Sometimes artists have muses, I am no exception. Muses are often their source of inspiration. Muses give the artist a sense of passion about something. My muses are words – and the concepts they conjure up for me. Words never cease to inspire me which is why I call myself a conceptual artist and why I write a blog and about beautiful moments in the day.
Posted on November 25 2019
Folks often ask me how long it takes for me to create a work of art. I tell them, “All my life.” You can never “sometimes” be an artist and “sometimes not.” I know because I’ve tried. Being an artist is really hard for many reasons. Compare it to becoming a teacher, a medical physician or ...
Posted on November 24 2019
The value of art does not come from how popular the work of art is. In fact, it’s likely that art looses its value when it is popularized. So if art net news is correct saying that there is an art industry, and I do believe they are, how does a work become known ...
Posted on November 21 2019
Folks often ask how I come up with the titles of my work. When I first began to paint, I thought that the titles and even my signature interfered with the essence of the selfness and purity of the work and what the work was to become and be. The work needed to be a ...
Posted on November 20 2019
Staring down at a blank canvas, a black white sheet of paper, I notice a familiar tension gathering in my soul and in my body. That first mark, is so important. I relish this beginning tension. It makes my whole body alive, awake and excited for the struggle that is about to begin. The tension between ...
Posted on November 19 2019
Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the Leigh Yawkey Woodsen Art Museum in Wausau, WI. Their annual exhibition of Birds In Art was on display. My interest, like all other times when I go to see an exhibition, is to see how other artists create, speak and think. Especially for such a representational subject ...
Posted on November 18 2019
My process is to plant a seed and allow it to germinate and take root. This allows my thoughts and ideas to cross-fertilize and engage with each other and the material elements in the work. I push these elements in my work in new directions over the entire process of creating it. And in turn, ...
Posted on November 15 2019
I am overwhelmed when I look up and see the spectacle of the sky above me. In the morning and at night. Huge spaces filled with stars or clouds, silver grey, white. I am overwhelmed when I look up and see the spectacle of the sky. Art should, too, overwhelm you. Like the spectacle of the sky. ...
Posted on November 14 2019
The Wall Street Journal always has some very interesting reading in the arts section. On November 9th, 2019 Ingela Ratledge Asundson wrote an article titled “When It All Starts With Art”. I would like to share it with you all. Generally, for the most part, folks share articles with others because it makes a point ...
Posted on November 10 2019
There is something absolutely wonderful when I am walking in the woods and come across really large virgin trees. Yesterday, while we were hiking one of the trails to Rainbow Falls at Black River Harbor, we came across several groves of very large cedar and white pines. Just imagine living that long, getting that tall, ...
Posted on November 10 2019
Chicago is called the “Windy City” but I couldn’t hear the wind this past weekend when I was there. I couldn’t hear the snow landing on the rooftops of buildings. Yesterday, when I was having my morning coffee outside in the cold all bundled up, I heard the wind. It was dancing with the ...
Posted on October 01 2019
The most recent Artnet News magazine has a cover story headline titled “Art As Industry.” I ask, “Is art an industry? Should art be considered an industry?” In the past, there are those who believed that art would be compromised/ controlled if it was: created for money, controlled by what others liked, what was popular, a ...
Posted on September 30 2019
Should art re-imagine or imagine an idea? As an artist, viewer or lover of art, should art seduce you? As an artist, what seduces you to the extent that you want to recreate/re-imagine it and use it? Is that what art is all about? Seduction? If an object can be used and reused over and ...
Posted on September 28 2019
I was out to dinner with friends the other night when my girlfriend made a statement about something that we were talking about. Although I don’t remember what we were discussing, I do remember her statement. She said, “But you have to share to give to others. Everything can’t be just about money and what ...
Posted on September 27 2019
Selfishness Part I Should we be selfless as artists? Should our work be selfless, non referential to who we are? There are so many values and collectives who believe that selflessness is a virtue. A virtue that a member of the group must strive for in order to get into heaven, reach utopia, and peace. Or, as ...
Posted on September 07 2019
The wind is moving through the woods. The trees are singing a wing song. Some of the notes are deep. They sound like rushing water across rocks and pebbles in a mountain creek. These deep notes are mingled with a rustling sound. It reminds me of the sound of sandpaper across a beautiful piece of ...
Posted on September 06 2019
Does the work speak to your soul? What has happened to the idea that a person’s value (worth) is not gained through the networks she travels and associates with but, rather, a person’s value (worth) is what it is because of their own merit and for what they’ve done? Why is it that a person only ...
Posted on September 05 2019
Copy – Sameness – Universal There are places within art theory and discourse form where the words “copy” and “sameness” appear. I have been reading a book called “Pattern and Decoration” that outlines that perhaps these ideas could fit into art theory and discourse. The idea is that many crafts persons created works that were considered, ...
Posted on September 05 2019
Put on your ruby slippers, click the heels together, close your eyes and make a wish. Take me home ToTo. The Journey Series. Christine Alfery Life is a journey. It’s full of ups and downs. I frequently describe it as a roller coaster ride. We are in it for the ride and we should always try to make ...
