Mind the gap.
Stephen Eidson • January 30, 2023
(or how to attempt to summarize over half a year)
Guilty of it again. Letting social media tell the tale. When that social media disappears for the next big thing, boy, will I kick myself.
Anyhow, let's try to summarize.
I was very proud to have a large body of my work featured in a beautiful venue like Callanwolde. It was skillfully arranged by the gallery manager, Adam. I was very proud of the end result but did end up feeling as if I still have much more to learn in the way of self-promotion. However, the folks that came out were great and I was delighted to see them. I'll continue working on improving and earning more opportunities in the future.
I also had a piece selected to appear in the Hudgens Fall Juried festival which was nice. there are several venues for art in our area, but I am especially fond of The Hudgens because it was the first that I came across when moving to our area and it has housed many amazing shows over the years. From seeing children's illustration to a hidden Rauschenberg to the winners of The Hudgens Prize and artists like Jerushia Graham talk.
Other than that, a lot of little paintings have been produced (including a couple featured in this post).
I also did some arranging and placed the sketchbook paintings of the boxers I have done in the sketchbook section as opposed to putting them on the portraits page.
I'll try to come back sooner so I don't leave my blog with hurt feelings. We'll see.
CONSOLATION PRIZES
Analytics show the site visits for the website are good but that most folks found it from Instagram so blog visits aren't strong. It's good to occasionally drop some kind of record of ongoings here even if it's not well seen. What have I been up to? Primarily smaller paintings like the one above where I reference music or, films that resonate with me. The above is Lee Marvin's version of Richard Stark's (aka Donald Westlake) Parker character.
I've once again neglected this blog for Instagram and Facebook. Reasonable enough I suppose since I'm not sure how many readers of this blog there are. What I should not have allowed to happen is getting very behind on updating the website with current work. That has been corrected. Find it within!
As been my habit of the past year, I've allowed my Instagram account to take the forefront as the record of what I've been up to on a weekly basis. So i'm caught playing catch up again. Above is the most recent larger scale piece I've done. It's a portrait of our daughter in younger days in one of her more spirited poses and uses the brass ring symbol I began using in the last series. Below are some other pieces that were intended as tributes to people who made my days easier.
I was informed on the 11th of this month that not only was my piece, Unrequited, showing at the beautiful (take a look above for yourself) Callanwolde Fine Arts Cente r from that day until April 9th but also juror Peter Ferrari selected me for a solo exhibition. I am excited and grateful to be given this opportunity by Mr. Ferrari and Callanwolde and look forward to making the most of it. I posted the day of the announcement on my linked social media because that's where I believe most of my posts are read. However, since I set up this blog I should be posting here as well. Apologies for my negligence and for lifting Callawolde's official photo from their site.
It's been a very long time since I've posted on the web blog. I'm not entirely convinced it's being read, but I'll post to keep myself honest. Haha. Since last post I've painted several more portraits, the entirety of which can be seen on Instagram. I've curated the portrait section, replaced some old ones and added new favorites. Also, I can announce that the above piece, Unrequited, will be on display as part of the juried member show at the Hudgens Center for the Arts beginning this Saturday, November 14 through January 30. So very nice to be back in galleries again. Please come and see the show if you are able.
Sadly we lost the great Ennio Morricone this week. He will be missed but we are incredibly fortunate to still have his music. Six new portraits can be found in the section including this one of Rose Stone. Also new: Fred Wesley, Sam Gooden, Fred Cash and Cynthia Robinson.
Freshening up this blog with another reminder that, while this feed may be quiet, I'm keeping busy on Instagram making portraits. This is the most recent, but I added eight new ones in the portrait section.
Realized I forgot to repost this one after I finished the Facebook post on Sunday. Here it is in all it's glory (or lack thereof): Day 7. The measuring stick This is it. My final day of the seven-day process challenge. I talked about why we shouldn’t hold ourselves to the idea of perfection on day 5. What happens when we look at our art heroes through the prism of perfection? All of their work is amazing, they do forty highly skilled drawings in an hour that are better than one drawing we could do in forty hours. If you let it, that intimidation will nourish the little devil at the back of your mind making it twice as hard to turn out something satisfying before you’ve even begun the work. The great Teddy Atlas often talks about a point where you can see two exhausted boxers making a silent pact to not put out much effort and how something similar happens to all of us when we go down this road mentally. You decide you’ll never get there, or everything you do looks like garbage. It could make you happy IF there wasn’t any point in trying. You burn more energy feeding that self-loathing and finding reasons to avoid those feelings of disappointment than you ever possibly could have actually making art. To make it worse you burn up even more energy hating yourself for ducking out on making art, but it really feels like you’re giving it all… because you have. You just gave it all to the wrong things. You can lose years of your life to this. If it remotely sounds like I know what I’m talking about here, I do. I never stopped making art, but I really fed that beast for far too long. I’m not currently bullet proof by any means. I still get intimidated when I approach comics because I feel like I’ve still got so much to learn, but time is precious and I’m looking at it speed by. I’m choosing the paths that feel most right for me at the moment and that is all I can do. I have kids to guide and I want to be the best example for them that I can. I may be well past the expiration date of getting where I always dreamed of, but I’m still here and I’d rather go out fighting for it than live in that silent resignation. If you’re there, please do the same. Make work. Start as big as life allows. At any speed you can handle, but commit to it. Recognize when you’re making unnecessary excuses and do your best to change. Forgive your mistakes. Let your own progress be the only measuring stick you use. Thanks to anyone that took the time to read this. I know there are plenty of things on the internet vying for your attention and I’m flattered if you chose my ramble to give some of it to. Here’s the link again to the work that prompted this challenge: https://www.instagram.com/eidsonart/
Day 6. The three “I”s I’m aware I got more than a little…whatever the typed version of long winded is in my post for yesterday, but it’s something I feel needs to be said and tried to keep it as brief as possible, and still say everything. I’ll keep today’s post much shorter for anyone kind enough to take the time to read this. These three “I”s always get woven into art making at some point. Inspiration Imitation Intimidation 1. Inspiration. Whether you went to school or are self-taught, that spark was planted in you somewhere to create. Accessibility to art is everywhere in the world we currently live in. Indulge it. I love finding new artists to look at. It’s exciting and it makes you want to be better and work more (except when you’re in the frame of mind to indulge in “I” #3). Embrace that feeling and use it to push yourself. 2. Imitation Learning by imitation is natural. It’s how we learn speech, social norms and behaviors. You learn by imitating those artists that inspire you. However, you don’t want to live in that shadow. Plus, the more influences you drink in, the more they become a massive stew that mixes with your own experiences to create something new. I’ve seen artists spend their entire careers aping one particular artist and it is sad. Don’t get me started on those folks who have a mishmash of nice work that turns out to be direct lifts from a bunch of different artists they found on the web. I’ve attached a few images all from around 20 years ago where I was playing with approaches that were all inspired to some degree by Francis Bacon, Rauschenberg, Burri, Basquiat, Dubuffet and Fautrier. I wasn’t trying to willfully copy any of their work. I was finding my own voice and my stew wasn’t stirred enough. Believe it or not, I dialed back the Bacon influence on the first image considerably, even though the influence is still obvious. Which brings us to #3- Intimidation. I’ll cover it tomorrow.
Analytics show the site visits for the website are good but that most folks found it from Instagram so blog visits aren't strong. It's good to occasionally drop some kind of record of ongoings here even if it's not well seen. What have I been up to? Primarily smaller paintings like the one above where I reference music or, films that resonate with me. The above is Lee Marvin's version of Richard Stark's (aka Donald Westlake) Parker character.
I've once again neglected this blog for Instagram and Facebook. Reasonable enough I suppose since I'm not sure how many readers of this blog there are. What I should not have allowed to happen is getting very behind on updating the website with current work. That has been corrected. Find it within!
As been my habit of the past year, I've allowed my Instagram account to take the forefront as the record of what I've been up to on a weekly basis. So i'm caught playing catch up again. Above is the most recent larger scale piece I've done. It's a portrait of our daughter in younger days in one of her more spirited poses and uses the brass ring symbol I began using in the last series. Below are some other pieces that were intended as tributes to people who made my days easier.
I was informed on the 11th of this month that not only was my piece, Unrequited, showing at the beautiful (take a look above for yourself) Callanwolde Fine Arts Cente r from that day until April 9th but also juror Peter Ferrari selected me for a solo exhibition. I am excited and grateful to be given this opportunity by Mr. Ferrari and Callanwolde and look forward to making the most of it. I posted the day of the announcement on my linked social media because that's where I believe most of my posts are read. However, since I set up this blog I should be posting here as well. Apologies for my negligence and for lifting Callawolde's official photo from their site.
It's been a very long time since I've posted on the web blog. I'm not entirely convinced it's being read, but I'll post to keep myself honest. Haha. Since last post I've painted several more portraits, the entirety of which can be seen on Instagram. I've curated the portrait section, replaced some old ones and added new favorites. Also, I can announce that the above piece, Unrequited, will be on display as part of the juried member show at the Hudgens Center for the Arts beginning this Saturday, November 14 through January 30. So very nice to be back in galleries again. Please come and see the show if you are able.
Sadly we lost the great Ennio Morricone this week. He will be missed but we are incredibly fortunate to still have his music. Six new portraits can be found in the section including this one of Rose Stone. Also new: Fred Wesley, Sam Gooden, Fred Cash and Cynthia Robinson.
Freshening up this blog with another reminder that, while this feed may be quiet, I'm keeping busy on Instagram making portraits. This is the most recent, but I added eight new ones in the portrait section.
Realized I forgot to repost this one after I finished the Facebook post on Sunday. Here it is in all it's glory (or lack thereof): Day 7. The measuring stick This is it. My final day of the seven-day process challenge. I talked about why we shouldn’t hold ourselves to the idea of perfection on day 5. What happens when we look at our art heroes through the prism of perfection? All of their work is amazing, they do forty highly skilled drawings in an hour that are better than one drawing we could do in forty hours. If you let it, that intimidation will nourish the little devil at the back of your mind making it twice as hard to turn out something satisfying before you’ve even begun the work. The great Teddy Atlas often talks about a point where you can see two exhausted boxers making a silent pact to not put out much effort and how something similar happens to all of us when we go down this road mentally. You decide you’ll never get there, or everything you do looks like garbage. It could make you happy IF there wasn’t any point in trying. You burn more energy feeding that self-loathing and finding reasons to avoid those feelings of disappointment than you ever possibly could have actually making art. To make it worse you burn up even more energy hating yourself for ducking out on making art, but it really feels like you’re giving it all… because you have. You just gave it all to the wrong things. You can lose years of your life to this. If it remotely sounds like I know what I’m talking about here, I do. I never stopped making art, but I really fed that beast for far too long. I’m not currently bullet proof by any means. I still get intimidated when I approach comics because I feel like I’ve still got so much to learn, but time is precious and I’m looking at it speed by. I’m choosing the paths that feel most right for me at the moment and that is all I can do. I have kids to guide and I want to be the best example for them that I can. I may be well past the expiration date of getting where I always dreamed of, but I’m still here and I’d rather go out fighting for it than live in that silent resignation. If you’re there, please do the same. Make work. Start as big as life allows. At any speed you can handle, but commit to it. Recognize when you’re making unnecessary excuses and do your best to change. Forgive your mistakes. Let your own progress be the only measuring stick you use. Thanks to anyone that took the time to read this. I know there are plenty of things on the internet vying for your attention and I’m flattered if you chose my ramble to give some of it to. Here’s the link again to the work that prompted this challenge: https://www.instagram.com/eidsonart/
Day 6. The three “I”s I’m aware I got more than a little…whatever the typed version of long winded is in my post for yesterday, but it’s something I feel needs to be said and tried to keep it as brief as possible, and still say everything. I’ll keep today’s post much shorter for anyone kind enough to take the time to read this. These three “I”s always get woven into art making at some point. Inspiration Imitation Intimidation 1. Inspiration. Whether you went to school or are self-taught, that spark was planted in you somewhere to create. Accessibility to art is everywhere in the world we currently live in. Indulge it. I love finding new artists to look at. It’s exciting and it makes you want to be better and work more (except when you’re in the frame of mind to indulge in “I” #3). Embrace that feeling and use it to push yourself. 2. Imitation Learning by imitation is natural. It’s how we learn speech, social norms and behaviors. You learn by imitating those artists that inspire you. However, you don’t want to live in that shadow. Plus, the more influences you drink in, the more they become a massive stew that mixes with your own experiences to create something new. I’ve seen artists spend their entire careers aping one particular artist and it is sad. Don’t get me started on those folks who have a mishmash of nice work that turns out to be direct lifts from a bunch of different artists they found on the web. I’ve attached a few images all from around 20 years ago where I was playing with approaches that were all inspired to some degree by Francis Bacon, Rauschenberg, Burri, Basquiat, Dubuffet and Fautrier. I wasn’t trying to willfully copy any of their work. I was finding my own voice and my stew wasn’t stirred enough. Believe it or not, I dialed back the Bacon influence on the first image considerably, even though the influence is still obvious. Which brings us to #3- Intimidation. I’ll cover it tomorrow.