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ABOUT THE IMAGE
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| ISOLATION / INTEGRATION The reason for the two words in the title of this painting is
simple: I started out thinking I was expressing "isolation" and found that no
matter what I did with the brushes and colors, nothing I painted was isolated. In fact,
everything was connected to something else, dependent on an adjoining shape or a color
blend.
Painting is an emotional experience - to be sure, there
is thought and technique involved too - but there's something so completely visceral about
the act of painting, that it taps into an emotional core in a way that photography
generally does not. At least for me.
While I attempted to paint isolation, at a particularly
emotional and vulnerable time in my life, I found that I was actually connected to the
world, attached in ways I'd lost sight of. Quite a lot for one small painting to say... |
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"The
camera will never compete with the brush and palette until such time as photography can be
taken to Heaven or Hell."
- Edvard Munch |
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| ISOLATION / INTEGRATION |
| ARTIST'S STATEMENT - COLOR & LIGHT |
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"A painted picture is like a vehicle. One can either sit in the driveway
and take it apart or one can get in it and go somewhere."
- Mark Tansey |
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Except for my work in photography - that of
translating the "real world" into two dimensions - I have always been more in
tune with three-dimensional arts and crafts. It seems more natural, somehow, to get my
hands into and around paper or wire or clay and build from there rather than staring at a
flat, blank canvas. I've never liked drawing a likeness - transferring what I see into a
literal representation of it on paper - which might explain my preference for
three-dimensional, tactile ways of creating. Diving
into painting, then, seems foolish... perhaps. For me, it was a way to stretch. I wanted
to explore a different way of seeing things, certainly a new way of rendering them. It's
important to find boundaries, |
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in the way I think or react to something - and go beyond them. And what fun, too,
to make something that didn't have to be "perfect" or "marketable" at
the end of the day! That last part was, in and of
itself, probably the most freeing aspect of painting. I had no expectations and
consequently could not be disappointed. There's a wonderful sensation for an
artist, consumed as we often are with self-doubting.
Working so much in black and white, between the
photography and words on paper, it's a treat to have to (get to) cope with color and light
in such a different way. My training, in college-years, was in theatrical design and I'm
comfortable with basic design principles (line, mass, texture, balance) and color theory,
so I allow myself to let go, let it fly, see where it takes me, as much as possible.
It's a whole different discipline - no surprise - and the
actions of painting, and the paints themselves, dictate a form and a path very different
from my usual, comfortable rut. That's a surprise. The ways needed to see, to think, to
stop thinking, to react, to trust... they're all new. Different. Wonderful. |
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| "A painting
is a thing which requires as much cunning, rascality and viciousness as the perpetration
of a crime." -
Edgar Degas |
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| TOUR
THE PAINTING GALLERIES |
| TEACHER / MENTOR / GUIDE |
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Reed Cardwell paints and teaches in San Diego - which is my good fortune, as I take
classes as often as my schedule allows - which is to say, not nearly often enough. Working
in painting opens me up emotionally in a way that neither photography nor writing does -
its own kind of therapy. And after a few weeks of painting, I am a better writer, a better
photographer, for having stretched in the opposite direction.Reed's teachers and mentors still influence his life as a painter,
and he speaks of them often in the course of a session. Reed absorbed the importance of "painting
not what you see, but what you prefer to see" from Harold Kramer in Los
Angeles... and from Nathan Oliveira in Santa Fe, Reed learned about following intuition in
his work as well as trust: "Out of the act of painting comes a painting."
Reed is the best of teachers - patient in allowing you to
find your own way, emphasizing the positive, making corrections where needed, knowing that
the artist must discover things for herself. He's warmly open and emotional about doing
the work and articulate in expressing himself, and exceptionally knowledgeable about both
contemporary and historical artists in all genres.
Each time I'm able to go back and work with him again, I
find that the previous lessons of observation and tapping into my own intuition have taken
hold and show up in a new way, building layer upon layer of awareness, willingness to
risk, and moving forward. What more could you possibly ask?
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You can find more about Reed Cardwell and view some of
his work on the following sites - click to explore more:
reedcardwell
the art collector
artist statement |
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| "To draw,
you must close your eyes and sing." - Pablo Picasso |
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