Folk Art Diary: Noticing how you see

'Winter solstice' acrylic on canvas       ©robinrkent

Reading books (or art) in the western world moves left to right. Then down to left again. A 'Z' motion. (or a 'Zorro' swash to me.) 'Reading' art is faster, but takes time to process. It being a more interactive endeavor.
The Z can make art move like a fast-paced action thriller. The blog header ski art (above) uses the diagonal to infer motion. Diagonals keep you off balance, an innate sense exploited by artists. And directs your eye. Notice how Kandinsky uses it to add dynamic motion in his work listed here: 'Top 10 Modern Artists'. (He's  #2.)
The tilt of the fellow (above), fall of the hill, and angle in the sky was to show some depth. Not a downhill slide on skis, just a creep.

Outsiders in a folk art world

I'm a folk artist based in New England. Not many in the large folk art world are located here. Southern (or way southern as in Mexican, or Oaxacan) and African folk artists make up most of its citizens, I think. At least on the internet.

'Siesta Box' folk art box ©robin r kent

Folk art flourishes further north as well. Alaskan and Nova Scotian contemporary folk artists sure do rock it.
Maybe we're outsiders in the folk art world? Outsider folk art. We could claim that as in location, but we might be sterotyped as more reserved in style. Yes, this region might be a tad more stoic. Working with leftovers from nature's prim pantry. But we do embody the every man motif. Few embossed or polished edges here.

Siesta Box , left, acrylic on wood assemblage (about 2/3 life size; 2 boxes: hat crown lifts for small box, arms are the lid for the large box)
He left sitting pretty in a spiffy 2-seater convertible many years ago. I could tell he was made to see more of the world. They looked like a nice couple as they headed for points south. He never looked back.

This 'Old' Folk In Contemporary Folk Art

This year being more than 'half course through its run,' I'm in a reminiscing mode. Or maybe this happens more as you age. A better file to rifle through?

'Old Woman on Bus' from my (early) sketchbook, 1975

I reflected on a comment shared by a show Director. He was told: 'they really liked my work' but were surprised to learn 'I wasn't a young artist.' They thought I was more 'hipper' than 'geezer.' Guess not.

Hints are offered when viewing artwork. And many opinions assumed by viewers. There are no wrong answers; make of it whatever your imagination wants. Until you float back into reality.

I love Matisse's cut outs. So bright, uncomplicated, childlike. He didn't start this technique until ill, 15 years before his death. Who'd know?

Maybe the soul comes through when creating art. It is a form of communication. Just depends on the receiver's interpretation -  and a timeless meeting of the minds?

Folk Art Assemblage: Step One

Just when I was wondering if I should take a welding course and mix it up a little, fate in the form of a benevolent fellow with a woodlot, steps in. It is not unusual for me to be given relics from local citizenry. They know I might be able to incorporate their gifts and I appreciate the offer, but its been years since I've had such a large donation.

Folk art assemblages waiting to be uncovered

And the picture doesn't show the rest of the piles. When people ask 'how's your garden?' I think 'I grow weeds and am starting a lumber yard.' My tomato plants are feeling the pinch. The weedwacker is getting used more than the mower. I think about where to stack this for overwintering. Should I hire somebody to help. So many sides to the process before the dainty part of assembling, painting, and displaying.
Guess fate answered any questions about changing mediums. Maybe hinting for me to go large scale? 'Go big or go home' comes to mind. But wait, I am home.

Favorite Artists, part one

From previous generations or present day colleagues, there are artists that resonate with me. Finally got to a point where I can look at work and know immediately if it's for me or not. As much as I love my category (contemporary folk, outsider, naive or brut art), not all are my cup of tea. But the art I like in whatever category ( abstract, representational; painters, sculptors, assemblage artists, etc.) I love!  I see a common thread. Even if the medium and eras are different.

Milton Avery, 'Conversation'  (courtesy bjws blog)

I wake up daily to my print of 'Conversation' (1956) by Milton Avery. What a great way to greet the day. Never tire of looking at it. I like the simple edited form, large feeling of volume, subtle colorful colors (the color is off on this image).
I feel I can mentally paint along side him when I look at his work. Here's the best site I've found so far on him:

http://bjws.blogspot.com/2011/04/paintings-of-american-milton-avery-1888.html  

I'll add more of my favorites in future posts. Who do you love?

Shad bush and shad fish

I see the shad bushes blooming here in Vermont: lacy white flowers stand out on distant hills as I travel along the road. I know then the shad are also running on Cape Cod, where I used to live. It's as if the Vermont trees have a direct line to the Cape fish: keeping me informed of what's going on in my old neighborhood, reminding me the time to witness the fish run is now.

Bathroom Trophy Fish (for over the mirror)     ©robinrkent

I've smelled the briny air and heard the herring as they flip up the river to spawn in Harwich's Grist Mill pool. They sounded like a marble rolling through a pipe when clearing the step against the flow.
Now I'm fishing for art to hang in my small turquoise bathroom (previous post). Hopefully no fish will be jumping up any steps here. That would be quite a surprise, I'd imagine.
(I'll post the painting I'm working on for the space of honor - over the throne - when completed.)

How Do They Do That?

One of my favorite musicians was Ali Farka Toure. His music, Mali music, sounds so sweet.

I remember asking my cousin, a jazz guitarist, how can it be so easy to recognize certain musicians when all play the same instruments, with the same strings, using the same notes? Even the same songs? How do they add their voice into a neutral setting to sound so recognizable?

'Outbuildings of Lightning Rod Farm' ©robin r kent

I have heard artist friends refer to certain colors as 'Robin colors.' I'm not sure about that, but I do know when a color fits my painting while another does not. (You could x-ray the layers of rejected colors under my work as proof.)

It occurred to me that artists, like musicians, can do the same thing: make art using their own 'voice'. Maybe that's what all artists try for most: to add their own personality to their own song; to be heard.

4-Eyes View the World

Vermont Ain't Flat  Acrylic on Masonite

copyright Robin R Kent

I just got new glasses. With all the bells and whistles. These lenses do everything but wash the dishes. First, they are the new and improved prescription which had been longed for for too long. (Newly retired ones were circa 2007.) Have you noticed when you get new glasses, your eyes are not in sync? Gives me a 'fresh eye' when objects look like they're in a 3D movie. Everything slopes downhill. The ground sure ain't flat. They also change color with the sun and the lens line disappears between the distance and reading part.  I'll look like a movie star and a lot younger in these babies. Especially when I take them off to check. Yep, still dewy complexion with no age lines...
But I've always loved my earliest memories of not seeing well. Such sweet fuzzy views of the world. I finally got glasses around the third grade and what I saw wasn't pretty. I was forced to face reality. These were not your rose colored glasses.
Gone were the soft-focused pastel colors of sky and clouds, of tree leaves and grass. For the first time, I saw the grass and all its blades.  I could almost see each santoku edge and imagine my father sharpening them one at a time during Sunday's predinner ritual. All nature had turned against itself - diamond reflections on the water that cut, and again too bright; light and dark colors competing against each other. No more blending into one. Why can't we all get along? It hurt to look.
That experience has made my contemporary painting style what it is. When I'm creating in my contemporary folk art world, the favored element is volume. Guess it has to be when I do sculpture. OK - in painting, I like mass the best. And blending. Milton Avery paints how I choose to see. Big blocks of mass with soft edges. Nothing persnickety. No minutia. Well, can't resist some dots or graphic additions at the end...but I never was an edgy person.