New Haven Open Studios

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open studios inviteI can’t believe September is gone. Three quarters of our year just went by in a flash. We know that the last quarter of the year is going to fly away as well. With the fall season also comes the opportunity to enjoy art in its many forms. I have the privilege through Project Storefronts to set up camp during New Haven Open Studios at 23 Temple St. in downtown New Haven, CT. I want to invite you to come by and visit the exhibit, enjoy the creative process, and ask questions. We have some special events too and I hope you can join us for that as well. I’ll be body painting some of those days and you can watch the process. You can also enter our raffle to win a body painting experience* (details bellow).

In addition, I have some hours available for those interested in private lessons and private viewing (in case you can’t visit during scheduled hours). Oct 24th we have a reception and it would be an honor to see you there too. Lastly, check out our painting and sculpting parties also happening during the month and join the fun.

open studios invite back

raffle

You can enter online HERE.

Acquiescence

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Life Incomplete

Life Incomplete

“I am not satisfied yet.” “I am not done.” “I am still working on this.” “In progress.” When I am working on a sculpture or a painting I post pictures on social media of the progress and process. Sometimes I take short videos to give viewers a feel of it. Interestingly, some people acquire the pieces before they are complete because of the connection that grows on them seeing the process. It is like they are participating in the creation process. I find it an honor for people to trust me with the finished piece.

On the other hand, I find some people who are not interested in acquiring a piece but are very fast to make comments on them. I appreciate the comments as well. The comments that I find more interesting are those on unfinished pieces saying “Leave it like that”, or “I like it as it is”. Why are those comments interesting to me? If a piece is in progress it means that I am not done yet, therefore I am not going to leave it like that. It is not finished. There is only one person who can tell when an art piece is finished and that is the artist himself. Incomplete is not better than complete.

Those comments make me think of acquiescence. Acquiescence is one of those words that I can hardly pronounce correctly. I found it by looking at the dictionary searching for other expressions for a phrase I heard recently: “passive resignation”. How many times do we apply acquiescence in our lives? How many times do we accept things “as is” without questioning? We often “go with the flow” without asking or questioning if there is something else for us. We often prefer to live unfinished. There is no reason, no need, and no rush to accept less of what our lives could be. Even when we might feel or think we already reached completeness, whatever the process we are in right now, only The Artist can tell when we are complete.

Three Way Interpretation

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11126231_10150557249669956_2207303122166726283_nNot too long ago I wrote about a pencil drawing that inspired a few more sketches and a few other ideas. It ended up being a three way interpretation of the same image. I played around with four or five more sketches and then decided to paint. After an amazing private painting night with the ladies of the Orange CT Chamber of Commerce 11147867_10150564658444956_5834943068492316670_nI thought I could use the leftover paint on a few canvases I had available here at home. It was a lot of fun to paint again. Before arriving to the image that started it all I used another sketch for the first painting, then another for a second. The third painting was using that first sketch. I called the three paintings together “Spring Fairies”.

The first 11128803_10150564658469956_8933270425009002914_oone has the extra long hair. It was a lot of fun adding all that extra paint around the figure. I tried to keep the figure as monochromatic as I could. Based on this result I decided to paint the other two on longer canvases I wanted to recycle. That’s something you maybe didn’t know. When people talk about the mysteries of Leonardo’s multilayered paintings I just laugh. Sometimes, not to say many times, I paint over paintings I don’t like that much, and over again. 11070544_10150564658484956_8377671706688468462_oI can’t wait until someone decides to x-ray one of them. Nevertheless, I covered the previous paintings and continued the fairies. The third one was inspired on the pencil sketch. There is a sequence of the process in Instagram and Facebook. I didn’t stop there. I tried a sculpture with the same sketch. After all, I am a sculptor primarily.

11136631_10150563648774956_2926769332023686813_nIt is interesting how one image can get multiple interpretations. I can still try a full round sculpture. Someone might think about trying a more modern art version of it. Maybe we can create a cubist version or something more abstract. The possibilities are endless. That is the beauty of art and the human mind.

Videos

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This week has been a very blessed one. Many good things happening, which also add a little stress to prepare for changes and what comes next. It is the good kind of stress. Last night after sharing a great time with friends I was so tired that I didn’t write today’s post. I don’t who is reading this but today I want to share my videos with you. Sometimes no words are necessary. Enjoy!

Those Drawings

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I’ve been drawing the last few days a little more. Drawing always takes me back to the college years when I walked around with my sketchbook just like Jack Dawson, the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. Those drawings also looked very similar. Drawing was a daily activity at any given chance. I don’t think I developed a classical drawing technique but I always had fun.

It is always interesting to see people’s reactions. The reaction to those drawings is still the same today after 20 years. I wish I knew back then about attribution theory, although I think I asked the right questions to their curious and judgmental questions about the nude figure. People ask why are the drawings nude and why I don’t draw clothes on them. My answer is that I’m a figure artist and not a fashion designer. I wonder if people ask OB-GYN physicians to change their specialty to something less intrusive.

People assume that because the drawing is a nude figure it is something impure, dirty, or sexual. This is not surprising in a society that measures the value of a human being based on their sexuality and not in the intrinsic value as a person. The figure is just visually interesting. The human body is a beautiful thing. No, I don’t see people naked when I walk around. I don’t have x-ray vision. I guess, and attribution theory comes to play again, that people see the way they see because of who they are. People will produce and interpret things based on their condition. However, the intentions of the heart are exposed to One and I am not the One to judge or justify.