Not AGAIN...!

It seems I can't use GoLive to update my web site anymore.. The alternative is Dreamweaver and I have no idea how it works. (I tried and suddenly it had made a Dreamweaver site folder of all my web sites into one...) So I'm very embarassed to say, sorry for not updating the web site in a while, AGAIN. I get the feeling I say that a lot. I have applications for two more schools to finish and I'll try to figure out what to do with the web site(s) after that.

That said, I started a new painting yesterday, it's going to be part of a series of two paintings so it doesn't look very impressive on its own:

It was a good opportunity to test my new digital camera though. I was never really happy with the old one, especially when I was going to take photos of my works for documentation, so it was a nice change. It has a so-called "intelligent" flash, which I think is great.

I just realised that the person in the painting looks a lot like my sister, even though it's not. Strange.

Why is it that....

...a painting always looks like CRAP when you first start working on it??

I was always told that the process is just as valuable as the result, but it's very tempting to skip right to the result when you think you've done a day's decent work and realize you've merely created something that looks like a kindergarten project. Maybe that's why it's so hard to "admit" that this is what my new painting looks like. I did have a great time taking the newest addition to my paint brush collection for a test ride though. (as shown to the right) It's a real beaut and probable the most expensive paint brush I've ever owned.

By the way, as you've probably noticed, my web site is now up again. Feel free to leave comments and write in the guestbook; I'm thankful for any feedback.

A nearly finished self portrait

Just needs a few adjustments.

It's gonna feel so good to not see a copy of my own face staring back at me first thing in the morning!

It's that time of the year again! (yikes)

I guess you thought I'd disappeared for good; I haven't posted for almost a year. I'll try to make more of an effort from now on though. I've been busy painting and trying to build up a portfolio in time for the application season, which is only about a month away. It sounds easy, doesn't it.

It's not, trust me. I can be working on a painting for weeks until it's nearly finished, "it just needs a liiiittle more..." and then I end up doing something horribly which seemed like a good idea at the time, but does in fact ruin the whole painting and I have to start all over again. It's something I have to get used to, I do recognize that, but it's getting harder to take since I'm not officially an art student anymore. Since I wasn't accepted to the Academy and there were too many applicants for the one year course in art history, I signed up for a one year course in religion studies instead.

It's been fascinating so far; a lot of the lectures include information that can be useful in a lot of situations and that also has a relation to art (ethics, philosophy, ancient Greece). The hard part is to juggle my studies with my painting - I feel like I must be 100% commited to both things. If i'm in a hyper-creative phase I tend to miss lectures, and I don't know if I should feel bad or accept that it's a necessary consequence.

Oh, and you've probably noticed that my web site has been taken down. Don't worry, it's only temporarily. I'm working on a new site with a more 'professional' approach which will hopefully give the site a bit more credibility.

Which brings me to another subject (I'm rambling). The decision of making a new web site was made partly by the response I got when I posted a link at a message board in which I'm an active member. It seems that people who have no experience in art (and may be more fascinated by art than actually interested in it) immediately favoured the one painting I was embarassed to have uploaded in the first place - the snow landscape with the descending sun. My sister, who has a genuine interest and also experience in art, asked me in earnest when she saw it was online, if I'd uploaded it as a joke. My mother compared it to an "etude" - something pleasing to the senses but lacking of depth and expression. The painting is too much of a cliché to be taken seriously - yet it's what 'the people' love.

My question is: Is the definition of being a talented artist to make things look exactly as in reality? That you can draw or paint any person, on command, and make it look exactly like the original? When I was younger, about 11 or 12, I was frequently told I should become and artist, based on my ability to draw a reasonable likeness of Nick Carter from a picture. It gave me a sort of status until I started studying graphic design and was told that my drawing abilites would be of less use - The emphasis was on the creative prosess; inventiveness, the ability to let go of the boundaries in one's head. When I started studying art for real, there was of course a great focus on learning the technique; anatomy, colours, mediums, but gradually we were also taught the importance of using art as a tool of expression. Dare to be curious, raise questions, discover unexpected things in the routines of everyday life. I've embraced this philosophy and try my best to live by it - to always work with that theory in mind.

What then if I create a series of paintings that really express my thoughts and feelings on a certain subject, but don't fit into "the man in the street's" perception of what good art should be? Will people have to be educated art critics in order to find any meaning or beauty in my works; is the ordinary man's perception of beauty a certain formula that can't be changed?

Maybe it boils down to the fact that we're afraid of things we don't understand. If a painting doesn't meet our expectations in terms of what good art should be - obviously something that involves shapes and colours that can easily be interpreted by our eyes and thus gives us some kind of meaning - we don't understand it and it is "not good".

I begin to realize I could go on and on about this but I'll spare you for that. Feel free to carry on the debate by commenting.

In closing, and completely off topic, I recommend iTunes/iPod users to subscribe to Tate's Podcast series "TateShots". It's brilliant and includes interviews with artists, special news stories and exhibition previews.

annoyed...

I've been sick with a cold for over a week now and have barely had energy to think about, let alone work on anything art related. I still have application forms to complete, that is to say the application for the Art Academy in Oslo, and it scares the living daylight out of me. It's like being on Idol. You send in documentation of your work and after they've reviewed the applications they choose a 2-digit number of lucky people who have to come to Oslo for a week and work with a given art project. All the while they will walk around and observe your working methods and there is also an interview in front of a "jury". Then they eliminate people again and are left with 25 lucky applicants who will be accepted into the school.

In a way it all seems too...big. It seems just too far out there to think that I will ever get to the 2nd round of the process. But at this point in my education I have no choice but to apply for such prestigious schools, if I want to continue doing this...

wish me luck everyone..:)

"Room for squares"...

I'm currently working on two projects simultaneously, both in the photo-realistic technique. (Heck I don't even know the English term for it, but it'll do). It sounds rediculously simple; you take a photo, divide it into squares and copy it onto a surface as large as possible. When seen from a distance, the result will look more or less like a photo. But the process of painting it is not as straight forward!

First of all, after 6 hours of painting your back is aching and your eyes sting from concentrating too much, and you look up and discover that you've managed to fill 7 squares out of 100. (Some teachers have told me that in order to achieve the right effect you have to paint each square separately - so that you're able to distance yourself from the motive and not get too caught up in the details) I experienced that first hand this week as I clearly was a little over-ambitious and convinced myself I'd have it finished by Friday. Nope. By Friday afternoon the painting was nearly half finished and I felt like I'd been thrown off a horse.

Second of all, there are so many decisions to make - dry brush, wet brush? Retarder or no retarder? round brush, flat brush, thick or thin brush? I'm still inexperienced so I get a little freaked out by all these decisions but I guess that later on it will be a little easier.

But the joy of this technique is to see each square fit together and reveal the motive little by little. It's a lot like doing a jigsaw puzzle, only you can't unscramble it and put it in a box when it's finished, thank God.

I'm looking forward to finishing the painting at home, and I'm also very excited about the other project, which I won't reveal just yet cause it's still in the early stages.. in the meantime I'll go listen to John Mayer who. without knowing it, gave me the title to this post. :)

Sunday, Sunday people...

If Sunday People are the kind of people that love Sundays and get up bright and early to fill the day with constructive and creative activities, I'm not one of them. Unfortunately. Sunday is the day where I have most free time and during the week I have this over-enthusiastic idea that whatever needs to be done, I can do it on Sunday cause "I'll have time".

This happens every week cause, needless to say, nothing actually gets done on Sundays.

At the moment I'm very frustrated about my school project, which I received some not-all-too-positive feedback on - constructive criticism of course but I'm just not sure what to make of it. I have no idea how to turn my project around, and though it's (according to all the teachers) necessary to be frustrated and not know what to do, it doesn't feel good to be standing right in the middle of it!

To add at least SOME positive news to the post; I recently finished another religious painting and my mother is unofficially hired to try and find potential buyers for it, as she is in the Church choir. Wish me luck!!