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Why Watercolor?

October 24, 2010 · 11 comments

Why watercolor?

People ask me this all the time… like I have a choice [grin]

Don’t worry… I’ve asked myself this question a number of times over the years and still can’t come up with a decent answer.

I mean… it’s not like I’ve never wanted to quit. I have. And I did once… for a whole year!

During my year of self imposed [watercolor] exile… I painted only in acrylic and oil with the occasional charcoal sketch tossed in. But I never got over that empty aching feeling whenever I picked up a brush!

Something about watercolor keeps me coming back for more. Like a moth to the flame… the brush to the paper… the water to the paint *sigh*

The best explanation I can come up with is that watercolor has a certain magic that other mediums lack. There is something intangible about it. Something you can’t quite put your finger on. You know what it is… but you just can’t quite explain it.

There is a fluidity in the watercolor process… an expectation of the unexpected… an excitement in the impossible challenge.

This is a serious addiction I know [and watercolor artists the world over will agree!]

Watercolor is the quintessential challenge.

“If you can’t handle me at my worst…

then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best” – Marilyn Munroe

It has a well earned reputation for being difficult. But to me… watercolor is clever and brilliant and challenging and rewarding all rolled into one. But that’s not to say that just because it might come across all sophisticated and sassy… it can’t also be cruel and terrible and unforgiving and flat [and downright awful] all at the same time… and I might take a moment to focus on that.

Florida artist Jean Grastorf has described it like this… “every watercolor painting goes through an ugly stage” and I believe her. There comes a time in the making of every watercolor when the painting begins to look flat and uninteresting… tired and overworked [note: I'm talking about the painting here NOT the artist - the artist is never tired - and ALWAYS interesting - grin]

You start to second guess yourself… and wonder if you should toss it in and start again.  But the beauty of watercolor is the number of times a perfectly good watercolor is discovered on the easel the morning after the night before… after it has had the chance to dry. Magic eh?

“Some people dream in technicolor… others dream in watercolor”

Watercolor requires us to trust the process more than any other medium. It demands that we submit to the paint… and the water… and the chemistry of both… and to allow what will be to simply BE.

We have to get out of the way and let it do it’s thing… and sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do!

This is where I think WATERCOLOR and LIFE have a lot in common.

Maybe that’s why I like it so much?

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Cartoon © 2008 Jean Burman

Yesterday morning over coffee at the Queensland Art Gallery I was fortunate enough to have a few words with the late great Vincent Van Gogh.  What a nice man he turned out to be! [grin]  Here is the interview!

Me:

Hi Mr Van Gogh… you don’t know me at all… but I was wondering if I could take a moment of your time here today to talk about your art… and how it goes with you in general?

Vincent:

Yeah thanks Jean. I really do appreciate you taking the time to listen. So many people simply just don’t.

Me:

Well Mr Van Gogh… you might be interested to know that not much has changed over all the years.

Vincent:

Geez Jean… I’m really sorry to hear that. As you know… I almost gave up a number of times. If it wasn’t for Theo I think I would have given up way sooner than I eventually did. I mean… a man’s gotta eat… get around… and sleep warm and dry.

Me:

Yeah I know. Can really relate. Hey… I’ve been meaning to ask Vincent… what made you do it?  I mean… cutting your ear off ‘n all and ending it all so tragically. That’s kind of left of centre you know!

Besides… don’t you know how famous you are now?

Vincent:

Famous? You’re kidding me right? Says who?

Me:

Says me. Says everyone! The Establishment loves you! People love you!  Academia hails your work as epiphanous with the gleam of a thousand revolving stars in their eyes… and totally *way out of this world*. Heck… your Irises sold for a cool $101 million!

Vincent:

Holy smoke Jean! How did that happen? Back in the day… my only collector was Theo… and he made the difference between life and death for me. Put a roof over. Kept the wolf from the door… that sort of thing.

Me:

Well Mr Van Gogh… I’m sad to say… there’s still plenty of wolves out there today… [most of them in sheep's clothing - but I digress]… but let me assure you they wouldn’t be hanging by your door nowadays… [if you were still here I mean... and if you still had one that is!]

Vincent:

[*long wistful almost inaudible sigh*] Ahhh… how it’s all changed. If only I knew then what I know now.

Me:

Yep… everything looks easy in 20/20 hindsight eh?

Vincent:

Yep. Sure does.

Me:

You set a precedent way back then you know.  Nowadays you’ve got to do something really spectacular to get noticed! [Like die] *wink*

The more things change the more they stay the same eh… [grin]

Artists are still struggling.  Overworked… underpaid… undervalued… under loved… under appreciated.  And all the other “unders” until the undertaker comes along and puts ‘em 6 foot under!

And that’s when things really spin out and get scarey.

Because when people realise that there’s no more coming from where those came from… [as a consequence of being... um... dead] then suddenly you’re IN. Flavour of the month in fact. 

Vincent:

Yeah? [incredulous... Vincent shakes his head]

Me:

Yep… and it’s a hellava price to pay.  And you know what I mean.

But hey… look at YOU!

All famous n’all.

What more could you want?

At least you made it EVENTUALLY! [grin]

That’s more than most artists can expect in the 21st century. There’s so many of us now. It’s not like the private club you guys had!

You know… all that sitting around sipping absynthe into the wee small hours.  The gun fights and the camaraderie… the fisticuffs at dawn out in the street?  You guys had it made!

Nowadays artists battle it out behind the front line on easels and keyboards across the nation. Across the whole wide world in fact. It’s a tough gig. But someone’s gotta do it. And it’s not like you’re around anymore to take up the slack!

Vincent:

Gee… I reckon.  You guys have really got it tough.  You look like you could use a hug.

Me: [blushing]

Yeah well… that would be nice if you’ve got one to spare.

Vincent:

Sure thing… get over here!  (((hugs all round)))

Jean:

Well Vincent… I can call you Vincent right?  It’s been really nice talking to you. And I’m so pleased you took the time to talk back. That’s so cool… and something that doesn’t happen all that often these days when people are so pushed for time.

So thanks a bunch for taking the time to talk to me here today.

It was lovely to meet you after all this time…

and to know that you’re still absolutely just fine!

We’re grateful you know for your time here on earth…

and all that you had to say

and we’re following faithfully each day in your steps…

keeping the art world at bay.

The Creative Dilemma – related Post from the Archive.

Leave a comment – [messages will be passed on to Mr Van Gogh as they come to hand]

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The Creative Dilemma

November 30, 2009 · 26 comments

JB for the blog 2Join me on You Tube (see below for the link) but read this first!

Well it’s been a crazy week of revolving doors for me as new doors swing open and old doors slam shut . Generally speaking though that’s great news… and a sign that things in my Universe are starting to shake out!

You know… it’s kind of fun to stand back and watch from a distance all the action happening in your own life. Letting go of outcomes and allowing things to just be can be a bit scary at times… but it’s fun nonetheless. And I could get used to it. [Grin]

The global economic climate (not to be confused with climate change per se- grin) has given everyone quite a bit to think about. But for creative artists of all persuasions (be they painters potters or musicians) the struggle to do well at what we do well… has always been pretty difficult. And historically nothing has changed.

VincentCartoon Pen & Watercolour

Copyright © 2007-09 Jean Burman

Vincent Van Gogh was creatively and financially supported throughout his entire career by his brother Theo.  He never sold a painting. We may well laugh now at how wealthy he might have been in his own lifetime. But he wasn’t. He was a man ahead of his time. But no-one really got that. Not even his fellow artists. Especially not his fellow artists. Consequently without the creative endorsement he craved… he was condemned to continually question his own worth as an artist.

Sound familiar?

The upshot of course was that Vincent finally sliced off an ear and died in a garret with two bullet holes in his stomach partly because he couldn’t handle it anymore. He gave up. And it’s easy to give up on a world that doesn’t know that stars are blobs of swirling bright light circling the evening sky… [grin]

Vincent 2Cartoon Pen & Watercolour

Copyright © 2007-09 Jean Burman

Creative spirits live in a world of their own. There is no clear direction forward for us… not to mention… very little endorsement or feedback for what we’ve already done.

Yes… we know what we want. But what the rest of the world wants is an entirely different matter. Complicate that further by saying that much of the rest of the world doesn’t actually know what they want… or what they like [without being told]… and we have one very perplexing problem!

In the end… fame and fortune pretty much comes down to the “hype” around the product… and not necessarily the product itself. The people who eventually gain recognition… are not necessarily those with the most talent… but those who are best able to bring their product to the marketplace via the best most expedient method.

But this is all terribly left brain stuff. And most artists (well the creative ones anyway) are incredibly right brain orientated. That’s what makes them… surprise surprise… so darned creative!

For my part… well… I don’t want to be famous but I do want to get my stuff out there. So that means I have to spend at least some of my time in the left brained world. It’s a funny nuts and bolts place to be… but it can be a whole lot of fun as well.

Check out my new You Tube clip here.

It was a challenge to put this together and the best fun you can ever have all by yourself in iPhoto and on YouTube. Would also like to thank Paul Simon [the voice and lyrics of my childhood] for the use of Punkey’s Dilemma… the cornflake song… what a great little song it still is!

For my part… I just want to paint and write… live… laugh and love. Whatever comes after [in/around and between] all that… who knows and who even cares? It’s my life. And I’m only going to get one chance at it. I make mistakes like everyone else. And have suffered probably more than my fair share of sadness. But I am also blessed in so many ways.

And the great thing is I am finally beginning to realise that absolutely nothing is ever set in stone. Doors open and close all the time with intermittent regularity. And all that’s required of us is a willingness to step through the next open door to see what’s on the other side. It’s as easy as that! *wink*

The real prizes in life go to whoever opens the most doors… and investigates as fully as possible their own individual potential. There are no guarantees we will survive this life… in fact… it’s a pretty sure thing that we’re not going to make it out alive!

So heck… while we’re here we may as well give it our best shot. With or without any thanks… or claps… and regardless of the heckles… [or the people who would persist in placing obstacles in our way]

Doing our creative thing… whatever that may be… is our gift to the world as much as ourselves. And you never know… maybe someday… someone… somewhere…. might just get it and go WOW!

If not… well… we had a whole heck of a lot of fun doing whatever it was we got to do!

Didn’t we?

Would love to hear your comments about YOUR creative life and experience.  Drop me a line here!

Oh… and before I forget… the 2010 Universal Artist Calendar is now available for immediate shipping over at RED BUBBLE [in case you didn't get that already LOL]  Okay… that’s enough shameless self promotion for me… back to painting… writing… more dreaming *sigh*  :-)

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p1010190Exercise from the 2008 workshop – Taking a Line for a Walk

Copyright Peter Griffen 2008

“I believe that to make discoveries, risks must be taken, the traveller must get lost. 
A well planned journey can only lead to an already known destination. 
At some stage the painting must go out of control. 
From chaos the universe was formed. 
The artist enters chaos and by taking control, synthesising and simplifying, new images are discovered – images that are potent and speak from the past.” – Peter Griffen – Manifesto

In a week that delivered more than the usual number of serendipitous occurrences… here is but one!

Last week my mail server died and I was without emails for a few days. For me… that is nigh on catastrophic… as I do seem to receive an inordinate amount. Consequently… when the glitch was finally ironed out… in excess of 80 emails poured in all at once from all over the place… and I spent the better part of Monday sorting them all out!  

Amongst the important ones was an email from renowned Sydney artist Peter Griffen… whose workshop you might remember I participated in… and reported on… at last year’s ArtEscape. A few weeks ago I bumped into Peter again at this year’s event [yes... it's been a whole year!] and asked him if he would consent to an interview on the Blog. The email as it turned out contained his ‘considered’ responses to the interview questions along with the heads up about his upcoming appearance on ABC TV’s Landline going to air on SUNDAY… which featured his recent [so cool to be there] workshop in Birdsville… outback Central Queensland.    

As I sat there reading the email on MONDAY… realising I had already missed the program… the phone rang. It was a non-artist friend of mine. She asked me if I had ever heard of the artist Peter Griffen. I said I had… and that coincidentally… I was reading an email from him as we spoke. She then told me that she’d watched Landline on Sunday and had thought how much I would have enjoyed seeing it… and that in case I had [in fact] missed it… she was ringing to tell me the program was being aired again on Monday night.

[Insert spooky x-files music here]

Funny how life is [lately] kinda like that.  And I’m loving it.

You can view the ABC episode here… [take a look - you won't regret it - Peter delivers one of the most instructive and entertaining workshops on the planet - and well worth it - even if you have to travel all the way to Birdsville to catch up with him!]

 

Anyhow… without further ado… here is the Interview.

When did you first realize you were an artist?

Over a very long period of time I got used to the fact that I was gradually changing from being a high school teacher to being an artist. I suggest that it happened during the period 1972 [when I first exhibited a painting] to 1986, when I finished my four years at art school.

p1010168

What artists have influenced you and why?

Australian artists

Fred Williams for landscape and colour
Guy Warren
Sidney Nolan
and Arthur Boyd for lyrical stories in the landscape

Arthur Streeton
and Tom Roberts for atmospheric landscapes.

The New York school for abstract expressionism

St Ives artists for abstracting the landscape

The Fauves for wild colour

The Russian constructivists for highly ordered pure abstraction

The German expressionists for aggressive freedom

The CoBrA group for painting from primeval instinct

Cezanne for structure

Picasso

Miro

and Klee for imagination

Matisse for wisdom

Vermeer for attention to detail

Rembrandt for a bench mark

Pierro della Francesco for spiritual intimacy

Boticello for simple beauty

Anselm Kiefer for raw bold honest statements

and there are more that I cannot think of at the moment.

p1010209

What inspires you?

The Australian landscape, the deserts and the Kimberley mainly. Also estuaries, rivers, headlands, colours in the landscape and man’s interaction with the land.

How do you stay motivated?

I love painting and everything else is an interruption.

Do you consider your work to be evolving?

Yes, always, but themes started several years ago are continued or revisited.

Advice for the struggling artist?

Join the club, anybody who is any good always struggles, and if you find that you don’t have to struggle then it is time to stop.

Aspirations for the future?

To keep painting better.

Funniest thing in my career?

I have experienced a lot of good luck which I am happy about but that’s not funny is it?
I will give this question more thought.

INTERVIEW ENDS

Thanks Peter for being such a good sport and taking the time to compile your responses for us here!

Peter Griffen’s artworks can be viewed online at his website www.petergriffen.com

Take care everyone… until next week…

and remember [in art as in life] to… be there or be square! (((chuckles)))

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