Tim Lane's Blog, page 38
December 9, 2020
I Wish That I Still Had Some of These Works of Art, Part 2
I really do wish I had kept one of these. I showed a series of similar works at the Grand Blast Art Show in 2001. This show was a big group show in a white-washed warehouse space in Downtown Lansing, which Cassie Brogan and her husband organized. It had everything, including a big city feel.
These works feel very fresh to me, even though they no longer exist. What was I thinking? And why?
There were about five of them, including a blond-haired Washington.
December 8, 2020
I Wish That I Still Had Some of These Works of Art, Part 1
I recently discovered some photos of some of my earliest works of art. (Consider yourself warned, haha.) There was a lot of experimentation back then (2000-2005) as I explored materials and methodologies. My resources were extremely limited. My education consisted of art books, galleries, museums, the internet and a circle of young local artists who were collaborating, sharing, bonding and experimenting together. It was a perfect storm. We pushed and inspired each other. It was a fun, vibrant period (one of the most memorable periods of my life). I was a young parent at the beginning of this time, with kids who were two and six. I had been out of grad school (where I had studied creative writing) for four years. I was the primary caregiver for our family, also working part-time jobs (like a three year gig at Curious Books). Basically, I was raising my kids, working, writing, collaging and painting, with friends who were brilliant and talented and inspiring.
In those early days, it would appear that I was preoccupied with liberty and what I perceived to be the insanity of America. At least, that is what I remember.
My very first collage. This was on a piece of yellow poster board.I had been working on a novel while Jackie was young, but when Zach was born in 98, I couldn’t focus on it. I was too tired. I made a conscious decision to shelve the novel for five years. But I needed a creative outlet, so I started making collages. It was perfect. I could walk away from them and resume working on them at any time without much trouble. Eventually, my friend—D.C. painter and woodworker, Mike Clark—suggested painting. I had grown up with some creative encouragement—my mother’s side of the family used to give me sketchbooks and pastels and pencils and watercolors, and I had used them—but I had favored sports. I moved from collaging to painting. While I worked on the collage above, Jackie was right beside me, working on her own. The kids often painted beside me when they were young, as well.
Guess What’s Inside, collage, 20”x12”
Do You Yahoo, circa 2001, 40”x30”
This painting found a home in an apartment on Cape Cod. Gimme Your Masses, circa 2003
December 4, 2020
Into the Badlands Meets American Painter, George Bellows
Toward the end of episode one of the dystopian series, Into the Badlands, there is a scene that contains artwork by American painter, George Bellows. The title of the painting is Club Night. The only title I could pull out of my head while I was watching was Stag at Starkey’s, but I knew that wasn’t right. That’s a different, but similar, painting. I love it when films and series use great artwork.
American painter, George Bellows, 1882-1925, was a prominent member of the Ashcan School of painting. He captured the urban life of New York City at the turn of the 20th Century. Between 1907 and 1909, he executed a series of paintings depicting boxing matches. They are quite famous and have always drawn me in. Beyond capturing a boxing match at a private club when boxing was prohibited in NYC, they contain a strong narrative, social commentary and allegory.
Club Night, 1907, is part of the National Gallery’s collection, so I am sure that I have viewed it in person, probably more than once. I lived in Metro D.C. for almost four years. When I return, I almost always make a point to visit. However, somehow, I lost track of Into the Badlands after it hit Netflix. I actually started watching episode one at some point, but didn’t get past the opening credits. Tonight, I finished it. I’m glad there are three seasons. We shall see if the series lives up to Club Night, and if there are any other cameos of famous paintings. I hope the trend continues. Directors should know that this is always a good way to hook an art history buff.
George Bellows, Club Night, 1907,
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-ob...
December 3, 2020
CTRL+ALT+DEL
Stumbled across images of two very old paintings today while looking through old emails. I think I showed these at Spiderhouse Gallery, in Old Town, in 2002, but I can’t quite remember.
CTRL+ALT+DEL, circa 2002, acrylic on canvas, 40”x30”
Double-Click, circa 2002, acrylic on canvas, 40”x30”
Miscellaneous Paintings
art
November 29, 2020
The Post in which the Painter Writers about Not Being Able to Live with the Painting
Sometimes, while making a painting, I arrive at a point where a tension is created. This tension is born out of a desire to feel confident, and finished, with the painting, but intuitively understanding that something just isn’t working. An argument begins: It’s done! It’s not done! It’s fine! No, something isn’t quite right!
When this happens, I get quiet and “the looking” kicks into overdrive (a lot of painting goes on in my head=the looking). One thing I have learned about this situation is that it behooves me to stop “trying” to be done. Thus, I stop working on the painting. I spend some time living with it. Sometimes I just keep it in the studio and leave a light on so that I can see it every time I pass through. Other times I hang it in the living room (as in this case), or lean it in the dining room, so I can spend time physically living with it outside of my head.
It also helps to get some feedback.
Ultimately, I usually conclude that I can’t live with the painting, such as it is, and eventually I arrive at why. (The painting just doesn’t get to the wall if something isn’t off.) In the case of L' enchevêtrement, while I felt that there were a few issues I couldn’t really address without completely starting over, I came to understand that those issues were not what were bothering me.
The element of the painting that bothered me the most was the bottom right portion of the painting. In really good light, the subtle transparency of that passage was nice. But in bad light, which is where most paintings exist, this area looked unfinished. As a result, the painting didn’t cohere, and it felt/looked unbalanced. The lame passage became an irritating focal point.
So I looked for a while. And then I consulted a couple of sources. And then I went back in.
I am happy with the results. And now, I can move on.
Before
After
Original Art for Sale
November 26, 2020
L' enchevêtrement, 2020
I am happy to post this new painting on Thanksgiving Day. L' enchevêtrement is part of The Sublime series.
L' enchevêtrement, 2020
Original Art for Sale
The Sublime
art
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Fiction
Your Silent Face is now available for Kindle at Amazon:
Your Silent Face available at Amazon
or at the Apple Book Store:
Your Silent Face available at the Apple Book Store
You can also purchase here at yoursilentface.com:
What lies ahead that doesn’t suck? Summer break forces Stuart Page to return home and wrestle with his fraying ties to the East Side of Flint, his memory an archive of cassettes he would like to erase. His freshman year of college was lame. More early Cure than Spandau Ballet, he might be overheard saying. More Gary Numan than Falco.
Flustered by visits from a stoic viking, fueled by an endless supply of beer, Stu picks apart an obsession with the lead singer of Joy Division and chugs the sour dregs of insecurity as he drunkenly veers through Flint’s blue collar fight culture, summer hook ups, the aftereffects of Old School Catholicism and Reaganomics in Your Silent Face.
Key words; fiction, coming of age, 80s music, New Wave, Gen X, Rust Belt, Native American, graffiti, urban poetry
November 23, 2020
Everybody Needs Love & Adventure/Everybody Needs Cash to Spend/Everybody Needs Love & Affection/Everybody Needs Two or Three Friends
Starting the week off with some self-promo. I am trying to sell 20 more copies of Your Silent Face before 2021. (Each link below includes a description of the novel.) Many thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy. Many thanks to everyone who has given it a look see. Many thanks to everyone who has read it. And many thanks to those of you who have rated it and/or written reviews. I appreciate all of you!
Key words: fiction, coming of age, 80s music, New Wave, Gen X, Rust Belt, Native American, graffiti, Flint, urban poetry.
Your Silent Face is available in EPUB format for your Apple devices, Kindle format, or you can download a pdf straight from this website. The links for Apple Books, the Amazon Kindle Shop and a content link for my website are below.
There is also a companion Spotify playlist for Your Silent Face! Link below. Follow it for free.
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Your Silent Face
By Lane, Tim
Buy on Amazon
Your Silent Face Available Now
*The title of this post contains lyrics from Human League’s song, “Things that Dreams Are Made Of.”
November 22, 2020
Fluidity, Hard Edge & the Psychology of Painting
I do not usually do process posts. I think that it takes a lot of security. But I decided a process post of my latest piece might help me figure out where it’s going (it is not finished). I have been working slowly on this piece because it just doesn’t feel right, which is ironic. (I set out to do something different, but it turns out that I don’t like doing something different.) I set out to get away from the fluidity or expressionistic aspects of the prior paintings within this series, deciding to bring in some hard edge visual components to express my ideas, and the upshot is that if feels very uncomfortable. Yeah, I had been using some grids, but this is more rigid, and the painting feels very compartmentalized. I was not feeling it. I didn’t work on it at all yesterday. But today, after adding the figures, and the object, I feel better. The painting was always heading toward the addition of those three items. I am happier, now. However, I am not sure what the final verdict will be. Will this become a successful addition to The Sublime series, or an exercise?
This is where economics figure into my process.
Because I can’t afford a lot of materials, I feel pressured to make every piece count. I have painted over more paintings than I care to admit. However, I also realize that this pressure is twofold. Some of it is situational; some of it is self-imposed.
On top of the economics of circumstance, I am also always battling the remains of a sense of perfectionism within my practice. When a painting begins to get away from me, I start to feel uneasy. Sometimes the lack of control of the process works out very well (the happy accidents); other times it just adds up to poor execution. And quite often that feels like failure because a few articles of perfectionism still hang in my closet. There have been many nights when I have pushed a painting longer than I should have simply to get to a place where I no longer felt like the painting was failing—like the painter was failing.
I am thinking colored pencil for the figures, paint for the object, and I am also thinking about bringing the floral patterning into the side panels, thereby uniting the ceiling and floor of that part of the painting…
But I’m not sure. So far, I have used acrylics, house paint, spray paint, and oil paintsticks.
November 16, 2020
A Basket of Roses Arrived at My Mailbox
I was pretty dang thrilled to learn the other night that a friend had decided that I should have his silver vinyl, limited edition of 1000, reissue of Power, Corruption & Lies (I have always loved Peter Saville’s cover designs and Factory Records) which was released in 2017 in conjunction with the True Faith art exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery.
Saville’s cover design for PCL is a reproduction of the painting "A Basket of Roses" by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, which is part of the National Gallery's permanent collection in London.
True Faith explores the ongoing significance and legacy of New Order and Joy Division through the wealth of visual art their music has inspired.
Curated by Matthew Higgs, Director of White Columns, New York and author and film-maker Jon Savage with archivist Johan Kugelberg, True Faith is centred on four decades’ worth of extraordinary contemporary works from artists including Julian Schnabel, Jeremy Deller, Liam Gillick, Mark Leckey, Glenn Brown and Slater Bradley, all directly inspired by the two groups.
— Adrian Searle, The Guardian, July 4, 2017
And so a slim, square package arrived at my mailbox!
