Art by Will Paradis

I have just returned from an invigorating performance at Mulligan’s open mic. The focus of my lyrical improvisation was on the power of letting remorse into ones life with grace and serving power. I focus on Mr. Trump, as the government and wall situation should be the straw that finally gets the camel to shake of his load. But what if he found his own way to remorse? What a hero he could be if he were to face the gravity of his failures at leading the world. He does not represent a democracy by any logical or real interpretation of not only the word but of what that word means in the daily lives of the majority of the people the world contains.

What if he said to himself, “I had the money and power to take a chance at running the world and I got in over my head. This isn’t pro wrestling or  television drama. This is the life of the planet. I will step down in humility and try to rectify my mistakes by helping those in need from the fallout of my presidency with the resources I have. What a wonderful and powerful message he could send to the 1%, and to the world of the rest of us. Perhaps he sees green, not the shades he’s used to bud the shades that grow and nourish, and led an evolution of true clean energy.

What sort of energy or action would it take to turn this wishful thinking into a reality? What can each of us do as people to fuel that energy? I believe that acts of love and togetherness, and importantly, forgiveness, to allow even the most lost to find the best in themselves in service to Life, are the methods of truly righting the wronged. It is hard to find absolute forgiveness in the face of reactionary pain-causing. It is hard to forgive oneself, and that might be why it is so important for others to forgive those who need to forgive themselves the most. Death and polarity doesn’t serve the cause of life and harmony, and why wouldn’t we want to serve life?

As we move forward as people I pray we do so with forgiveness through love. It’s not to late for anyone, even the President.

Life is good. It evolves and love opens up opportunities. Chances and mystery keep life nourished. Art has gravity which increases with the passion of the Artist. We are all zooids in The collective organism that is Infinity. We all can benefit from connecting with our fellow cells. Holistic life is connected life. I am just very grateful to have a humble part in life. I am grateful humans can evolve their minds through Art and Music. I haven’t posted in a while. I am happy to be posting something again.

More Art and Music can be found on Facebook @Art4Truth

I am parting in a juried show at the Verum Ultimum Gllery in Portland, OR entitled Abstract Catalyst and I am happy to involved. As I prepare to head up there for the opening, I reflect on what Abstract Catalyst means and how important it is. The idea of abstraction as a catalyst for the evolution of Art and indeed consciousness is a belief I have honored for some time. It is essential that Artists and viewers alike embrace the limitless potential Abstraction has to offer for stimulating neurons in different ways, causing subconscious responses that effect the deeper Mind, and a cultimation of universal harmony among life forms. Abstraction opens doors to worlds which do not adhere to our usual perceptions of reality yet call to us intimately on many levels. I wish the gallery and the show luck as we do our respective parts to bring the next evolution of Abstract forward into the world…

Colors move, always, as light moves always. Pallets of everything are infinitely variable, even if to our eyes colors can seem firm and even concrete in their singularities. A block of blue on a white canvas, for example, or even Klein Monochrome blue, is never that same blue even if it might look like it. Dim the lights, or raise and filter them, as nature does all the time, and that blue is different. And that light is not just affecting the intended color, it is bouncing off of and through all of the little micro particles in the air, trillions of them, and those are always moving and never the same way, altogether, twice. If light is what affects what we see, and its interactions with reality are never the same twice, then a person is looking at something different every time they look at anything.

We, of course, can’t see all the little things that go on in the air before our eyes, or all of the physical energies that flitter through it. Colors, in their infinitely variable existence, therefore group together to form colonial organisms, so to speak, that we call red, green, and so on. Families have orders, orders phyla and on t species, so we can have different relationships with colors and color forms in nature and space. For example, we can look at a river and see blue immediately, even if further focus reveals a myriad of other colors. But then that yields to blue greens, and cool whites, and subtle browns, and each of those vibrating down into their own macrocosm a prism of subtle dancing color energy. Clouds are white, to our consciousness, but then so much more, just like consciousness…

I think often about composition as the foundation of Art-making which wishes to exist for its own sake, beyond any image or idea, and exist at its fullest potential. Composition is a force, a will which an Artist taps into to create space through their work, timelessness. It is unlimited in its potential yet makes a clear distinction from work which does not employ it. This will, this energy, becomes a way of life to the composer, and shapes his or her vision of the world. It is not about rules of thirds, contrasts or or any one element of Art-making. It is about the fluidity of all of the elements working through and within each other.

Composition is a shamanistic trance, an astral stream of consciousness. Composition is the gravity of creation. And it is the essence of that about Art which evolves the human mind and spirit. It is the measure, balance, distribution and harmony of notes in any work which reaches beyond the surface image or idea, the core of Art for Art’s sake.

I speak with such fervor and extremes because, even if my proclamations are not absolute, they they fuel the imagination to see Art-making as service to a bigger picture. I feel a gracious humility when offering homage to the essences of Art, and honor that I am able to visually serve the cause. So I encourage others to see the elements of Art-making as the elements of the Universe, and explore the vast infinity of possibilities procured through service to composition for composition’s sake…

I am currently working on two pieces that are heavily rendered in black. Black is a color I like to use often in certain paintings. Some, thought bright with color and movement, are still existent within a black space or plane, or thee even. But when it comes to pieces that are not black dominant, I scarcely use the color at all.

I recall my old high school Art teacher being adamant that we do not mix black with colors to darken them, or to create depth and shadow. He insisted we learn that black, organic black seen in shadows and nature, is derived from a mix of complimentary colors, and other combinations. I stand by this, and teach it myself.

A person can learn so much about color mixing from experimenting with complimentary grays. But, black is a beautiful color in and of it, and is a useful mix color in same ways. For example, it makes a fantastic series of greens when mixed with yellows, and earthy browns when blended with orange. But as the answer to white, not so much. Colors are special when turned to Art, and have meaning beyond common contrasts and associations…

I signed a 36 x 48 inch painting today, one I started less than 3 weeks ago. For me, this is unusual, as my pieces tend to get thick and go through various metamorphoses over months or more. Its color theme, so to speak, is white among mixed warms and cools. It is a not thin/not thick automatist painting, with a compositional foundation in a large circular form integrated within the individual strokes. It is subtle but undeniable, physically; it is there within an otherwise field pattern of forms and squiggly lines and circles, melting subtly. It is important for the power of automatism, for the psychonautic value of Art painting, that the painting manifest itself subconsciously in the mind of the viewer.

With or without image or narrative content, the subtle compositional unity of the individual strokes manifests itself within each ascending level of composition, until the macro composition is unified with a single binding form or shape. In this approach, the more subtle the better, usually, for exercise of the mind.

There is something that happens to the eyes and mind when we are introduced to an environment, in this case a painting, which harkens emotions and sensations beyond our usual experience and therefore beyond words. When this happens without content, the mind is free form usual experience, as even dream-like surrealistic content or image involves the cognitive consciousness.

I believe that this can build to content and a branch of representational methodology, but the power of this approach to Artmaking comes from the effect of pure abstraction on the mind. In this painting, the abstraction has a pulse, defined by the aforementioned subtle circular foundation.

I decided to call this piece finished even though the ideas and opportunities specific to the piece itself are not fully explored. I view this method as one that requires a number of pieces taking a number of forward steps or alternate directions, each learning from the previous painting and the oneness of the group.

I wished this to be a 2 week and not a 2 year painting, though I was open to the idea if necessary, but continuing this piece might belie the compositional point that it makes, and some steps forward are  worth keeping for themselves. In a nutshell, the piece works, I feel ready to let it go, and confidant that it is an important piece to my efforts to contribute to Art at its core.

Yesterday evening, I conducted a painting demonstration for a dozen people at the Emerald Art Center. The focus was on how I paint pictures such as Automatist Landscape (pictured.) From the recent painting exhibit at the EAC came an interest in my method, heavily layered and textured paintings. Last night’s was the second of two demos, and I am grateful for all who attended. I think we all had a good time.

It can be challenging to do what I do so naturally alone in a public forum, but I learned a lot and was able to start a couple of decent pieces. The process, and some much appreciated signs of affirmation and understanding when discussing the need for abstraction and the continued development of methods to dig into the core of Art, affirm my belief in the need for a greater Art consciousness in society at large as well as an impetus to do my own small part to help that happen.

Abstraction brings color and form together without mandated purpose or narrative force, but for the celebration of life, the life that color reverberates with its varied relations to other colors. Layering allows for compositional focus, freeing the Artist from the need to describe something, abstract or not, right away, and thus letting the painting develop through the organic joy of painting. Texture marks a break into the 3Drd dimension, bringing in light, shadow, and a parallax affected composition into the framework of painting., which can be layered indefinitely into sculpture. All of these elements can raise new questions about Art and its purpose, and  proclaim, through their collective affects on the human consciousness, the cultural necessity of further exploring Art.

I am continuously reminded of the beauty of thinking and the sublimity of imagination. I am wary of a future that deters thinking, even if that thinking means challenging cherished, longstanding ideas. Art, its purpose, its future, its capacity to affect humanity, should not be exempt from this. The more we question with understanding, rather than to challenge, the greater our collective bond to it can become. I believe automatism and this approach to painting does that by its nature, stroke to stroke. Without intent, every mark is a question, every note a new variable in an equation that ends, at least in my own work, only when the painting is signed, and sometimes beyond that. It is a way to paint beyond ego. In its capacity for both abstraction and representation, this method questions how we can see the world, as Art has always done. And, with the love and imagination of future Artists, always will.

Thanks again to the Emerald Art Center and for all of those who attended and helped with the demos!!!

The Demo Piece, TBC…