I’m making
thirty identical paintings. They're each 8” x 10” and modeled after a study of a blue gradient Tree of Life
hexagon.
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| "Transformation Hexagon" © 2015 |
This image's step-by-step process make it a natural choice for this sort of project. Focusing on the same shape, same colors, same
process, technique and size will yield the same result X 30.
This is the
most controversial assignment given by our faculty at the Corcoran College of
Art + Design (Washington, DC, 1980’s). However, it was given after 2 months of
free range creativity. Nobody
mentioned it, but the piles of artwork generated during that first stage were about
discovering our modus operandi and ONE image.
A piece that
summed up the range of our unfettered production; our free association, lateral
thinking, uninhibited choices in art making that sidestepped our fault-finding,
self-filtering, uptight, judgmental fearful selves.
Duplicating that one piece thirty times through the Focus Project was an exercise in
discipline and an example of what to do when you found that idea worth
pursuing.
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| Sometimes logistics becomes sculpture. |
We do an
awful lot of artwork in a lifetime. We
produce drawings and sketches, and ideas that take over our imaginations. We rush on to generate more ideas, sketches,
and proposals….
And then what--continue the search for “the next big thing”? Ugh….
Let’s stay
with that brilliant, reduced idea. Why
discard it in the search for another? They're worth holding onto. When you
find it, focus.
A focus
project brings a meditation on an image, finding out all that it holds and in
the process of re-iteration controlled progress reveals itself.
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| Side work produced during the current Focus Project. |
Thinking
becomes ordered, step-by-step instead of random. Your body of work becomes cohesive and its
coherence is evident. Clarity becomes a
trait of your artwork and process. The
directions you take become manageable choices that your
clients and fan base follow as well.
Dare to
impose a little discipline into the mix.
Hammer out thirty! You might like
it. If nothing else, you’ll find a few
that really sing! You’ll internalize the
image, as well as the focus processes and the multiples aesthetic. You’ll have that ability and insight as a
permanent part of your creative options.
Who can
argue with increasing one’s creative options?
It’s an investment in yourself; in your discovery. Your work merits the investigation. This sort of output declares the
importance of your own thinking, research and imagery.
And here’s a surprise:
I’m not making 30 paintings, I’m making one.
