Snow Face

Here we go again!
I was taking a walk after a small snow storm. I brought my camera - of course...

There was a small stream next to the walking path. In the summer or spring I look because maybe I will get to see fish or turtles. This time I looked over the edge of the path and just smiled. Nature was smiling back at me.
I look at this face and I see a bit of a 'joker' feel to it. Or perhaps a Mardi Gras masquerade look to it. I cropped it to look at just the face. But I took different angles and also broader views. Not sure which one is best - the broader view has a different feel to it. And those two mounds in front of the face - could those be his knees? As this 'being' sits in the cold icy water - obviously enjoying himself - just look at the smile.
I sometimes delve a bit more into what 'story' these faces create in me. The expression, the position, the surroundings serve as a prompts for a character - in a story. This one creates less of a story for me. The reason I like to create the story is multi-fold. One, it helps with the creative writing I also pursue (it exercises those story muscles), but it also keeps me curious and wondering. Finally, I think it focuses on something I really like in paintings. Although they are a two dimensional representation of life, they can be deeper, they can create a feeling of movement but also can tell a story. I often think about what is the story in my art. At this time, I sometimes feel that my art is not a story. It is just a 'pop' of a visual pleasure. Neat to see, drawn to the colors, perhaps interesting and intriguing..but not a necessarily a story with human interaction. I am working on that.

Anyhow, right now I am just collecting these photographs as they come to me - as Nature has them show up. I have some on my website (www.tribecca-art.com), some are not. My goal is to perhaps one day put the whole collection in a small book. And perhaps tell the story I see or even ask what story the reader might see?

Asian Man in the Rock

So do you see it? Do you see the face in the stone?

Usually when I hike, I look down making sure I step on solid ground. Once in a while I look up to enjoy the scenery – I mean after all, I am going to enjoy nature. Well, I looked up one day to find something looking back at me.

I see faces - in lots of things. No, I didn’t say “dead people”… I said - faces.

A close friend once told me... "Maybe you shouldn't say that so loud". I just smiled thinking "Come on - it is obvious that there are faces in all sorts of things around us." I have subsequently learned - after having spoken to many and having conducted a very unofficial survey - that many do NOT see faces. Okay, perhaps my mind now trained to look for them...I pick them out of cloth patterns and fronts of automobiles and much more. The ones that interest me at this time, are the nature made ones. Like this 'etching in stone' I posted today.

So, that you do not think that I am not only naïve – but also nuts, I am truly NOT the only one that has these ‘visions’. As a birthday gift, I received "Faces" by Francois and Jean Robert. It is a small art photography book with faces found in all sort of wonderful objects, from a mop to an Ann Taylor bag. It is sometimes delightful to not only see the face - but also the expression in it. Furthermore, did you know that as humans we are genetically programmed to recognize the facial patterns? So that as infants, we can begin to recognize our care takers. Anyhow, of course these are all justifications for the simple truth that 'I see faces' and spend time looking for them and photographing them.

More to come!!!

Chiro Hands

My latest. It is for a chiropractic office. Can you tell? I honestly never know where these pieces are going when I start. That is why- I suppose - that I will start with one concept and then create something that I really don't like looking at.... and if I don't like it I trash it or pile it in my closet.
I guess if you formally train in art you learn how to plan pieces. I don't honestly know. In any event as I was drawing the colorful spine, the paint was so gooey and interesting (it was an all purpose weather resistant gloss), that I felt called to paint my hand and make an impression with it.
Little by little, I simply felt like adding one shape or dot at 'this or that particular location' in the whole. And as with all these types of my drawings, all of a sudden I start to like where it is going - it feels good to see it. I then patiently wait in between each addition - I stand back; look at the whole; look for where something feels like it is missing. I choose the color the same way. Don't ask me where this comes from.
Well, I will be bringing it to the chiropractors office - this coming week.