painting

I'm painting.

Bush, Democrats Seek to Finalize Bailout

"Our industry ... needs a bridge to span the financial chasm that has opened up before us," Lead Artist for Maddrey.Net, Kevin Maddrey told the Senate Banking Committee in prepared testimony. He blamed the industry's predicament not on failures by management but on the deepening global financial crisis.

Kevin Maddrey also added that, "Hundreds of thousands would lose their paintings" if this company were allowed to collapse."

Earlier, Majority Leader Steve Hoyar said Congress might have to return in December -- rather than adjourning for the year this week, as expected -- to push through an art bailout. "Dealing with the artistic crisis is a pressing need. We are talking about a lot of people ... and a great consequence to our economy."

As a sad example just talk to Harriet Hadley. Just last week, the FBI surrounded her home and launched several canisters of tear gas into the home before breaking down the front door and repossesing all of the fine art in her home. A tearful Harriet could be seen crying as the last of her fine art canvases were ripped from the walls. "These paintings were my life. Without them, my life is hollow meaningless and I can't taste my food properly."

The bailout is still up in the air as the current congress views art as something unnecessary. Art can't be rated and graded, so why bother? If a skill can not be tested on a standardized test for third graders, then it's pointless to bother with.

How to Paint

A little while ago, I finished a commission for someone. It was an abstract piece based off flowers. The process for this piece really got me thinking about how I paint.

There's many ways to paint. Some people are planners. They create multiple sketches and do preliminary drawings. Some people paint thin base layers and build up the canvas slowly and surely. I've tried that a few times. It's fun and all, but it's not the way I work.

For this commission, I just dove right in. Instead of using finesse to pull the painting together, I just used force. I'd slap the paint on thickly and then just move it around. At times, the painting just wasn't working and I'd have to wipe out half the painting. Then I'd repaint, step back and study.

I think I paint the same way I hike up mountains. I don't like preplanned trails. Trails tend to meander and take the slow easy way up a mountain. I prefer to go straight. No turns, no planning, no thinking. I just look for the shortest distance to the top. I don't go around boulders, I go over them. I don't go around bushes I tromp right through them. I don't preplan my panitings, I just start painting.

I realize that my way of hiking and painting are not the easiest way. They require strength and a different sort of patience. If I planned out my paintings, I'd have to be patient in the beginning. Since I don't do that, I have to be patient in the middle. There are times when I've been working on a section for a long time and it ends up being crappy, then I have to scrape it off. That's not an easy thing to do, but it helps me to be unattached to the painting itself. Which is essential for any good artist.

In the end, a viewer might not be able to tell how the artist brought about a particular painting, but it doesn't matter really. The only thing that matters is if the artist was honest with himself while creating it. And that's what seperates good paintings from great paintings.

Cross Country

I was about to apologize for my lack of consistent updates on this thing, but then I thought why should I apologize for being out doing something more interseting then writing down what I just did or thought. So the fact that this hasn't been updated means that I'm currently doing something much more interesting then 'blogging.'

Although in the future, (ie: this winter) I'll probably be writing more and this forum is as good as any. The idea is to write and write and write this winter, that way I'll get better at writing and if I want to write a book I can do that, or if I want to write for a job I can do that too.

I just finished driving cross country. Not sure how many trips I've done across - maybe ten or eleven. Each time it's just as amazing as before. Although I take that back, the first time was the most amazing. The other times were only almost as good as the first.

This trip included painting in the southwest, old indian ruins, oil rigs, Santa Barbara, Monument of the Gods, Utah, Boulder, Hopi Reservation, Alabama Hills, and a few other places that I can't remember right now. All in all.... good trip. Lots of painting, cold weather, warm weather, snow, camping, driving and lots of thinking.

Yosemite Summer 08

Another summer has come and gone. It seems like only a few months ago that I was packing up my stuff and driving cross country to head out west. My summer was incredible. Lots of painting and lots of fresh air. Most of time I was painting by the river. Just sitting, looking and thinking. When I wasn't doing that, I'd be off rambling in the back country practicing my watercolors. Trying to get lost, walking up mountains and finding new areas to paint.

In India it probably seemed like I was miles away, but in reality I was probably more in touch with everyone when I was over there then I am in Yosemite. My phone doesn't really work up there, I don't have consistent access to the internet, well I don't even have consistent access to electricity so who am I kidding?

So four months in India gets upwards of 40 or 50 posts and updates, while four months in Tuolumne gets one measley little post. But it probably works out for the better that way since most of the things I experience while living in the mountains I can't put into works anyhow.

Nice Shirt

How come when someone says 'nice shirt' the other person says thanks. The person didn't make the shirt. They just picked it off of some rack with thousands of other shirts. There wasn't any real effort put into it.

The thanks is always followed up by a run down on the pricing structure of the shirt. Well, it was originally $100, but it was marked down 10% and today there was a sale of 40% off everything.

I always get annoyed during these little shopping summaries. If I cared about the price of the shirt, wouldn't I of asked?

What's funny about this little annoying quirk of American society is that it's universal. You can be loaded or poor, everyone is interested in saving a buck. And everyone likes to brag about thier savings too. The trouble is that no one else really cares about what you spent or how much you saved.

Jet Planes

While I was down at this place called Mexico Beach in Florida I was relaxing and painting on the beach. It was peaceful apart from the continuous screaching sound of jet fighters soaring right above the beach all day long. It was unbelievable how many times planes flew over. I thought gas was supposed to be expensive. Why are we doing fly overs in Florida. Mexico Beach is a vacation spot. A place where people go to get away from things. It's not a place to sit around and think about war. Unfortunately for those vacationers, it's also a place that the US army calls home.

Now that I'm in California I can relax and be far away from all that nonesense. I can hike through the woods and everything is quiet until I hear the screach of three fighter jets in tight formation buzz the mountain peaks. Luck would have it, there's a military base right outside of Yosemite park. It seems you can't get away from that nonsense. It's annoying now because we live in a time where you can't really get away from things anymore.

Everything that is, affects everything else. And alot of the things that are, aren't that great. Too many dumb people making bad decisions. I guess it's not thier fault entirely - thier parents probably sucked, but it just sucks that we have to pay the price because someone else was a bad parent.