia to Movement" because I worked more on it, but also because my internalization through innovation and discover is more evident. The drawing changed drastically, the painting not-so-much. Without doubt, this is one of my greatest drawings.
"Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door!" That old saying should apply to my work. No one is more skilled, making more important investigative art, than I. Where's the beat to my door? The knocking is there, but sale prices for my art are minuscule compared to the $120,000 paid recently for an actual decaying banana duct taped to a wall. Amazingly, two editions of this sculpture[sic] sold, each for $120,000, at this year's Art Basil Miami.
In any case, I am not there yet. Yesterday's drawing will be improved. The ground of its upper left portion is indicated by line strokes. I must stop being so pure, insisting (as I have) on strokes of pencil rather than smooshes of graphite. Today I will fill in the upper left portion with smudges of dry graphite. Check back tomorrow for state 2 of this drawing. ![]() "Inertia to Movement" (2019 No.6, state 1), oil on canvas, 64.5x64.75 inches {"Emotion is the moment when steel meets flint and a spark is struck forth, for emotion is the chief source of consciousness. There is no change from darkness to light, or from inertia to movement, without emotion." -Carl G. Jung (1875-1961), "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious", 1955, translation R.F.C Hull} Yesterday was an important day. I began a new painting, "Inertia to Movement". I have been seeking a more direct approach to exuding emotion in my work. Mostly my search has been through drawing, but yesterday I took a big step in finding emotion in painting as well. This first state of "Inertia to Movement" exhibits simplicity in search of clarity. I will walk carefully in the making of this painting, step by invented step. My intention is to be fully mindful, fully present, during its pathway to full blossom.
As much as I like the drawings shown in my previous two posts, I like this one more. I like it more because of the process in which it was made: completed in one session, spontaneous without preconception. I am striving to find true emotion in my work; a kind of deep-seated truth that speaks simultaneously my intellect and emotions. I am getting closer, but this is not a battle easily won. I find dark, high contrast spots, areas, and forms, allow for better communication of my feeling; this is an intellectual decision, but rings true. This drawing has that.
Yesterday's drawing was me questioning the drawing I posted here yesterday. Here are the two drawings, side by side: There are things I like in both. Questions and answers lead to more questions and more answers. More coming today...
Here in the U.S.A. the Thanksgiving weedend absorbs, distracts, and eludes; concerted concentration on art is impossible. Thanksgiving is all about the people in one's life. So it was for me. I started this drawing on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I enhanced it on December 1, and I will return to it today. It is a good one. This drawing does things new and revealing. I am working toward more emotional connection in my astute intellectual renderings. This work is paying off. I give thanks. Life is a journey of effort, which is leading me to an continual increase in meaning and satisfaction. I feel more in tune with my work, more than ever before! Substantially is my goal; my daily work habits are paying their benefits!
![]() "Gunfire Across My Consciousness" (2019 No.5, state 10), oil on canvas, 48.5x32.5 inches {"My mind is just like a spin-dryer at full speed; my thoughts fly around my skull... Images gunfire across my consciousness... I jump in awe at the soul-filled bounty of my mind's expanse." -Christopher Nolan, Irish Writer on his reasons for writing "The Eye of the Clock", in November 8, 1987 "Observer"} There is something magical and emotional about the negative. Forms dominate both the drawing and the painting in today's post, but it is the negative, the areas without form, that sing in emotional stress. The forms punch out of the negative, speak loudly in positive voices. Consequently the forms punch enthusiastically, in and out they go, undeniable they are. This would, and could, not happen without astute realization of negative spaces. I believe yesterday's drawing is one of my most fully realized. It was born in mindfulness. Its exudes delicate interaction between individual forms, forms against one another, forms against ground. Elegant they are, both painting and drawing, both are loudly original, loudly me!
Does it bother you? There is an open (negative) space in the upper left of this drawing. Compositionally, it works! Is that enough? Spatially it may be difficult to read. I am unsure. This drawing is thick with pencil marks. I followed it to this conclusion, but methinks it asks as many questions as it answers.
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At MEHRBACH.com you may view many of my paintings and drawings, past and present, and see details about my life and work. Archives
December 2019
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