Step into my Brain
As anyone who's still left has noticed, it's been pretty quiet here. This is because I wanted this blohhhgggggg (god, the word still grates) to be about art, not about what I had for lunch or this cool new quiz I found, etc etc. 2005 was a lousy year for art, for me. No art = no talking about art = cobwebs here.
Something I admire about the online communications of Warren Ellis is that he lets you in on his thought processes a bit (not too far in, for which I am probably thankful). Now that I have a few art-related thoughts for the first time in a while, I'll follow suit.
Art-wise, I'm clearing the decks; nothing is currently for sale by me (there are El Reys at a few places in SF for sale). The big canvases and such I donated to the St. John's center for their fundraiser; the prints and stencil pictures and t-shirts, I ran out of and didn't make more. Part of this was sheer laziness, but part is restlessness and uncertainty.
The National Product show has ended and I can tell the truth: the pictures were maybe somewhat uninspired. Professionally executed, to the degree that I am able, but maybe lacking some pep. Maybe it's like playing music; I grimace at the wrong notes but no one in the audience even notices. I felt it, though.
I'm at a bit of a crossroads. I freelance non-art-stuff for a living, and since the art's been quiet, I've been wondering if I should go full-time at the day job and let the art be quiet or drift away like music did, for me (I used to play in bands, write songs, wear leather pants, etc.).
But then I get a phone call from Mark in Idaho (who I still have to call back--sorry Mark!), who made the effort to find my phone number (it's not on my site anywhere) to call and see if I have anything else for sale that's not online. And Andrew, who emailed over the holiday to know if I had anything big for sale (congrats on the presumably new, bigger apartment, Andrew)!
It seems a waste to ignore this good will and actual fans that have accumulated over the last almost-five years. "Sin to waste it," as Mama Rey says.
Age plays into this too. If I was 23, I could dabble happily, not worrying much about anything, traipsing about fancy-free and letting art fall where it may. I'm not 23. If I'm gonna keep my non-art schedule light so I ostensibly have time to do art, I should do art once in a while.
I'm thinking of getting an etching press and doing more, bigger prints. 9 x 12 or so. Apartment living is a little more conducive to printmaking than stencil paintings. Part of my shtick is having art for sale that normal people can afford, and hand-made production of multiples, or homemade mass production, whatever you call it, seems the best route to this. Giclee prints of photographs of paintings is another way, I suppose, but seems expensive to get into.
I also have a hankering to paint big (3' x 4', like) and sloppy, just for the looseness of throwing a scratchy 2" housepaint brush around.
Maybe I could scare up some illustration work. A chance meeting of snazzy illustrator Paul Howalt last Xmas, and his kind words, and a random query from an agency in Australia lead me to believe that maybe something's there, that I should see what I can do.
Anyways, there, State of the Rey address. By all means, fill up the comments with any and all advice, suggestions, and mash notes. I could use all of 'em.
Something I admire about the online communications of Warren Ellis is that he lets you in on his thought processes a bit (not too far in, for which I am probably thankful). Now that I have a few art-related thoughts for the first time in a while, I'll follow suit.
Art-wise, I'm clearing the decks; nothing is currently for sale by me (there are El Reys at a few places in SF for sale). The big canvases and such I donated to the St. John's center for their fundraiser; the prints and stencil pictures and t-shirts, I ran out of and didn't make more. Part of this was sheer laziness, but part is restlessness and uncertainty.
The National Product show has ended and I can tell the truth: the pictures were maybe somewhat uninspired. Professionally executed, to the degree that I am able, but maybe lacking some pep. Maybe it's like playing music; I grimace at the wrong notes but no one in the audience even notices. I felt it, though.
I'm at a bit of a crossroads. I freelance non-art-stuff for a living, and since the art's been quiet, I've been wondering if I should go full-time at the day job and let the art be quiet or drift away like music did, for me (I used to play in bands, write songs, wear leather pants, etc.).
But then I get a phone call from Mark in Idaho (who I still have to call back--sorry Mark!), who made the effort to find my phone number (it's not on my site anywhere) to call and see if I have anything else for sale that's not online. And Andrew, who emailed over the holiday to know if I had anything big for sale (congrats on the presumably new, bigger apartment, Andrew)!
It seems a waste to ignore this good will and actual fans that have accumulated over the last almost-five years. "Sin to waste it," as Mama Rey says.
Age plays into this too. If I was 23, I could dabble happily, not worrying much about anything, traipsing about fancy-free and letting art fall where it may. I'm not 23. If I'm gonna keep my non-art schedule light so I ostensibly have time to do art, I should do art once in a while.
I'm thinking of getting an etching press and doing more, bigger prints. 9 x 12 or so. Apartment living is a little more conducive to printmaking than stencil paintings. Part of my shtick is having art for sale that normal people can afford, and hand-made production of multiples, or homemade mass production, whatever you call it, seems the best route to this. Giclee prints of photographs of paintings is another way, I suppose, but seems expensive to get into.
I also have a hankering to paint big (3' x 4', like) and sloppy, just for the looseness of throwing a scratchy 2" housepaint brush around.
Maybe I could scare up some illustration work. A chance meeting of snazzy illustrator Paul Howalt last Xmas, and his kind words, and a random query from an agency in Australia lead me to believe that maybe something's there, that I should see what I can do.
Anyways, there, State of the Rey address. By all means, fill up the comments with any and all advice, suggestions, and mash notes. I could use all of 'em.
