the artist's statement

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye" from THE LITTLE PRINCE. When people ask me "WHAT KIND OF ARTIST ARE YOU?"... I tell them, I am a painter ... they ask "OH oil or watercolor?".... I say, neither... I paint with light ... they give me a strange look.... IF I have the time and I think they are really interested, then I clarify... I use a camera and a scanner as a starting point, and then where it leads me I never know ... the end result may be a light capture from my scanner, or a manipulated photo, using many different computer enhancement tools including photoshop...... sometimes I create something that does not even look like anything recognizable. Then sometimes, I use mixed media.... mixing a printed inkjet picture with maybe a magazine transfer using wintergreen oil, or adding paint, or using sandpaper to rough it up ....in the end I have something original that never existed before.... just a splash of pixel dust.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

beauty of decay -yellow daisy

One from my "Beauty of Decay" series.  This is "Yellow Daisy 1".  Again it is one of my scanography art pieces.  I had given my wife some Gerber Daisies for her birthday, and she was ready to toss them out after they had lived out their life as a bouquet.  She saw wilted flowers. I saw a beauty in the soft pedals that had fallen all around the vase - a wabi sabi moment. 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I like that you saw something different in them - the artist's vision. I - for some reason - like weathered wood, and chipped paint on sign posts and other various things. I like this piece - very oriental.

Johny Alives said...

Thanks Michael. I also like weathered wood and rusty signs. You probably would appreciate the Japanese philosophy of WABI SABI and MONO NO AWARE. Basically it is about the beauty of decay and the impermanence of life. Your art reminds me of these concepts.

Cheers

Unknown said...

Thanks Johny. I've heard of Wabi Sabi, and his book for artists designers etc, but not Mono No Aware...thanks for your response; yes, I guess I'm always aware of the transient nature of life.