Art, Nature & Soul #88

This was the first time I built & created one of my contemporary abstracts/ absrtact realism pieces in public. It’s usually a more solitary endeavor. It was an interesting challenge and exercise. I had several conversations about my process along the way, so here’s the inside story.

I had a very large canvas created, so big I couldn’t get it home in my vehicle. So I began, the first step was to put 8 layers of acrylic paint and inerference colors down, a while back. First coat was in a rusty iron oxide followed by several olive mixed with a gloss medium & varnish that’s multi directionally applied while water is splashed at it and tactfully removed just before it dries. to create a pattern, somewhat of a controlled chaos. Once this has been done in an organic drip & splatter way, the rhythm of the piece is there, determined, and just waiting for me too listern to its next direction. It was decided I’d do a live demo on building an abstract painting it over the last week or two of the event. The stage was set and I had been playing around with a thought & idea for several months.

I knew theme was to be figurative in nature. I began looking through photos of people, at first it was going to be 3, but soon after I landed on 5 and that it would be in an outdoor setting. Eventually I landed on the idea of a wilderness rock climbing, asysiphis thing of sorts, idea and created a compostion in my head. A lot of the preliminary work goes into the thinking out of the compostion then the approach that will best convey my idea. The thing about contemporary abstract realism is I know what my vision is, but never know for sure what others will see. Fortunatey, I love when they are engaged in a work and create their own stories & narratives surrounding it.

I started early the first day so I could concentrate and be sure I got the intitial form in place as desired, this was crucial for me. It was accomplished in prussian blue, indigo blue & white oil paint, with palette knife, scratching tool & tissues. The next session was to give more form, color and texture, again using a variety of palette knives & scraffitto. Scraffitto is my fasvorite part and its utilized from beginning to end of my process to reveal the previous layers. Session 3 involves ebony pencil primarily, where as words, symbols (where I add the infinity sign that apeears in all these type artworks) & line are given throughout the compostion. Session 4 involves scribbling in oil pastel over the entirity of the piece to give movement, dimension & mass, near the end I do more scratching & scraffitto in areas that appear too solid. I like my color broken so your eye in forced to average the information in your minds eye, from a distance, but appears as mini abstract pieces close up. The 5th session includes a careful and selct redoing of all of the above, wheras toward the end I put in 5 blocks of color to help create the focal area. The 6th session is mostly lots of scraffitto to erase and some amount of oil pastel to add back on to give the desired definition to the piece. The 7th sitting or standing was giveing selected broken line to the piece, more scraffitto and finally adding the 18k gold leaf. The 8th and final day is adding and taking away from the piece until it says complete. Along the way I’m constantly looking at the piece, taking photos and accessing it to see where it leads me, until I sign it and its completed, finis’.

Titles for me begin at the start. At first, after the acrylic layes I thought ECHOE, then soon after The Sublime & the Rediculous. As I analized the figues, there meaning to me and what I was intending to convey, which is the universiality, the connectedness of life, & the oneness of all, I thought LGBTQ, as its PRIDE month thing. I dismissed it as too on the nosey and moved on to the five elements: earth, eind, fire, water & metal, but honed in on the 5 senses: vision,. hearing, smell, taste & hearing, closer still but not it. I began to think about mythology and the Muses, but they’re 7 or 9 of them, finally I figured it out and decided on, 5 GRACES: gratitude, resilence, aspiration, courage & empathy. That all happened as I intially blocked in the 5 figures and this single thought guided me to its completion.

One person asked, “where do you get your ideas & inspiration”, I replied , I have more ideas, than time.”. The thing is that how I live my life connects the dots of inspiration and I free asociate my way to the next thing. My daily walks, the music I listen to and seek, the films & theatrer, then I’ll be reading a book and and an idea strikes me, or something says and sometimes it’s an acccumulation of all of the above plus some that I cannot explain. I have a message, a life, a world view and I want to convey my thoughts on it, through words and pictures, so I do.

And so I repeat…WE, ALL LIFE, ARE ORGANIC ALGORITHMS RECOGNIZING MATHEMATICAL PATTERNS OF FRACTALS x CHAOS, MADE OF THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MATTER & ENERGY OF SYNCHRONICITY IN THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM...stardust be it named, the universe or God and apparently the unbearable oneness of being...

‘5 Graces’ 57”x63” mixed media

5 Graces

Art, Nature & Soul #84

I recently posted this on one of my social media pages.

“I was asked to describe my artwork in 3 words for an upcoming art magazine feature in March. I did, but I wondered how you would?”

My answer to ‘Circle Foundation For the Arts’ was simply, “chronology of happenings”, as I paint my life, as it unfolds, in whatever form it takes.

I knew that the question, as posed, that some would interupt it as me asking them to find 3 words they would use to describe my artwork with, while others still, perhap’s artists, would answer it as if to describe their own artwork. The post received a really great response, one very thoughtful & intuitive response about my work, was from MaryEllen B. “this is a hard one … i keep going to art phrases … like impressionist but more. I got thinking deconstructive impressionist abstract. there!” Another was somewhat more ambiguous, as to whether he was speaking to my art or his, although the intention seemed clear, the double edged sword, when he wrote, “Better than yours!” Marvin M., to which all I could do was lol and click on the laughing emoji. He was a portrait artist, by profession, pretty standard quality photo realism from what I observed.

In any case I had several thoughts.

First and foremost, I do not compete with others, only myself, for my individual vision & personal best. Secondly, having and being a positive supportive voice to others, including creatives, in this world, is a rare and important thing, I choose to be.

Then I had this thought. That’s like saying English is better than French, Spanish, German or Italian, etc. Or even more so, that petroglyphs are better than hieroglyphs, or more aptly that English is better than petroglyphs, which makes no sense. As we are all speaking in different visual languages, as artists, to begin with. Communication is usually directed to a certain audience, with hopes of reaching others outside ones group.

Personaly I seldom think in terms of good & bad, better or worse, except when I’m gaging the direction of my own prolific output. I do have my likes, but having spent, near 40 years, selling other artists work to a large audience with varied taste and range of clients, I understand this one very important thing. There’s an audience for most all art and the degree of success with any of it, for any artist, like life, has more variables than can be counted on both hands.

Importantly, being open to and having an appreciation for things in their context, super cool, by my standards. Asking questions and taking the time to learn, know & understand anothers capabilities & chosen direction is a unique, rare and beautiful thing, that can open up ones world plus provide an appreciation.

As I’ve indicated and spoken to many times, as a child and young man, my primary interests were in cartoon & portrait work, which I did. From doodling cartoons in ink pen of myself, friends & teachers to doing more realistic portratis in pencil, pen & ink and soft-pastel, some of which were commissioned and sold. As I grew as a person and artist I began to want and lean to the more impressionistic, expressionistic & abstract. While I still do portrait commissions, they have a definate slant to these above disciplines, as well as my own vision of the person or persons personality.

Here’s a self portrait I painted about 35 years ago. I was and am a huge Universal monster & Hammer film fan. So, I took a photo of myself and morphed it with Frankenstien, Dracula & the Wolfman. While it’s not perfect. It’s not bad for a primarily self taught artist. What a great time I had painting this one. It’s in oil, on fine portrait linen & in an old ornate Gothic frame. It still hangs in my home studio, really, sincerely, yes indeed, it does. Here’s another from this time period I painted of a friend, around the same time, as well.

Which should illustrate that how I currently choose to express myself is based on an acumulation of infromation, knowledge & experience gathered, honed & refined.

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Thanks Richard

Self Portrait, 11”x14” oil on line, in a ornate Gothic frame circa 1989ish

‘Boy Blue Jeans’ 40”x30” oil (1988-89)

Art, Nature & Soul #82

The creating of art, has been a wonderful & wild journey that I’ve been on, a lifetime. It’s been a total immersion, from Mrs. Clark, my grade school art & music teacher, to the picture-lady, bringing examples of the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection, to the evolution of where I now find myself.

Mrs. Clark was always so organic & natural, unforced in her viewpoint & expression. I was in awe and bliss with most everything the picture lady showed us, such unbridled creativity, showing a wide variety of what art was. In middle school I was fascinated by DaVinci, Michelangelo & Rembrandt. Those renaissance artists blew my mind, with their more realistic renditions, using the sfumato technique, etc. By the time I was leaving middle school and entering high school I was hooked on Dali. Throughout H.S. and early college, my artwork, with the exception of some cartoon characters I drew & portrait commissions I did in pastel, leaned heavily into the surreal and fantastical into my early 20’s. About that time I discovered my love of Van Gogh & Pollack. This more emotive expression took firm hold and it’s where I’ve been ever since, learning, building & refining along the way.

Like I’ve said many times before, “I paint my life”. Which for me, means whatever’s going on, I feel compelled to express it, in paint, the way I’m experiencing it. Always wanting it to be organic , natural, & fluid, as I’m not a fan of overthought, forced or static artworks. Once the idea is visualized in my head, I go to work very quickly, as much of the time & work happens in my head before I even put paint to canvas. Sometimes people ask how long did that take you to paint. If I where to be asked today my answer would be 59 years, 7 months, and 3 day, my age. Creating art is an accumulation of experience and one’s personnel refined technique & vision. In fairness to the question though, the more representational are created in a matter of hours, going back to tweak areas briefly the next day or so & the more abstract & contemporary pieces I do, usually take weeks & weeks, some a couple months to build, as they are mixed media configurations. Still each layer is done quickly, after I look and an assessment has been made and I’ve decided on where I’m going next. My creative process relies heavily on me allowing these expressions to flow spontaneously, once engaged.

Which brings us here, near today, but let me back up just a bit. The Modern Wing at the Art Institute Chicago Opened May 16, 2009. A large space on the 1st floor was dedicated to a major exhibition of Cy Twombly’s artwork. I was unfamiliar with his work to that time, but upon first seeing it, I air hugged it, as a kindred spirit was discovered. At the time was doing more drip & splatter work in acrylic, trying to hone a vision. It was bliss, utter joy to see the freedom he allowed himself in his expressions and with this realization it so set me, to allow myself greater freedom and a vision, a fusion of ideas I’ve been working toward ever since.

While I love doing the variety of artworks I do. I wouldn’t do them if I didn’t. While there’s other’s as well, these particular mixed-media pieces I’ve assembled here on this page/blog are some of those artworks closest to that vision. They are the accumulation of near 60 years of growth as a person and painter. They represent my most intimate & personnel autobiographical expressions. Each are built and created with an acrylic paint base, then layering, adding & erasing, with oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal, oil stick & 18k gold paint & leaf. The 18k leaf & an infinity symbol can be found on all of these artworks, a signature… trademark of sorts.

Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes 40”x40” mixed media on canvas (the artwork in the lower left of the collage) was awarded, ‘Artistic Excellence’ earlier this year from the Circle Foundation for the Arts, in March 2023 & then in May 2023, featured as “relevant” in the Artist Closeup,-an international contemporary art magazine out of Amsterdam. I participated in several exhibitions in which I was juried into, and was lucky enough to be asked to do 4 commissions. Besides these wonderful things, I’m most grateful for my liker’s, patrons & collector’s feedback & support. My life choices & route have been of a more atypical & unexpected happening, and yet I feel like I’m making my kind of music, my kind of art as it, my life, has unfolded, in time, on schedule and couldn’t have any other way.

Your enthusiasm is appreciated, as always your thoughts & questions are welcome, Thank you Richard

Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes

Art, Nature, & Soul #9

During the late 80s, there were several controversial art exhibits, one of art photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's (then recently deceased) work, still another artist, had painted Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in drag, and yet another, where the american flag, spread upon the floor in which the viewers were asked to walk upon it and sign the guest book. It was the tail end of the decade in which HIV/Aids, made its self known here in the U.S. and questions of sexuality, gender identity and freedom were again called into question.

Throughout most of the 80s, I too, was struggling with some these questions for myself and as an aspiring artist was striving to communicate my ideas and thoughts on them. As more of an outsider artist, I was constantly experimenting with the mediums available, figurative works appealed to me, expressing the human condition was important, DALI (also recently deceased) was hugely popular and the more surreal the art, all the better for me. More so, then and recently, I had just become familiar with Ed Paschke's, more social and political artworks, as well. Hence, most of the work I produced back then, had these things in mind and does just that, tries to self express, answer questons.

One piece I created back in the day, is entirely too avant garde, risque and racey for general consumption, lending itself to a more private viewing. However, this piece inspired by my personal struggles, plus Rodin & Klimt's take on what it means to love, artworks entitled 'The Kiss', is archived, and survives still in my personal collection as a homage to those turbulent days and my finding resolve.

As always, your thoughts, questions and comments are welcome.

The Kiss, (yr. 1990), 24x36, Oil on Canvas, Richard Sperry