day one.

everyone’s gotta start somewhere, right? well here we are. i’ve decided to start a design/painting/paper/film/art/anything blog to inspect the creativity happening around me as well as the things that i create. above all, nothing can be developed and refined without practice and the goal is to take a picture or find something new to think about or complete a piece everyday. maybe this place will serve as a space for inspiration on days when nothing will come, or as a despository for loose ends.

day one.

last night i went to first friday downtown, which was great because i don’t think i’ve been to one in over a year. some of the work was good, some of the work was bad, some of it was inspiring, and the rest i guess i just don’t remember. it seems like there has been an influx of “urban” art in the gallery scene. work once confined to overpasses and abandoned buildings has been recreated on canvas and hung on white walls in old city galleries, going for thousands a pop. some of these pieces were brightly colored, smooth and exaggerated while others mimiced the walls where the art would be found out in the real world with surly images collaged like newspaper clippings and paint strewn across the surface like the drops from a spray paint can.

don’t get me wrong, i love the aesthetic quality of graffiti (well, good graffiti anyway) but half of the attraction is the illegality of it all, and the resistance of the social norms. it’s a political and cultural statement, that i’m not sure is made when hung in a gallery by the cheese and wine. it’s almost as if the elite are buying the work, making the statements inconsequential…making them void of all meaning. those same people that the resistance is against are the ones browsing through the images. many graffiti artists have an absurd amount of talent, which is why i think their work should be on gallery walls next to the work of any acrylic or oil painter, but maybe the subject should be reconsidered? it’s toss up, what is gained and what is lost by bringing this form of art indoors?

a couple of people i was inspired by:
ken vallario
arcenio martin campos
mike ming

also, it’s not often kelly drive is closed down and it’s super nice out, so while biking up to the art museum this afternoon i got to stop and take some photos of the other side of the street for once. nothing fancy, just a snopshot or two.

hopefully i can get some nice photos this year of the seasons changing. i’m not so much interested in the precision of the photo as i am in the quality of the color.

one more thing: i’m open to thoughts and ideas from everyone else. if there’s something you like (or don’t like) or something you want to see, just drop me a note and tell me about it. thanks!

- jenny