Attachment

Re: Funride Slowdown

Babatola — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 03:02:30 +0000

Not exactly stuck right now, but not progressing on this either. To be honest, my whole painting apparatus is on pause. I have had a stirring desire for several months to paint really, really big and I’m confident that I’ll work my way over to that…but for right now I’ve got this piece to work through.

Anyway, here are the latest cuts:

And now time for the “turn”. The theme/composition on this thing finally got to me. Too restricting! I decided to open up the space a little bit to see what happens. I’m not hint dropping or anything, but it just so happens that I’ve got this piece of rope that I had my eye on for … (to be continued).

Lord only knows where this is going to end up :).

Way Out West, Anything But You.

Re: Funride, progress continues

Babatola — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:17:59 +0000

I’m digging the development of this piece. Literally, it feels like old times. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be a painter. There is an amazing feeling of comfort that I get from being “in-process” on a painting that I forget from time to time when I’ve been distracted by life for extended periods. What’s fascinating to me is how much I actually need to paint. The lack thereof leaves me somewhat off-balance – in the same way that missing Tuesday night meditation or taking a week off from running my leave me feeling less centered and less confident. When I pick up the brush and make headway with a painting, it’s a way of validating myself in a way. I just love it.

I am cautious about getting excited about this piece, but I’m thoroughly enjoying where it is right now. Yes, I need to apply that sentiment to just about everything in my life. Instead of “Attachment”, I’m thinking about renaming this blog “Expectation”. Same thing?

On another subject. I am ready to paint big. I’ve put my time in already damnit!!! Ready to unload maximum superchoice chops on the people…end of the year, early 2011?? Hmmm….

Now back to the primary subject for a moment. This is going to be a good piece – call it a gut feeling.

Today

Yesterday

DJ Tiesto Allure featuring Julie Thompson – Somewhere Inside of Me

Re: Funride Update

Babatola — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:34:11 +0000

Yesterday

Today (Progress!)

ATB, What About Us.

Re: Funride

Babatola — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:06:17 +0000

Haven’t been painting lately, the retreat has long been sounded on three different pieces I’ve been working on – haha, it’s not pretty at all. But, today I had an epiphany about one of those paintings which has been eluding me since last October. As the piece got going initially, I remember that I had a distinct feeling about what the painting was to be about. I didn’t know what it would ultimately look like – but I knew what it was about on a gut level as soon as I saw it materialize. It was slow to come together as I worked on it and I kept going over the same areas without making much progress. At some point in December 2009, I got stuck. I realize now that part of the reason that that happened is I wasn’t been able to connect the intuitive feeling that I had about the painting directly with my painting ability. To put it more literally, I started something that I didn’t have the “chops” to finish. This prospect is somewhat frightening since I’ve been painting with acrylics since the Spring of my senior year of high school in 1991 and after thousands of hours of this stuff you would think that I’d be pretty capable by now. So it goes without saying that this is a fairly surprising revelation, but it seems that I can’t argue with it (given the current state of the painting). I recognize now that something new is happening and I believe the challenge offered is to find some new ways to move forward that require an even greater awareness of what it is I am doing. The end result may not be that my painting style changes (yet), but I do know that I need to learn how to be more direct when it comes to saying what I mean and knowing what I mean to say. After all, this piece is actually not meant to be an abstract painting – it just looks that way because I’ve not been direct with either myself – or the viewer.

Stay tuned.

Underworld. So dope.

Pod 11, Fubar

Babatola — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:01:10 +0000

I don’t think there are enough curse words in the dictionary to capture the way I feel about this painting. It’s bad. And what’s worse is that I’ve been immobilized by it. Haven’t been able to pick up a brush to rally against it in what seems like weeks. Sure, I’ve got other projects going on – but still. I’m pissed and frustrated and, if playing the observer, once again captivated by the behavior of the winds of creativity – sometimes they blow hot, and at other times … “Welcome to the Frozen Tundra”, Population 1.

But here’s the kicker and the little piece of intel that I’ll dole out here for the public dossier – when I get stuck like this, it’s an indicator of some shift in internal state. What does that mean? It means that the person that I was when I started this a few weeks ago is different. In this particular case, I remember initially approaching this piece with a care-free naivete and a desire to make it simple and easy. Yea and that’s working out really, really f’ing well. So what’s changed/changing? I actually don’t know yet. But I do know that the longer a painting remains unresolved for me – the more vulnerable and insecure I tend to feel, which opens the door to all kinds of self-criticism and feelings of inadequacy. I know right? How can a painting be all that? Maybe being stuck with a piece is more of a reflection of my relationship to the world in general and if I work on getting into balance there – the piece will resolve itself. The jury is still out on that thought because at the end of the day, the only way to really work a painting is to work the damn thing and not sit around moping about it.

To hell with it, I’m moping. Do not disturb.

Here are the most recent process pics from the last couple weeks:

And most recently:

FUBAR

Banco de Gaia, Last Train to Lhasa. Old school….

Dually Noted

Babatola — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:20:28 +0000

Occasionally, I can get it right straight out of the gate. My most recent piece, “Dually Noted”, is an excellent example of that, sometimes rare, phenomenon. When I finished it this past week I got an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for being able to make art. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun to work on and I’m pleased with the result. There is nothing like making some decent stuff to get the self-confidence going again (which I badly needed because I’m “circling the toilet bowl” on another piece I’m working on).

[Flush]

There it goes now …

I’m pondering doing some more stringed instrument themed-paintings, mostly because I pretty much love deploying nails and string in a semi-haphazard fashion.

Fun times ahead. Below are the progress pics from “Dually Noted”. You may notice that it started out as a funky ukulele, which would have been a cool title, but too direct.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Keane, K’NAAN – Stop For A Minute

Pod 11, Let There Be Light?

Babatola — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:08:01 +0000

Working my way to some sort of something that passes for decent composition with this piece. As you can see, the painting got darker for a bit. To see what happened next, click here. Pretty neat eh? The painting is not done by any stretch, but it’s a good and simple example of how my painting process works. I’ll then go back over it with black and go fishing for a structure/composition that can actually hold itself up. I could be close to a resolution on this piece, but nothing is jumping out at me right now. If you see anything, be sure to let me know.

Toggle Me

View the previous permutations

Roger Shah presents Sunlounger featuring Inger Hansen, “Breaking Waves”.

Pod 3 Flashback

Babatola — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:00:05 +0000

Below are some pictures of “Pod 3″ coming to life on location last year. The end result is definitely abstract, which tends to happen when I work under time constraints. In this case, I started the painting mid-afternoon and had to finish before dark. It was the maiden voyage of my new mobile painting set-up which I now use as my primary easel when working on smaller pieces at home. I also have a 12-year old French easel, but the thing is just an outrageous pain in the tuckus to transport just a few feet let alone hundreds of miles. Also you will note that picture #2 below shows a little island in the center of a lake, seen also from a top view in the embedded Google map that follows it … this technology stuff is pretty awesome and just a little freaky…

Calvin Harris, “Flashback” from Ready for the Weekend.

Pod 11, In Progress

Babatola — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:47:38 +0000

This is “Pod 11″, a 6 Degrees Art Project piece, in progress.

Orbital, Halcyon On and On. Old School. Amen.

Stuck

Babatola — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:09:55 +0000

Things started well enough with this piece …

… and they progressed naturally enough …

… the only problem is that this last photo to the left was taken this past week and the very first one was taken this past week … in freakin’ 2009!!! Now that’s called stuck. I’m not going to get into all the details of why I think that is but the explanation amounts to just under a hill o’ beans right now. And unfortunately I am powerless to do anything about it – if I even think about attacking the thing directly my right arm goes weak. So I just keep it on the easel, stare at it, and try to act all tough about it “yea you buddy – I got your number”. But I just don’t have this paintings digits on speed dial at the moment. It is true that perhaps powerless is too dramatic a term, but there is something going on for sure. The titles I’ve had for it include: “DreamCatcher” and “Carnival/FunRide”. The title “DreamCatcher” will make almost no sense to the casual observer – me included. Second, I should never title a painting too early! That is just a big no no. It only serves as an obstacle to creative freedom – I’ve found that when I title a piece too early, my brain locks on to making the (unfinished) painting conform to it and it takes extra effort to break out of it and move forward. That, my fine people, is called Attachment. I am no longer attached to a title, but I’m left with a pretty bad and loitering painting at the moment.

There is always hope.

“Mercy (Extended Mix)” from Super8 & Tab featuring Jan Burton from the forthcoming album Empire coming out Sept 24th.