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Sunday, December 28, 2003

A VIEW TO UNDERSTANDING

My next group of paintings is studies of everyday life, photo images that have meaning to me. Juggling children is captured in a multiple image. The moment of a couple’s wedding when there is perfect joy. A couple leaves their wedding towards a future, uncertain. These are photo images which, when put on canvas, create a story worthy of telling.

The Art of Gift-giving
Can you buy a painting as a gift? This is a question that confounds me everyday as spectators or viewers come to browse at my studio called The Red Gallery. I think you can but it is not easy. I have done it once or twice: buying art as a gift. I knew of a printmaker living in Calgary. At the time I was seeing my own work at the Collage of Art and Design in a group show. Then I made a specific visit to her studio and saw her latest prints. These were simple images based of the circle, square and triangle. Immediately I thought of my architect husband and bought two prints. These were a great success and still hang in our home. The prints are moved from room to room just to get a fresh look at them.
When I give my own art as a gift, I try to have a number of works from which that person can select. Usually I can predict which they will select, based on their personalities. And this is where giving art, as a gift is the greatest test. How well do you know the person?
I have received art as a gift. Some art was done because we have a deaf daughter, and our using sign language essentially created the work of art. Other works show more of the artist then of my personal choices of art. In each case the gift has a different intent.
Modern art or Contemporary art is art of the immediate present. In this day of e-mail and reality television, the ability to personalize life, to understand the Buddhist philosophy of “becoming” is often lost. Art can redirect the culture of the moment by showing the value, the perspective and the vision of the everyday.
When an artist creates, she brings to the canvas all her experiences, and thus places the art in the NOW, in the present. Since the artist’s client is the public, interaction is essential, whether this is in an art gallery or in a living room. To look at a work of art, to interact with it, and to see it as a part of the culture and time is essential to the enjoyment of it. Currently web sites, and books are a source for looking at art, but these lack the essence of the real thing. Just like reality television shows are voyeuristic in nature, this is not real life. Art is about real life, the artist’s ability too express the moment in her life that uplifts and is shared by her public.
Art has a personality. When I have purchased art it is because intuitively I feel the painter has created the work just for me. I identify with the work.
Some gifts have no emotional relationship to suggest that one understands the receiver. I am reminded of the reason a diamond is such an easy gift, because it lacks the need to personalize it. It is a diamond, and marketing has made it precious. What do we know of the true value of a diamond? Art is one of a kind, even prints of editions have each it’s individuality. Unless you are being a poster touted as an “original” print in editions over 100. These are not works of art. When you buy a work of art from an artist you can talk about how the artist puts a value on the work. When a Van Gogh gets sold for millions of dollars is that the true value of the work? Were you thinking of the gift to be an investment? Not unlike a diamond, a way to judge your investment is what someone else will pay you for it. So a work of art may be an investment but if you find no one will buy it from you what is its value then.
To trust oneself when buying art as a gift think of the pleasure of owning a work of art. How often will the art catch your eye and you feel that sense of awe. Do you take pride in showing this art to you family and friends? And do you see something of the personality of you and the artist in the work?
Gift certificates from an artist are another possibility where you support both the artist and you act as a participant in the purchase. Deposits on paintings that seem too expensive are another option. And lets not forget that companies can deduct art from their business expenses. The greatest gift for me as an artist is that people come to look at my work and enjoy the art.

Every painting has a story. Sometimes it is the reason for the painting. Often it is the doing of the art that makes the statement. Colour is the subject of a lot of paintings. There may be no image but simply the combination of different colours. I am staring a series of paintings, playing with colours, called The Dead Dog Dogma Series. For a number of years I shared my life with a greyhound, a beautiful dog that photographed rather badly. Too angular and too skinny, even to grace an art deco sculpture. However I have decided to restrict the content of my paintings to the image of this dog, and to paint for the colour. Studying Ad Reinhold’s colour work I was perplexed by seeing black on black. Reading about Kandinsky’s colour theories I have to question how we do respond to different colours. I for one absolutely have a negative reaction to the boring bland pale colours in our elementary schools. My gallery walls are painted red and it works for me. Colours on our houses are a source of interest, when orange and purple shine garishly through our Edmonton winters

posted by Christl at 10:11 AM