Your Point Is Valid Too

Many artists are known for portraying a particular environment. A landscape once visited or a place that brings on a fond memory. Then there are times an artist creates something that exposes something from within their deep inner being. Something that causes a viewer of the work to ask, “What might be troubling that poor soul?” This work of mine, The Storm”, oddly enough, falls into the former category.

The Storm, is an Inktense watercolor pencil on watercolor paper work I did in 2012.
It was done during my annual stay in Villa 36-A, Westwind II Club, Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas. There was a big storm on Sunday, the day after my arrival, and I had a huge headache. To top things off, my villa had three slow leaks in the kitchen and living room. So, though this work looks as if it was done by a tortured soul… it’s more “situation descriptive”. The bad headache and stormy weather are both easily seen in this expression. What is not so readily noticeable in this Inktense watercolor is the fact that all of the water used to create it came from the rainwater that had leaked through our kitchen ceiling. Well… I had to do something with it.

   If you, dear reader, thought this painting was an expression of the inner turmoil of one who is deeply disturbed… I’m sorry if the image has mislead you. It’s just a guy in a storm with a nagging headache and a leaky ceiling, during what was otherwise a wonderful vacation in the Bahamas. You’ve heard it before… don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Having said that, I must also communicate something my decades as an artist and art educator have taught me. The act of viewing a painting is a real communication between the artist and the viewer. Just as a group of people leaving a theater, having all just viewed the same movie, walk away with different impressions of the same film… a group of viewers of a particular painting can also perceive the work differently.

   The various experiences in your life have helped create who you are and how you see the world. Those experiences also have an influence on what you perceive from a particular painting, regardless of what the artist worked to communicate. It is unquestionably important to learn about an artist and what they were working to create in a particular piece. But equally important (if not more so) is the feel, or emotion, one perceives while participating in a communication with an artist through that artist’s work. That is what causes an individual to be moved by a painting. That is what causes an individual to decide to continue the communication by acquiring the work… it spoke to them.

   Even after one learns what an artist intended to communicate with a painting is much different than what an individual viewer perceives from it, the viewer is best served by going with their perception. It is real with them, not just an academic notion. Much like many wine experts say don’t waste your time avoiding white wines with red meats if it pairs well for you and adds to your culinary enjoyment… don’t lose your part in what’s real for you in your experience in viewing a work of art just because a third party say’s, “but, but… but you’re missing the point the artist was trying to make.” 

Remember, your point is valid too.

~ John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes). Essex also maintains an online print-on-demand store where patrons can acquire gallery quality giclée prints of his art as well as other products that feature his work.

Find it at: https://society6.com/essexart

To view what Essex does, and to shop at his online store, go to: https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

By the way, to specifically acquire a print of The Storm, go to:
https://society6.com/product/the-storm1490583_print?sku=s6-9557410p4a1v45

Farewell To Shamans, Magazine Poetry

Farewell To Shamans, paint marker and acrylic paint on magazine paper, 6″x 6″, matted and framed 18″x 18″, © 2018.
This artwork is one of a series of what I’m calling Magazine Poetry, I really don’t know what inspired these. But, like so many things in an artist’s noggin, the inspiration settled in my head and would not go away until I expressed it.
Following the muse is always an adventure. One never knows where she’ll lead and prays she’ll never go away.
There is something particularly enjoyable in taking an object designed for an particular purpose, in this case part of a magazine page, and altering it to create a work that goes in an entirely different direction.
It really is true. Inspiration is where you find it (which I suspect is a notable quote from someone… but I Googled it and couldn’t who may have said it so I could credit the individual).

 

John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates  commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts  private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes).

To view what Essex does, including shopping at his online store, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

Caricaturing, a Fun Addition to Fun Times

Caricatures have always been fascinating to me. I enjoyed looking at them as a kid, as a teen, as a young adult and even now that I am… er… a “not-as-young-as-I-was” adult.
In the early 80s, when I learned caricaturists get paid more for creating fun drawings than I did working my side jobs at that time, I decided I wanted to get in on the action. Consequently I’ve done caricatures at special events now for a few decades and still tremendously enjoy doing them. I’m sure a huge reason for my continuing to draw caricatures of people is not just the fun I find in doing them, but the continual enjoyment of meeting the people who have posed. Every time someone sits for their caricature to be drawn, it’s like a nice chat session with someone who, before they sat down, was a stranger.
Recently I did caricatures at a collegiate event where I am hired annually as part of the entertainment for a celebration of the start of the new school year. At events like these where I am brought back each year, not only is it a joy to draw people who I have never met, but it’s almost like a homecoming of sorts when people I caricatured the previous year sit for another newer one. I’ve had the pleasure of drawing many college students more than once during the years of their college experience. I love the stories the students tell me of photocopying their caricatures to give to people and their desire to have a complete set of four caricatures from their college years.
For the special event caricaturing I do, I draw on paper that I’ve prepared exclusively for spotlighting the event and those that have hired me. Consequently, the person who has posed leaves with a great souvenir of the event they’ve attended and those that have hired me for the event have the kind of positive brand exposure they previously never even dreamed of having. For example I was in a building a few weeks ago and saw two caricatures I drew from two separate years of my event caricaturing at a non-collegiate event. Both were framed and hanging it someones work office. Each one prominently displayed the brand of who hired me and have been visible for a few years now to all who pass in the hallway or venture into that office.
Having fun, increasing happiness and creating positive brand exposure. That’s a great way to go through life and just a few of the reasons why I love my job.

John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates  commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts  private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes).

To view what Essex does, including shopping at his online store, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/