Wednesday, March 19, 2008

You're an... Artist?

Many of you know the story of when my wife first heard I was an artist. After hearing of my artistic talents my wife didn't expect much from my enthusiasm. I think from her past experiences with "artists" she thought my excitement was greater than my abilities.

Art holds a lot of intrinsic value regardless of whether what you produce is considered "good" or not. There is an enriching experience at being surrounded by things that have been made by hand. Several yellow aprons my mom made for my wife and daughter hang in our kitchen-they remind me of my mother and the experiences I had growing up. A quilt made by my wife's aunt hangs in our daughter's room. It is beautifully made with pink vibrant flamingos on the front. It reminds us of this particular aunt and the pink flamingo parties my wife's mother has thrown for the past 4 years every summer. In any case, these things remind us of human interactions and enrich our lives.

As my life takes a new direction, I find myself pursuing a course that will hopefully allow me to work as an artist, with my emphasis in fine art. I have enjoyed producing the temple drawings that I have completed, but more than anything I love drawing people. There is so much satisfaction in being able to effectively catch an emotion on paper. There are specific things I hold dear, values that I consider to be universal truths, such as the importance of kindness, hard work, compassion, patience, etc... These are things I hope to be able to express in my work. The schools I am applying to, I believe, do the best job in providing their students with the tools to capture the subtleness of the human figure in order to express that emotional side that tells a story. The following are a couple of sketches of mine that I think start to capture that human side.




"A Silent Prayer"

No name-Any Suggestion?

8 comments:

The Silverback said...

Your unnamed little girl looks like "precious joy", or "inner peace" or thoughtful .... something. Other words that come to mind are are safe, secure, protected. She looks like she has the contentment of knowing that she is safe. She has the peace and quient joy of childhood.
Your drawerings are beautiful.

Katherine Ronachert said...

drawerings? too long in the east!
small and simple is what i think of. or content. either way, you're amazing.

The Silverback said...

lol! I didn't even realize that Elka was directing the "drawering" comment at me. I was thinking to myself, "What the heck is she trying to say to N? ...she's clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer..." LOL! Then I realized that the comment was for me because, apparently, I can't spell (note the word 'quient"). Anyway, I send my love to all. From the Siverback who is scratching her head with a dull knife...think about it....that's not so dumb!!

Wendy Lady said...

Beautiful!

Katherine Ronachert said...

and since i talk alot, i also think "home" is a good title. the girl looks like she's home.

Liz Wilcken said...

Maybe, "In Her Eyes". It's all in the eyes. They're the main focus. Then whoever looks into the eyes can decide what she feels. :D Just a thought.

The Silverback said...

Oh, I like that..."In Her Eyes".

Wendy Lady said...

I've been thinking ... since you love drawing people, why don't you try some of our ancestors? I'd love to talk to you about it!

Thanks for Looking!