by james | Aug 30, 2014 | aoj blog
Hey everyone…
Hope your having a great week….
Labor day is here and for most it signifies the end of summer…. living in las Vegas I wish it signified the end of 100 + degree weather…. but its been a productive week in the studio… the studio and the house smell like oil paint again….its interesting, I was struggling a bit getting back into the studio, but I shuffled my music and played some of my old favorite songs… and it seemed to open the gates of creativity…..(plus that and the bottle of St. Michele wine helped a little……lol) and then I was off and running….Music plays such a big part in our lives….For me having no music to listen to would be comparable to solitary confinement…. From Michelangelo to Picasso, many of the world’s famous artists have been influenced by music when creating their masterpieces. Many musicians today are referred to as artists and various artists have been moved by the poignant and influential vigour of music when drawing or creating beautiful art… Music stirs the minds and refreshes the soul.. I found that music and art can affect each artist differently. A sad depressing song for one artist may make another feel joyful or reminisce about a particular happy memory. I love jazz but some artists may hate it. … and nothing can get the paint moving like a great rock and roll anthem… try painting to Dokken….lol its a fast paint session… One thing is for sure… if your coming by for a studio visit or coming over to hang out… the music will always be flowing and provide a great atmosphere… I normally don’t put out work that is not finished, but given this weeks topic I thought it was appropriate… this is work in progress… its oil… 6 ft x 4 ft….. still more to come… have a great week everyone…. talk to you soon
………peace
……………….james
(work in progress 48x 60)
by james | Aug 23, 2014 | aoj blog
Hey Everyone;
Well the dark cloud is lifting…. and after the 8th visit …. the refrigerator finally got repaired… lol… sorry for the delay in our weekly blog… but the good news is we are back and on schedule…. I recently was enjoying the cooler nights of Las Vegas having a cigar and some tequila with an artist friend and we ended up discussing the issue of artist outgrowing their art… Living in Las Vegas I see artists come and go… almost like a running faucet that you can’t turn off… some seem promising and other fizzle out… for me I also relate it to the fact that the artist has outgrown their own art and is frozen …. surprisingly enough when I did some research there are some great artists who have changed their styles and grown as a result of it….Picasso for instance—passed through several stages of change in his work, whether by theme, technique, or style. My belief is that artistic growth is in direct correlation with how you grow as a human being. My personality, my character, and even my taste and style have been constantly changing throughout my entire life. Inevitably, my artistic needs are involved in this ebb and flow of change…. so at the end of the day its about the journey, the experiences we have, the people we meet, and the lessons we learn… so join me, there is still plenty of room on this creative ride….. good seats still available…lol…
Have a great week everyone, new work out shortly…
……………peace
………..james
Heres a pic from 2008 … My early style of abstract and writing… this is titled beautiful crazy… it is 4 ft x 6 ft. 
by james | Aug 2, 2014 | aoj blog
Hey Everyone;
As we make our way through this creative lifestyle you soon realize that you’ll be faced with set backs and challenges…. this past week was one of those weeks… First.. the painting I was hoping to have finished ended up as a complete mess.. so I had to push the reset button… then not only my fridge, but my freezer compressor went out… so it was a mad dash to save food… Sean even commented that he thought it was a good thing because apparently in his eyes we had food that was in there when the pilgrims crossed the ocean……lol… then the pool valve for the hot tub went out and we had to have some minor construction to get it repaired and working…. so now we appear to be in a state of clam… and the cloudiness has passed….whew!… with all the distractions this week I was still able to get some time to sew out some great designs with our new machine…… I have included so examples below……. all I can say is that at the end of the day I think its all about the recovery….. with all the ups and down that you can experience, you just need to recover and keep driving on… so heres to hitting the reset button… here’s to starting anew…..here’s to a great new week!… have a great week everyone… talk to you next week….
………..peace
…………………james
pics of recent sew outs…
by james | Jul 26, 2014 | aoj blog
Hey everyone…
Hope your having a great week…. the studio is filled with that fresh paint smell again… hope to have new work out this week… Lately I have been out and about and spending some time looking at others art….always interesting to me is what some of the patrons are saying…. being an abstract artist I have heard it all… from “what the hell is that?”…. to “what was he smoking?”…. to my personal favorite…..”anybody could do that” …….. One of the things I have found is that those making those comments really don’t have an understanding of what they are looking at …..It got me thinking about the different themes of art….maybe they need a little help …for me I think when viewing art you need to understand the theme of it first… doing so will give you a greater appreciation of what you are looking at… an understanding of what the artist was saying…. and assist in developing a connection with the artist….
There are a lot of theories about the different themes of art…and a lot has been written…. for me I agree with most that there are 9 themes of art…
1. Visual Delight and the Arts of Daily Life– Visual Delight: Holds aesthetic appeal and is engaging to the senses. Art for Daily Life: Slice of life may be recognized by functionality. Art for daily life may also attempt to capture a moment of the mundane.
2. Sacred Realm-Often visually communicates abstract concepts dependent on faith on a more concrete way. Works may be used for worship or to contain holy objects…etc.
3. Politics and the Social Order– Political art often has an underlying agenda and uses imagery as a means to an end. Social art lend to class status, economic conditions, gender roles, ethnicity in a given time/place…etc.
4. Stories and Histories– are visual arts that portray the actions that were accomplished by heroes and legends of the past. This includes stories such as the folktales and the lives of the saints that have been in existence and application in all the generations.
5. Looking Outward: The Here and Now- Often time or site specific (time capsule). Allows you to glimpse at a given culture or time period through the object.
6. Looking Inward: The Human Experience-Introspective, has a contemplative and/or empathetic quality.
7. Invention and Fantasy– Pulls from the realm of the imagination. This type of art is not often founded in logic or reality.
8. Art and Nature– May use landscape or rural settings to evoke emotion.
9. Art and Art of the Sacred Realm-Often borrows from commonly used content or from preceding works, e.g. Rembrandt’s sketch of Leonardo’s Last Supper. Can borrow through content, technique, style, medium or theme.
so next time your heading to the galleries and viewing great art… start with what theme the artist is working with…. you’ll be miles ahead and understanding more…… then instead of asking me what I am smoking…. you can join me!!….lol… have a great week everyone… new work out this week….
peace…
…………….james
pic of Studio 7 in the arts district…can you guess what theme?…
by james | Jul 19, 2014 | aoj blog
Hey everyone;
Hope your having a great week… looks like our break of cooler weather is over and we are heading to the famous Vegas Hot weather…. When its too hot to move around I like to spend the time generating support…One of the worst feelings is to be in that creative space, with the creativity oozing out only to realize that you have nothing to work on and your left hanging… From an artist perspective, support is all the materials and supplies needed to help keep the creative process alive… I always like to have at least 2-3 canvas’s ready for when I hit my creative stride.. being in that creative space and having little or no support to work with, is a real buzz-kill…. The difficulty for me is due largely to the size… because they are larger than what I can buy at the stores, I have to make most of my canvas’s……. so when making my canvas’s I start the support process…from choosing of the frame, to stapling the unprimed canvas… then gesso, (couple of coats depending on quality of the canvas)… Some sanding, trimming, and addressing all other misc issues…… then we are ready to get started…. when living the creative lifestyle its very important to have support to work with… For me, I usually designate one day a month and make it a support making day….. Although it seems like a long and difficult process, it is the only way I would go… I think it really adds to the overall concept of being original and one of a kind….. besides that….I just think its very cool……. for me there is nothing more genuine or more sincere than original art……. Now I am off to get the other kind of support……emotional support…….lol…… Have a great week everyone…. talk to you soon
………peace
………………..james
recent studio pic of support drying and hanging on studio wall….
this is the start of my support……how it all gets started……. 
