Comfortable Being Lost?

In Process

 I came to the realization the

other day that it seem like if you 

create or want to own abstract art 

you have to be comfortable with 

being lost. The image to the right

is being worked on at the writing 

of this blog post. It is in process, 

that is not its title. I keep adding 

elements and I am never sure 

where it will go next. I tend 

to spend long moments just staring 

at it and then all of a sudden adding something. 

It is as if I was lost in the woods with several directions I could

go in and then I just choose and go. With so many choices of

directions I could go in I think that is what keeps me making

art. Once I finish one piece with all its directional choices I start

over saying well let's take a different path.

So the next time you are looking at an abstract piece of art 

ask yourself am I comfortable with being lost or do I need the 

way to be clear. The art is not just about the artist, it is also 

about you.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Summer Project

 I spent my summer on a different art form. The art of crafting built-in bookshelves, radiator covers and Built-in Benches. This is actually what I do to make a living and it is truly an art form. I still prefer more colorful and abstract forms of creativity, but people rarely want that in a bookshelf.

The Bookshelf is like an alter in the home. It is often the place that defines you. It tells visitor, "this is who I am." Besides holding books that interest you or have shaped your life, it holds momentous of travels, pictures of loved ones or art that inspires you.

In the long process of a job this size I often have to remind myself I am making a place for a family to be and be comfortable. As an artist I find it difficult to make box after box, which is what cabinet making is, and not get board. Remembering I am making a home more comfortable for others is often what I use to keep me going.

 jeffkimsey-carroll.com

 

Cloudy Waters

Cloudy Waters

 

This is a Photo taken with a cell phone. Clouds reflecting in the water enhanced by a filter that Out lined the ripples on the water. The straight lines at the bottom are vibrations from my kayak. I really enjoy the reflected world.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Moment #25

Getting There

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

 

 If I Gain Clarity I will let You Know

The need to create

 is not always clear

Sometimes what one creates

is not always clear

I have a strong need or desire 

to create

to make things that are not clear 

and that look like no identifiable object or image

I am looking through the abstract

for something I might recognize

Yet I have no idea what I am looking for

It is one of those

I will know it when I find it 

moments

For now I just enjoy the process

and I hope others enjoy the product

I will let you know 

when I gain clarity

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Father's Day Collaboration

I did another collaboration. On Fathers day I told my family I wanted to paint. So I had them all come over, I put out three primed panels and a bunch of paint and brushes and said pick a color, put a few marks on then pick another color and so on till we fill all three boards. The panel here is the smallest of the three. So once it was dry I started to draw into it.

This is the panel before draw-in

 

 On this panel I had added a few small pre-painted paper scraps that I glued in before my crew painted. They are the parts with finer detail. This is the panel after I started the draw-in.

I then decided on the second panel(not shown) to add more pre-painted scraps after the crew painted. I will try and do a post with all three of the Father's Day collaborations.

I really enjoy the feeling of connection when allowing others to create the base. I am working now at trying to move beyond just out lining color and to create a feeling of a story or many stories being told at once.

This becomes more of a depiction of our jumbled stories tangling with one another. This is the true challenge of life. How do we make all these stories move together?

                             The panel after draw-in

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Of The Beauty

Catch It

Grabbing hold of evening's final light

I can use it to glow in the last dance of the day.

I shall allow the evening's breeze 

to gently toss these limbs in circles around my stance.

I once raced to the sky

now I will bend back toward the earth

and be of the beauty all the way.