I Still Have A Day Job

It’s been a few weeks since I have made a blog entry.  Priority things that maintain our home took all of the available minutes for a while – lots of things going on.  But this blog (and my art in general) is important to me so I figure out ways to make it happen.

Though they are few, I put a lot of effort into the actionable events I participate in.  I try to learn what I can do to make it as successful for me as possible.  I do those things that I have learned as best I can.  I say this because I still have a day Job – there is only so much time available to my artwork.  I’m married, we both work, we have kids in school, my oldest is in college, we divide the work (a lot of work) of maintaining our house, we have dogs, my mom lives with us, we have a horse, we have large extended families, we do stuff with our kids, etc.  So, when I say I still have a day job, it’s a bit more than just that.  It’s easy to see how I’m at the point now I can’t afford the time to watch TV anymore – well, save for watching Game of Thrones.

The next actionable event I’m participating in is just around the corner – the Palm Springs PhotoFestival.  I’ve been once before back in 2013 – I was still an undergrad at Cal State San Bernardino at the time, so we had the student discount working in our favor (there was a small group of us).  This event costs a good amount of money – especially if you’re participating in the photo review.  I guess it’s unfair to say I’m going to the festival – I’m going to the photo review.  I’m working on getting my work seen by people who may find it compelling enough to want to see it in a show or published.  That’s what the review is about for me.  And to get a critique of what I have done.  That is very helpful as well.  Ultimately, my goal is to work as an artist and earn as much as I do with my day job, so I don’t need my day job anymore.  Doing this photo review is working towards that end.

But part of the cost (like printing your edited portfolio) is having something to help your reviewer remember who you are.  And that is the purpose of this writing.  That and making a blog entry.

I’m making a small photo book give away for my reviewers.  I wanted to say something about the projects that I’ll be showing in the book as well.  They are my Motion Project, Juxtaposition Project, Kinetic Ambiguity Project, and Victor Valley Project.  I know that my art, my images, are just what someone is looking for.  I just have to find that someone.

Extreme Art

Here’s the thing, I exist in, I think in, I work in the extremes.  For me, it takes daily effort – all of the time – to operate in the middle where most people are; and are comfortable with me.  It doesn’t help that I’m a little bigger than average.  Nor does it help that I’m black, an African American, a person of color, etc.  And I, if I’m not monitoring myself, can be loud – or say nothing at all.  Both ways make folks uncomfortable.  But I have been managing myself all of my adult life – I’m in my mid 50s now.  Unless you are like this, you may not be able to really grasp how this is not an easy way to live.

So, let me narrow in on my art.  As far as what I would like to do with my life – I just want to be a working artist – predominantly working with photography.  Why working artist?  I don’t want to do anything else – employment wise.  But I do have a fulltime non-artist job so I work on my art as time permits.  I go to non-artist work to help provide for our family.  We have kids, my wife and I, and we both work.  That’s good and I love my family.  It’s just the non-artist work part – I want my job to be an art job, not non-artist work.

So what does that have to be with being on the extreme? When I do work on my art, I push it.  I’m back in the extremes and I am comfortable working on my art that way.  I have recently joined Instagram and I push my art there too – working on exposure and learning how to make Instagram work for my art.  When I’m creating, it’s just me in my head so it doesn’t involve anyone else.  But when I’m doing the Instagram thing and trying to gain exposure, I wonder if I’m pushing too much.  I don’t know.  It’s obviously not too much for me but I don’t know if it’s too much for everyone else – I don’t get that type of feedback from Instagram (at least not that I’m aware of yet).  So, I will back it off a bit – put that Instagram thing in “the middle where most people are”.  Just saying that makes Instagram now feel like…

Well, I just had to write this down.

This image is my latest #montage, digital collage, #photomontage, photo conceptualism, “California Tree Dreams II”.  It is on the website too.

A Review of Celia Sanchez’ Exhibition, “Saints”

Way back on Cinco de Mayo, we dropped in on SPACE Gallery & Records in Claremont.  I wanted to have a look at Celia Sanchez’ work, “SAINTS”.  And I wanted to say hi to Christina Franco, the gallerist, whom I had not seen since the Pomona days.  Well, we ended up chatting it up for a bit and I basically ran out of time and we had to go.  I did manage to have a look at the Ms. Sanchez’ work and it’s really good.  But I did not have the minutes to meet her.  That I regretted.  Ms. Sanchez is a professional photographer and artist who has had her work featured in a few places.  Check out her website and Instagram to learn more – that’s what I did.  And after going to her website I really regretted not meeting her.  The body of work she presents on her site is incredible.  I was drawn in initially trying to find out more about her project “Saints” but I discovered this very thought provoking project, “Devoted”.  It begins as portraits of #tattooed women.  I won’t spoil it for you as to how it changes along the way.  It is truly great understanding of how we misjudge people every day.  I really enjoyed all of her work though, especially “Abandoned”, as I too work with abandoned structures too.  Ms. Sanchez’ take on the subject is a powerful journey in story telling though – really remarkable work.  I believe “Saints” is still showing at the Space Gallery but don’t know for sure.  But I know Celia Sanchez’ website is fully operational.

Brick and Mortar

So, I know where I’m going but I can’t work on it at the moment.  I’m on another mission at this time.  But that’s ok – I can still share with you these images from my Victor Valley Project.

The Journey

A goal is starting to take shape – there is a destination.  I’m that kind of person, I thrive on seizing objectives.  Does that sound a little Army like?  Yeah, I guess that’s what you get when you spend most of your adult life as soldier.  Thus I display snippets of a past life here again today.  But that’s neither here nor there, the point is there is a goal – things are starting to take focus.  And I realize it is a two pronged approach that I’m after.  To begin with, I have to breathe some life back into TEAM TEN Tops & Tees and get that to bring in the initial funding for the photo project.  The project is another iteration of the Objectivity Project and I think it’s going to be a compelling body of work.

Yes, the journey is all too important but I really need to know where I’m going to begin with.  Truth be told, I feel better now – I have target.

8:30am, Breakfast, Jan 23, 2004 in Iraq.  We were at our halfway point where we spent the night.

 9:00am, Preparing before we hit the road.

 3:00pm, Our destination – the team we were changing out at the 3^rd ACR’s forward operating base.

6:00pm, Dinner, before we closed out the day on another journey in Army boots.

Thoughts on my Kinetic Ambiguity Project

Regarding the work, the easy answer is that I like it.  Others have told me the same.  But “like” does not make it art.  I am not trying to follow in the footsteps of Jackson Pollock with some sort of abstract expressionist photography.  It is just that I am very intrigued by visible light – especially freezing that moving light in order to observe it for one moment in a sort of stasis.  What you see in a photograph is visible moving light halted forever in that capture.  This Kinetic Ambiguity Project really emphasizes that.  And it has its own certain beauty in doing so with its texture, color and repetition.  The work here is new.  Older examples are on my web site.  I think I will continue to work on this project.  Enjoy.