In an effort to make it not-too-long, I will move through them relatively quickly, I hope...
These topics kicking around up there are, roughly:
• Writing a blog... too much sharing?
• The mystery of the nude... and how to not alienate my readers.
• Painting... Mark Carder and the new paint box
• ENDGAME... work in isolation (trust my vision) or take in the views of my fellows?
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In the last few months I've had conversations with two friends which basically consisted of them telling me that reading my blog made them feel uncomfortable, to a certain degree. The idea was that the information I share herein felt just a bit too personal, and made them feel like voyeurs.
I guess the most interesting aspect of this topic to me is the degree to which their thoughts genuinely surprised me, and the degree to which I don't feel any conflict around this.
To me, the idea of sharing my thoughts around art, travel, culture, and once in a while a bit of politics or philosophy feels totally natural. I suppose you could imagine that all individuals fall somewhere along a continuum ranging from "very private" at one end, and let's say "very open" at the other end. I think it's clear that I am not at the "very private" extreme, but I think I'm closer to that end than the open end. If I ever start blogging about creepily personal medical problems or the inner workings of my relationships, well... someone please stop me. As it is, I guess I have some fantasy (like most writers probably do) that my musings will actually be interesting to someone out there, and maybe even spark a conversation or two.
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As readers of this blog know, I have an enduring fascination with the female nude.
I find that, as I am stepping into the world of painting, my interest in this topic is getting more focused, but I am also spending more time trying to understand it.
One thing I want to say, right off the bat, is that I am highly aware of, and very sensitive to, the fact that female nudity can be a divisive thing, and has the power to alienate certain segments of the population (and therefor also a certain segment of my readership.) Ideally, this is something I want to avoid, although I realize that my power in this regard is limited.
I believe that the divisiveness of the topic is related to the sexualized power we allocate, as a culture, to the female nude, especially the "young, perfect" variety. For reasons which I think are complex and layered, this power and the resulting divisiveness are at their apex in cultures such as the one we find here in the United States, and are less of an issue in Europe. I think this must be related to the puritanical underpinnings of the culture; because sex is taboo, and not integrated into life in a wholistic way, it becomes fetishized.. and the nude female is the totem of this fetishization.
After having lived in Europe for two years I can say with a certain small amount of authority that the nude (both female and male) is more integrated into the culture (statues and paintings everywhere) and simultaneously less fetishized, and... big surprise... seemingly less divisive.
I had an interesting conversation recently in which I found myself, again, pointing at this elusive gray zone between "sexy" and "sexualized." I think that Jassans was the first artist that I personally identified whose work confidently and effortlessly inhabited a "sexy but not sexualized" territory. The standing female nude by Alberto Galvez which I like so much finds the same delicate balance. Interestingly, they are both Spanish. Jassans was a religious man and seemingly saw the beauty of the nude (although he was biased towards the female figure he also did a handful of male nudes, including a pretty erotic Jesus) as an integral and essential part of the spectrum of God's creation. I find this fascinating, perhaps because it is so unAmerican, and... talk about wholistic.
"Sexualized" tries to convince you of something. "Sexy" is just sexy; it's power is self-evident. The differences are usually incredibly, and fascinatingly, subtle. A slight shift in posture, a minute change of expression...
OK, before I alienate just about everybody....
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So far, I am much better at talking about painting and getting prepared to paint than I am at actually painting.
In addition the the Lips that I showed in my last post, I did also paint a human figure which was a practice study for the protagonist in the big work I hope to start soon. The figure I painted served, more than anything else, to show me just how little I know. (In retrospect, I now understand that I • did not prepare my surface correctly, • did not mix enough paint and was therefor "stingy" with the brush, and • did not mix enough values to correctly convey "volume" with shading and highlights, among other errors). As it happens, a chance conversation with another painter led me to a website on which I have now spent many hours teaching myself the basics. Mark Carder's drawmixpaint.com is a really incredible resource of information, with hundreds of hours of free videos and a choice handful of paid videos which promise to go more in depth (pretty soon I will be buying the "portrait painting" video... 8 hours of instruction for $100 sounds like a deal to me). To the degree that I now feel confident moving forward in actually putting some paint on canvas, it's largely thanks to the time I've spend watching his videos. Thanks for doing that, Mark.
One thing I did realize along the way was that I need a place to paint. Our house is too small and clean and multi-use, and our shop is too dirty... and multi-use. So...
Many years ago I purchased a Frito-Lay delivery truck, which I've always called "the Bread Van." It is essentially the same beast as a UPS truck. I bought it for its great diesel engine, which I transplanted into my International Scout. About 10 days ago I decided to separate the cargo box off the rolling chassis and make it into my painting studio. (Finally, some pictures!)
Moving the Bread Van into place...
The box, removed from the rolling chassis...
The cab, cut off...
The front of the box, where the cab used to be, walled up...
The box, set into place on cedar blocks....
A painting studio! (It's darker in there than I thought it would be - I am waiting for my daylight balance lights to arrive in the mail)
(When I was transplanting the engine into my Scout, if I ever needed something like an exhaust elbow or a proper radiator, I could always find what I needed within the Bread Van... So the saying that popped into my head was "The Bread Van doth provide." Now, years later, when I need a painting studio... the Bread Van doth provide. I may even, one day, convert the rolling chassis into a trailer. I am reminded of the Native American protocol of using every part of the animal carcass...)
The main problem with this studio is that it's going to be pretty impossible to heat, unless I do a major insulation job on it... which I don't want to spend the time doing right now. So I will use it for the summer and evaluate how to move forward when the time comes. Christina and I might just build a proper art studio one of these days...
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I'm sorry if you're all tired of hearing about ENDGAME, but...
I did finally get some feedback from Burning Man. They indicated to me that, while they liked the piece and it did reach the final round for funding consideration, it ended up not fitting in to the overall, curated experience that they shaped with all the other pieces.
Almost simultaneously, I received an email from a dear friend who told me that he felt the piece was not up to my usual standards... that it didn't really seem like a "Christian Ristow piece," and that it felt like a bit of a "bummer." I love it that I have friends who can be that honest with me, and I appreciate the feedback... AND this assessment of the piece (along with a very similar evaluation by my dad) sent me into a one-day-long crisis of confidence. The thing is... I really, strongly believe in this piece. If my friends and family are right, then perhaps I've "lost my touch." Or, at least that's what I was thinking on that day.
I'm going to insert two quotes here...
This first one is a quote by Joni Mitchell, sent by my friend Wylie Elson..
“I heard someone from the music business saying they are no longer looking for talent, they want people with a certain look and a willingness to cooperate. I thought, that’s interesting, because I believe a total unwillingness to co-operate is what is necessary to be an artist – not for perverse reasons, but to protect your vision. The considerations of a corporation [or what "other people" expect from you... my words], especially now, have nothing to do with art or music, that’s why I spend my time now painting”
And this second one is by the painter Andrew Wyeth, found on Mark Carder's blog...
"People only make you swerve. I won’t show anybody anything I’m working on. If they hate it, it’s a bad thing, and if they like it, it’s a bad thing. An artist has to be ingrown to be any good."
I believe in ENDGAME. I think that, at the end of the day, I'm going to need to ignore what everyone else says and build it, or paint it, or get it out of my system one way or another. Sure, I think it maybe needs another stage of development... another "layer." But I believe it's an incredibly strong and relevant image, and I think the world will be a better place when ENDGAME is birthed.
OK, that's it.
Goodbye, until next time (when I will probably write more about painting, and about Caravaggio and "Sapiens.")
Listen to yourself ! it has gotten you v e r y far ..
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