Anyway, my other blog, www.decloned.com has been the one that I have been writing on lately, so if you are still subscribed to Artist Hideout and want more of the same, I’d love to see you over there… (till such time as this blog is either with a new writer or b5 lets it go completely).

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Keep in mind this is a much smaller version of the full file size.  Just enough to show you what I am working with. 

I don’t usually name works before I finish them, but this one is called "Layers of Abstraction"

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deCloned: creativity for life - utilizing your imagination in day to day living.

In writing here at Artist Hideout, I’ve found that my interests are more broad than just tackling art and creating art. 

deCloned encompasses more of my interests and passion so I hope you will stop by and leave a comment for me there.

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The reason it’s difficult isn’t so much that as an artist you are untalented or unoriginal, it’s the fact that you know you have something unique to offer, but you haven’t quite developed it yet.

Everything we try and do leads somewhere unique.  We are inspired, and take different things into our ultimate product.  In this we find our voice.

I’ve been looking at the art of Willie Cole lately.  Willie takes everyday objects and transforms them into sculpture and works based off of those objects attributes.  I don’t know what inspired him to take an everyday household iron and elaborate in such a way as he has done, but it’s obvious that there is a voice at work in Cole’s work. 

Willie Cole (American, born 1955) will have his first New York exhibition since 1994. Cole will exhibit recent sculptures which continue several of his intersets and themes. Some of these works are based on the form of an iron — an image which he began investigating in 1989. Cole was first attracted to the iron for both its form and for its perceived embodiment of the spirit of the person who used the iron. The earliest versions, which he referred to as Household Gods and Domestic Demons, dealt with these ideas by utilizing found objects. More recently, Cole has been constructing enlarged versions (i.e. an iron 600 times actual size) made from diverse materials both found (banisters, pullies) and constructed or carved (two egg ‘beaters’ that resemble African sculpture and which were carved out of two large sections of porch post)

source

After viewing Cole’s work, it’s hard to look at a household iron the same way again.

Sometimes as an artist, you may already have a voice, but you are having trouble recognizing it for yourself too.

To find and recognize your own unique voice, lets ask these two questions.

What would you have your legacy be? 

How will your art reflect that from here on out?

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Anyway, it’s been a theme for me lately.

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Art is one of those things that requires a certain amount of money to make money in.  I, of all people, wish canvases were given away for free down on the street corner.  Actually, I think they should be, along with a set of paints and brushes. 

I think we might live in a happier world if they were.  There is such a trend toward expression in our culture, we are seeing more and more ways that people are being creative, but we are still seeing many people withdraw from some of the …um, finer arts because they just cost too much in order to be successful (according to culture).

Let me elaborate. 

We don’t have a money problem we have a "definition of success" problem.

If I never sold another painting, I would still paint. 

If I never made any money off of writing again, I would still write.

Because what drives me isn’t the money.  It’s the love of the thing itself.

This is how I must define success.  If I begin to dread painting, I am doing something wrong or focusing on the wrong thing.

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I had given thought to doing custom cartoons for people for a base price of $50 (till I got a few clients going).  But ever changing as I am, I quickly rethought it and decided I don’t need another set of things to do.  I mean hey, I can only neglect so many things before Becca hits me over the head with one of my many unfinished canvases or half empty sketchbooks. ;)

But I guess I see doing any kind of art as a stepping stone to whatever your next project is.

So I am tackling oils. 

I have put this off as long as possible. 

I’ve broken out the books (or am playing around on wikipedia…lol) and have started reviewing the work of the masters again. 

The interesting things I have found so far have been the way that the painting with oils has changed so much over the centuries.

It’s completely different for me to be moving to oils.  I’ve worked with Acrylics, watercolor and enamels, but only really lightly ever even tried to do much with oils. 

The more I learn, the more I realize I am going to be hitting the history books.

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MySpace has launched a new project called Coalition Comix, where users determine the storyline. 

It seems pretty basic but it’s a novel idea on getting people involved in the project.  More than a choose your own adventure book, users will apparently impact even the deepest parts of the storyline. 

Let’s just hope users don’t kill off the main character eh?

Anyway, the writer/artist is Mike Carey

MIKE CAREY is the critically acclaimed and fan-favorite writer of comics, novels, movies, and TV. After working for several UK and American indie publishers, Mike got his big break in comics with celebrated runs on LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER from DC/Vertigo.
Since then, he has written iconic characters such as Batman, Vampirella and Elektra. Currently he is writing X-MEN and ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR for Marvel, CONFESSIONS OF A BLABBERMOUTH for DC/Minx (with his teenage daughter Louise), and VOODOO CHILD for Virgin Comics.

Check it out by clicking the link below, and don’t forget to vote.  I think I want it to be a "Fantasy" story.  ;)

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Now I am not down on abstract art in any way.  Most of mine is abstract too.  I just think that as any kind of artist, we must come to the realization that not everyone is going to understand our work, in fact… count on it.

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