Kandinksy, et al...

"The true work of art is born from the 'artist': a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being."

~ Wassily Kandinsky

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I have many painters on my favorites list. Great artists that inspire me on a number of levels. Creatively, spiritually...some reach me in a very cerebral way. Through composition...geometry. Others project beauty in it's truest form through realism. My artistic tastes are rather eclectic. I love all forms, styles, and media. Bacon, Picasso, Van Gogh, Alma Tadema, Dali, Warhol, de Kooning, Matisse, Rembrandt, and the list goes on. Beauty takes many forms in the varied works of all of these artists. Even the dark and disturbing Pope series by Francis Bacon. I've been fortunate enough to have seen many, many works by all of these artists up close and personal. My mother was an abstract artist (she painted in oils), so I was exposed to different forms of art at an early age. Growing up in Atlanta, I visited the High Museum on many occasions. I even had a piece of my own artwork in a student exhibit they had there. A piece of pottery I made as a junior in High School.

("The Absinthe Drinker", Pablo Picasso ~ 1902)

While living in L.A. I had the luxury of having the Getty Museum at easy access. Didn't frequent it nearly as often as I would have liked. They have probably the most enviable art collection I have seen. There are several paintings in their collection that I would get lost in every time I saw them. One inparticular. A huge, land/seascape. It's of several boats moored at a dock along a fishing town. (I've been wracking my brain trying to remember the artist. Oh well...it appears that I'll be spending some quality time on Google and the Getty site. These kinds of things drive me nuts until I either find the information, or I suddenly remember.) There is a bench in the center of the room it's in, and I loved sitting there immersing myself in the scene. I could hear the gulls calling to one another, and the rush of the waves against the boats and the dock. I could feel the hint of spray hanging in the air, smell the briny aroma of the sea, and feel the breezes blowing in off of the water. Such a beautiful piece. Looking at art is another escapist activity of mine.

("The Screaming Pope", Francis Bacon)

My preferred medium is acrylics, and I paint on canvas among other things. I lean a bit more towards the realm of multi-media. When I'm in my space of creating an art piece, I usually have a visual in my head of the basic design. Then I embellish on that. My talents do lie within the more traveled forms, but I spend some quality time with that space outside of the box.

("Mark Burgess", Lisa Erin Brown 2005)

The above painting is one I did...well, about six years ago. The photo is not the greatest quality. It definitely doesn't capture it well. One thing people always comment on about my paintings involving people are the eyes. Can't see them very well here. Anyway, I painted this in acrylics. I used three canvases, nuts & bolts, couple of different kinds of washers, and some used bass strings a musician friend gave me. This is one of a series I started, but haven't yet finished. It's of singer/lyricists I admire. I am not a songwriter by any definition, but there are certain lyricists that resonate with me as a writer. Mark is one of those lyricists. If you are reading this, you obviously have my blog up on your computer. That's Mark you hear singing his own lyrics as the front man/bassist for the Chameleons U.K. He seemed to like the painting. I sent him a copy of the photo. Maybe one day I'll get to show him the actual piece. He's a great guy. (Yes, I know him. He's fun to hang out with, and is a rather deep and intense conversationalist.)

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Russian painter, Wassily Kandinsky sits at the top of my favorite painters list. He is considered to be the founder of abstract art. I find his paintings fascinating, and beautiful. His use of color. The geometry of his designs is so exact. So...interesting. They are really exquisite. They appeal to me...because my artistic styles are somewhat reminiscent of Kandinsky's. A person is featured in my painting above, but I on the whole do not paint people. I usually draw or paint abstract designs. I can't even presume to know how someones mind works, but I really dig how Kandinsky's worked. The mood and emotion are so strong. Just brilliant.

("Composition 8", 1923)

("Yellow, Red, and Blue")

("Transverse Line", 1923)

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Art is born from inspiration. Art is inspiration.

It is a creation of the mind, the heart, and the soul.

Not necessarily in that order.

Sometimes one. Sometimes the other.

Every piece is unique. Every piece tells a story. A story that changes with each person.

Art is...art.

(That makes perfect sense to me. Probably because I wrote it...hee hee...)