That's How I Roll

Nothing like starting off with a marginally humorous physics joke, but hey, why not?

Anyways…

Well, first off, I have some exciting news. Beginning on or around Friday, October 4^th, my work will be on display at LocalCoffee in Stone Oak. The run will be 8 weeks, it’s going to include mostly photography, but will also have a few paintings just to keep things spicy. I’ve got some fun, interactive things planned, with more specific details forthcoming, so keep checking in for more info.

That said, let’s talk about “how I roll”. I’ve been hanging around that Local Coffee quite a bit lately, both for planning the installation and for the high quality joe. In doing so, I’ve had plenty of time to see what art is there, to spend time observing and appreciating the two tranches of art since I ramped up my visits. There were several things that struck me about the current artist. His art is very unique (think blue people and flowing, multi-colored hair), but the level of detail in his art absolutely blows me away. For example, in one of those works, there are literally hundreds of less than one inch squares, each colored meticulously in nearly as many colors. In another – one of the flowing hair ones – the different cross sections created by strands of hair are all colored perfectly and in an array of colors. What’s more, it’s all done with marker. It’s difficult for me to comprehend the amount of time he likely spent making sure each of those individual sections was “just so”.

In all honesty, it was difficult for me not to hold my work up to his, and find it lacking in sundry ways.

But after giving it some thought, and having a good discussion with my biggest supporter [i.e. my wife], I realized that my work is totally different because it comes from me. For starters, I’m not naturally a detailed or patient person (just ask any of my employers or anybody that’s been on a car ride with me). It’s difficult for me to want to take the time to pursue making every line crisp and every color the exact shade and hue that I think it should be. Secondly, I’m a pretty emotional person. So when I create things, I tend to take off the leash and just let things go until they run out. I generally don’t spend a lot of time planning things out because I feel like it just snuffs out the spark to tinder to flame process for me.

So what does all this mean for my work? For my paintings, it means they tend to be more simple, raw, and visceral, with lots of movement and dramatic color (see Dancing...Trying and Windswept below). For my photography, well, it just makes photography and edits perfect for me. And the cool thing about that is that I get to use a newer medium -digital photography - that hasn’t been around as long, so I can be creative in how those images come out physically (think prints on canvas, etc.).

That said, I still want to get better. I still want to learn to use my media effectively and grow as an artist. I still want to challenge myself to find new ways to see things. However, I don’t see those desires as being in conflict with my identity, but simply things that make me more unique and bring who I am into sharper relief. It’s a process I’m excited about; to see how it will shape me and the things that I do, and how it will shape what I create and share.

And that, my friends, is how I roll.

Dancing...Trying

Windswept

Sometimes It Just Works Out That Way

                         Trails

Well, it’s true. One day you can just completely be on a roll, like the 45 minutes I spent on “Wave”, and on another all the valves are shut and you’re exhausted from spinning out multiple iterations that just aren’t quite right.

Take my latest two photographs “Mix” and “Trails”, for instance. They both happened within a half an hour period – they were just there. As in, snap the picture, make a few tweaks and we’re rolling. They were just that simple. One came from the cake my wife was making for my son’s birthday and the other from my daughter’s “grocery list”. But again, it just goes to show you how little, mundane things can contain layers of beauty, assuming you can dig deeper to find them.

On the other hand, you get a painting like “Worked”, which is basically just a description of how I felt when I finished with it. I must’ve spent two or three hours straight just pushing paint around with my palette knife - painting, scraping clean, and painting again. [Quick aside - one of the interesting, and sometimes frustrating, things about oil paint and color mixing is that the more you mix colors, the more gray they become. Which means if you want a pure shot of some color when you’ve put yourself into said predicament, you have to take paint off before reapplying new, otherwise you just get a soupy, muddy mess.] It’s not as though there weren’t versions that I didn’t like (see the photo of my other painting “Work Out”). Sometimes you move away from what you did and wish you could go back, which only adds to the stunted process.  In some ways, it felt like I was in a boxing ring, getting mentally worked over until I finally capitulated, my creative reserves being tapped out.

But that’s the way it goes. Somedays you catch all the lights and other days it takes two hours to go five miles.

First Wave

For whatever reason, when I started painting, one of the first things I wanted to paint was a wave. I can't remember exactly what drew me to them, but I do distinctly remember googling the word wave to see what images might crop up (some times this helps inspire me a bit - remember "inspiration is everywhere!").

That said, I came across what I consider one of the best wave oil paintings I've seen by a British artist named Maggie Hambling. She's a relatively well known artist, who, in recent years painted some works of, and inspired by, the North Sea. Suffice it to say, her knife work far surpasses my own. Her ability to balance abstraction with shape and color really do simply make me want to paint. Check out the write up here with the painting "Crest of a Wave" pictured towards the bottom of the article.

Anyways, my first wave painting happened somewhat randomly. As usual, I'd been up late working on another painting and caught a last fleeting desire (which was enough to shove my drooping eyelids back open) to try to create something like what I'd seen in Hambling's Crest of a Wave.

I wish I could say there was more skill and time to it, but ultimately I sat down on the floor of my garage...ahem, my studio and just started painting. 45 minutes later and voila! My first wave painting.

What's ironic is that I've tried to paint waves several more times since then, but none of them came out quite like this one. The anticipation and frothiness to it give it a fantastic sense of urgency, while the colors simultaneously soothe what the whitecap stirs up.

This has been one of my favorites so far. I hope you enjoy it like I have. And while I'm hanging on to the original, I do have prints available if anyone is interested, in my Etsy shop.

Jets - The One Hanging Up in My House

This is my photo "Jets" that, frankly, is one of my personal favorites.

Hold on. Let me back up for just a minute. One of the things I love to do is find art in interesting, if everyday places. I feel that things like art and beauty are around us every minute and that one of the challenges that we face is to look for and appreciate what is there, regardless of form.

This particular photo, for instance, was taken at a car wash. There isn't exactly a lot to do when you're sitting in your vehicle while those giant foam brushes roll over you. When I look at this photo, however, I feel like I'm on a small boat being overwhelmed by a big wave in a stormy sea. The drops of water on the glass windshield give it texture while the colors and the movement make it rather dramatic and even moody.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photo and (in the cheesiest way possible) challenge you to go out and find the art and the beauty around you that are just waiting to be enjoyed.

Kickin' Off

Welcome to the new official blog of C'mon In Studios!

C'mon In Studios is my latest creative brainchild, an endeavor designed entirely to foster my rambunctious venture into the world of art.

The work I've done thus far has included oil painting and abstract minimalist photography (and hopefully more diverse offerings soon!).

Finally, my hope is that this blog will give those who are interested some insight into what's on my front and back burners (and crock pots and microwaves) and more than a little insight into my creative process.

For now, (while I'm building the conent here) if you're interested, you can check out some of my photography on Instagram under username "sedgwickj" or check out my Etsy shop at cmoninstudios.etsy.com.

Hasta pronto!