Artists Life

Today I was reminded of the inquisitive and philosophical child I was. In the 5th or 6th grade I remember pondering about image and the way we view ourselves. I remember wondering if how I saw myself in the mirror was the same way everyone else saw me or if what other people saw was completely different than what I saw. In a way both seem accurate. I realized people must see one another at least in a similar way because artists produce portraits and these portraits look like or at least similar to the person we all see. But because we all have a different relationship with each person we see them in different ways. The way I see a friend who is taller than me will be different from their friend that is taller than them because of perspective. Or the way I perceive a friend who I’m very close with will differ from the way I view an acquaintance. Each person we encounter sees us similarly with their eyes but views who we are individually resulting in each person perceiving us slightly differently. It’s always intriguing to see how someone else sees you in their minds eye through artwork or photography and how it may be similar or different to how you see yourself in the mirror. It’s rare that I create a self portrait but it seemed appropriate to create one today. I also included a portrait Douglas Cheuk, an artist friend of mine, drew of me recently.

There are two words that start with “C” that seem to be used interchangeably when talking about artists, but have very different meanings: Crazy and Creative.

“Crazy: mentally deranged; demented; insane.” You lose control over your own mind.
“Creative: resulting from originality of thought.” Original thoughts happen when you let your mind wander and allow yourself to think about things in different ways.

“Oh they’re some crazy artist.” It seems to be one of the common stereotypes. But creating art is a process that is more than random.

Every innovative thing that we’ve ever done has taken someone who is willing to think creatively about things. It’s how we take what we already know and utilize it in a way we hadn’t considered before…whether it’s discovering something more efficient, finding the flaws in a design, seeing the world in a different way, or just experimenting. The process creates something new or original. It also requires guidance and thoughtfulness.

I’m sure that there are creative people in the world that are crazy. But random ideas are rough, unfinished. Artists get branded with all sorts of stereotypes. The majority of artists are not crazy, aloof, or otherwise social outcasts. Most artists I’ve met are creative, smart, sociable, and work incredibly hard to refine their visions and express their ideas clearly to their audience.

There are many ways in which the creative power of an artist is marginalized. Paint fumes, chemicals, drug and alcohol addictions. Being high isn’t the source of creativity. A mind can be creative and sober. It takes work. It takes training, both to be creative on demand, and to recognize when your creation, your thoughts, are being expressed accurately in your work. Artists should take credit for the work that they put into a piece. Never marginalize your work. There will be many detractors to do that for you.

The copious amount of rejection that artists face is, in my opinion, much more likely to drive someone crazy than the occupational title of “artist”. Being an artist takes a lot of hard work and a thick skin. Artists are constantly rejected, whether it’s by a gallery, critic, or hearing someone say that they don’t like the piece that the artist just spent hours, days, or years on. I’ve even gotten the occasional email ripping my work apart. I try to think of those situations as someone who is having a bad day and decided to take it out on me because they’re jealous of my work on some random level. I even have a folder in my email that is titled “They’re just jealous” for these special emails.

Rejection is a heavy thing. I recently read an article about rejection and how there was a study done showing that when someone is rejected it actually causes physical pain by triggering the same part of the brain. And yeah, as someone who’s been rejected a lot, I can tell ya, it hurts.

But on the flip side of things, I’m not going to stop making art just because someone doesn’t like my work. Sometimes I forget and I have to remind myself of all the encouragement that I’ve received from family, friends, and strangers my entire life to continue creating art. I believe that if you believe in why you do what you do, other people will see that in you and they’ll want to believe in you too.

I’m a creative entrepreneur, my title is artist.

Freehand drawing of Minnie Mouse, Age 9 1/2

Drawing: ink, charcoal, pastels, crayons, pencils
Painting: watercolor, oil, acrylics, guache
Sculpture: clay, metalwork, casting, welding, paper, plastic, mixed media, wood, glass
Printmaking: Intaglio, litho, screen printing

Countless mediums, countless ways of creating a piece, and countless ideas. Seeing just how closely my eyes, brain, and hands can communicate with one another to create a drawing that looks so realistic you want to pick it up is astonishing to me. The ability to dive deep into the imagination or letting the hands and brain work together to create interesting shapes, designs, and images that communicate emotions, memories, and reactions in other people. This curiosity is what has always driven me to create art.

Between the ages of six and ten, I would use my coloring books as reference material and see how closely I could copy various Disney characters free hand. Sometimes I would trace the characters in my coloring books to train my hand to make the shapes. I would draw and redraw the various characters until I got them right. Bringing them to school to show my friends was the best part about it because of their reactions, “Wow, how did you do that?!” or “I can’t believe you didn’t trace it!”.

By the time I was 13, I could draw flowers that were in vases, around the yard, or dried realistically. I remember trying to draw people and becoming increasingly frustrated because for some reason my eyes and brain were not communicating all the necessary information to my hands.

In high school, I was starting to experiment with different mediums and what I could create with them. Summers in high school were spent in fields, by the river, in old mining towns, and in ghost towns drawing landscapes, buildings, and trees. This was also when I was first warned that I needed to find a style and medium and stick to it.

Every opportunity I had in my college career to learn a new art medium I took. I never understood why I should only focus in one medium. If I’m being encouraged to learn several languages, I should also be encouraged to learn several artistic mediums. I love that I know how to do so many different types of art.

After class one day, I took one of my headless nude figure paintings on The Bus and rested my head where his would have been I got several double takes and laughs. The reactions, looks, and conversations it sparked on the bus ride were priceless.

Moving my life back to California from Hawaii after graduation, a poor economy, friends and family passing away, and an injury that could have affected my life as an artist left me feeling like I was spinning out of control, in a tailspin about to crash and burn. I was starting to sporadically jump from medium to medium, this has been the only moment where I felt overwhelmed by the number of mediums I know. Even creating my meditative Mitsuro pieces and oil paintings couldn’t bring me back into that place of peace and passion. Usually when I create a piece, I tune everything else out. I’m completely focused on what I’m creating and I couldn’t get to that place.

When I started creating the organic sketches that ultimately became my “Growing” series, I originally intended them all to become large oil paintings. A friend suggested that I try drawing the sketches into final black and white pieces and see how I like them. When I sat down with a charcoal pencil, a piece of white paper, and started to draw; for the first time in a long time I felt happy. Going back to pencil, paper, and line. The beginning. It was a relief to just draw what I enjoyed, to let all of my experiences come through me and pour into those lines. To let my work evolve with each drawing. To allow myself to see things abstractly. To go back to the beginning and grow with each piece I now create.

Creating this series brought me back to what I care about. Allowing my eyes, brain, and hands to dance together to create something from my imagination that will start a conversation with others.

All of us face challenges in our lives and this series is a reminder that sometimes if we allow ourselves to go back to the beginning, to sit down with what may be the simplest thing, we may find ourselves waiting for us to show up to help us grow once again.

I was in San Francisco from February 4th – February 11th! During that week I was able to do all sorts of art related things! It was very exciting! I was able to go on the art walk, go to an open studio, and even work on myself as an artist professionally. I went to a lecture on the 5th where there were several gallery owners talking about how to present yourself as a professional artist. This lecture was incredibly helpful because, believe it or not, in college none of my professors went over how to be a professional artist. There should really be a whole semester on how to be a professional artist and some of the basic things you should know. I’ll make sure I keep all my notes and share my wisdom with you all once I have a good amount of information and know that these things help. It was really great to find out that I’ve been on the right track and that I’m moving in the right direction. There were also a few things that they talked about that I hadn’t thought of before. In SF every first Thursday of the month they have an art walk! It’s fantastic. The official art walk only goes from 5:30pm-7:30pm but the galleries are open all day. I suggest if you’re ever in SF, take the ENTIRE day and try to hit as many of the galleries as possible there’s some really fantastic galleries. I went into the 49 Geary Street building where there are a number of galleries on 4 or 5 floors of this building. There are so many galleries on one floor that it can easily take you two hours to just look at work on one floor. The art walk is called “First Thursday Art” and their website is: http://firstthursdayart.com/. A buddy of mind who has lived in SF for about 10 years never knew that there was a art walk in SF so spread the word and love for art in SF! Saturday the 9th I went to the Lost and Foundry Open Studio in Oakland! This studio space houses Nemo Gould, Jeremy Mayer, Alan Rorie, and Christopher Palmer. Their work was incredible and highly inspiring. Here are some photos I took of the open studio. For having so much stuff in the lost and foundry these artists are incredibly organized!

This piece’s arms would move and there was a red electrical current that would run through the head part. It’s huge! And such a fun piece!  Nemo Gould does some really fun kinetic sculptures.

This piece was also done by Nemo. It reminded me of something out of Alien but at the same time is cute and whimsical especially with the way that it moved.

This is a motorcycle that Nemo is currently working on. I love motorcycles and can’t wait to see this sculptural piece finished!

These two pieces were completely done with parts from old type writers! These sculptures are incredible to see in person. Jeremy Mayer is the artist of these intricate pieces.

After the Open Studio a couple of buddies of mine and I went and watched the new public art light show that was just installed on the Bay Bridge. I can’t even imagine how the artist must feel after coming up with an idea like that and having it realized! If you have the chance to go to San Francisco you should stay till after dark and watch the Bay Bridge lights. Not really art related but on the 7th I went to the 9:20 Special to go Lindy Hop swing dancing. I haven’t been to the 9:20 in at least 5 years! I walked into the room and BAM a flood of memories came swimming back to me! It was crazy. I had a blast. It was also the first time that I ever competed in Lindy Hop even though I’ve been dancing Lindy Hop for about 12 years now. Strangely enough, every other time I had tried to compete something would prevent me from it and I pretty much gave up on trying to go to events to compete. But this time they were having an impromptu Strictly Lindy competition and a buddy of mine, that I had never danced Lindy with before that night, asked me to be his partner for that night. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to dance Lindy with my friend. I need to brush up on some of my fancier moves. Just being there made me remember why I love Lindy Hop so much. Thanks for reading! I’m off to SF again next week for more amazing art related things. I’ll try not to keep you all waiting too long between posts next time! A me ke aloha!