Here I present another one of my (Ed Tajchman's) ink drawings. It will be finished with watercolor eventually. This is more figurative based obviously then some of my other new work I've featured here recently and at my recently redesigned website: Eds Art Workshop.
You can see in the drawing, starting from the left; a barn owl, a face on a stone tablet, elements from a mask like face, then the torso of a young man holding onto a branch from a tree. The tree also frames the two other faces and the barn owl. There is also a sun with a design similar to what's on the boy's hat, and the boy is holding onto lightning. Through enlightenment, the sun, epiphany, revelation, the lightning, and understanding previous paths, ancestors etc, the masks, the tree - roots, one understands oneself better. An Owl can be a symbol of wisdom.
But really my enjoyment comes from letting the work stand on it's own, and hearing about what other people see in my work. The meaning is not meant to be set in stone by any means.
Ink Drawing, Unfinished Painting by Ed Tajchman, "Roots of the Self"
Here I want to show a bit about my process. I keep a sketchbook (an artist's tool numero-uno) and a lot of times I'll pull figures, faces, & various ideas from there to make a more formal ink drawing on nice paper. Even from a sketchbook that is year's old sometimes.
Or I might just go right into the ink drawing with no direct ideas, that is fun, more of a free-form style. The ink drawing as you can see below becomes a full blown color painting. In this case a watercolor and ink painting. The transfer from sketchbook, to ink drawing, to painting of course is never quite the same twice no matter how hard I might want it to be.
I've given in to enjoying doing it slightly different each time. See the rest of my new art and visit my website: Ed's Art Workshop. Or the facebook page: Ed Tajchman's Art, or even hang on my every tweet at: @EdTajchmansArt.
I am pleased to announce that my official gallery website Ed's Art Workshop has finally been redone, with some of my newer work being previewed there. My older work will eventually be archived at the site, but for now I am pleased to slowly roll out pics of my artwork from the past couple of years. I have been discussing this in the past several posts. I will release more previews week by week so check back in here and at the gallery for updates.
Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to travel to Dakar, Senegal. Having never been to Africa, this was of course quite an experience for me. This is one of the watercolors I did when I came back home after the trip was over. There are a lot of artists in Dakar and I met some of them during my stay there.
Long-Necked Bird-Man by Ed Tajchman. Watercolor and Ink.
In various places throughout Dakar, one can find many colorful designs. I found it refreshingly like my own artistic sense; interesting designs and forms in bright colors. A good example are all the transport buses around the city. They can be very full sometimes. See my photo below,..... I took a lot of photos while I was there so I could preview some more of them here in future posts at Modern Art Quotes.
Transport Bus in Dakar, Senegal. Photo by Ed Tajchman
Each driver customizes his vehicle in a different way. A lot of the same color and design motifs are used from bus to bus, but with a lot of personal variation added in.
Here I present a photo of another one of the watercolor and inks I have been doing this year. It's called "Female Spright", 11 x 15" watercolor & ink. In my process it sometimes goes like this: I take a figure or idea from my sketchbook (informal), and I work out the design in pencil on watercolor paper, (semi-formal), then ink the outline (formal) and add the watercolor. Then layer the watercolor and ink in some places. Some of the works in this series of watercolors will get turned into larger paintings on canvas (super-formal?).
This painting specifically is a woman or a spirit of a feminine entity of some sort. She has not a green thumb, but a green head obviously! I am trying to combine the abstract elements I have used for a long time with figurative elements.
This is another of my recent watercolors. It is tentatively called Almost Formless May 2013. In my more formless paintings there usually seems to emerge some kind of unintentional although personally relevant figures or imagery that someone I know points out to me later. Unintentional in the sense that I didn't consciously intend for them to be there. But of course part of the beauty of the creative process is how the imagery from the psyche emerges anyways, despite a conscious effort to hold it back. So I need some way to catalog the work until a moment like that happens. Maybe not to dis-similar to how Jackson Pollack named some of his works.
For a long time I painted almost only formless works (the process and thought behind of which, you can read about on past posts of this blog). This new style that I am now beginning to reveal here are works from the past 3 years and they combine figurative, symbolic and formless elements to varying degrees. This is one of the more formless ones. As I said last post, subscribe to this blog and my twitter feed - @EdTajchmansArt for more updates of these works.
Almost Formless May 2013 by Ed Tajchman, watercolor & ink.
Duhn da da duhn da duhnnnn... ! Yes ladies and gentleman it is finally time for the release of a preview of the new set of paintings I have been working on over the last couple years. For all like,.... five readers out there,.. I have been promising this and here it is. Over the next few days and weeks I will release some pics of my work here, and on my twitter feed. My twitter feed is thus: @EdTajchmansArt
This marks the beginning of a social media push of all my new paintings. You can receive updates as mentioned in the first paragraph. The work is in acrylic on canvas and watercolor and ink on paper. The watercolors are 11 x 15 inches (like the one below). It's tentatively called Fish-Man. It gives you an idea of my new work. New means all these paintings I have been embarking on in the last 3 years, which I have striven to give a consistent style. It combines exaggerated figurative elements with varying levels of abstraction.
As usual all images of my work are under my copyright and all rights are reserved. You can link my artwork for personal use (no ads on page you display it on) as long as credit is given (Pinterest & Twitter etc. are okay with credit and link to where you found image) . All other uses needs my permission. My email is (no spaces): e d t a j c h m a n @ g m a i l . c o m
One of my recent fascinations in art-history is the New York 1980's artist Keith Haring. I don't mean to identify him first as being from a certain decade or city but that's just how I get into artists sometimes in my art history journey. And in his case unfortunately he was only really active during that decade, he died much too early at the age of 31 in 1990. He started in New York like Basquiat, painting on the streets and in the subway creating public works of art that soon would be taken by audiences anyway they could manage to lift it off of the 'public space' in order to capitalize on it.
The more I view his work and the more I listen to him talk about it, the deeper my fascination becomes. I really wasn't expecting him to be a direct influence on my own work but it really has become that. Even before I really started to study his work, just seeing it in an offhand way was a big influence. Not too dissimilar to my experience of the work from the aforementioned Jean-Michel Basquiat. Why both are an influence is simple; they have a direct way of breaking down symbols to represent the experience of being human. Simplifying (deceptively simple) human communication and life by using symbols, figures, and a limited color pallet (usually not always). Broken-down abstraction of symbols and colors, figures, representing direct human experience; I mean it's brilliant.
Another reason it's been an influence on my work is that because for a long time (I might of gone into this point before in a past post) I worked solely in complete abstract textures, with a direct intentional non-use of any kind of recognizable form whatsoever in attempt to reach into my sub-super-unconscious mind. But my point is that seeing the work of these two artists, Haring and Basquiat; inspired me to come back to working with figures and symbols. It helped me realize that you can use recognizable symbols to tell your story, and it doesn't limit the ephemeral quality of your work. I mean I always strived for limitlessness in my paintings, but using symbols and forms doesn't necessarily imply limits. Maybe it does, but the trade off that you get; being able to convey relatable emotions and stories to people more than outweighs what limits of perception you force by using 'known' symbols.
I could go on and on in my way of trying to talk about his work but seeing it for yourself is a much better way of paying tribute to the talented Keith Haring. I use the following videos from Youtube for this, in a 'fair-use' manner. If any person or group, the Haring family, the video makers, or any one else claims copyright to these videos and objects to their use on this blog-post, email me and I am more than happy to take it down. I am only paying tribute in an effort to raise awareness of one of my favorite artists and am in no way profiting directly from their use here on this site.
About twenty or thirty posts ago, I promised that I was working on some new art and would be posting it here for sale. Well I actually have been doing a fair amount of work and I am listing here two paintings for sale.
They are called Abstract Red and Blue Penguins. They are painted with high quality professional acrylic paint, and have been sealed with a gloss coating and then varnished as well. They are each 6 by 6 inches on linen canvas stretched over 1-1/2 inch thick stretcher bars. (Of course there will be no watermark on paintings and see the third photo below for side view).
I would prefer to sell them as a pair in which case the price is $150 for both plus shipping (about 10 dollars, but don't quote me on that). If you want to purchase just one, the price is $85. They both have my signature and will come with a certificate verifying they are an original work of mine, with the date, details, etc.
I accept credit card/debit card payment or any other payment that PayPal will accept. Email me here (or find my email link on your right) for the Paypal link if you want to buy either one or both or if you have any questions about the work.
I haven't written anything for a while, and I am blaming it on the winter blahs. Really though, I kind of like winter; I like using it has an excuse to stay inside and paint, watch movies, and drink lots of coffee. I do those things all the time even when it's nice outside, but at least when it's winter I have an excuse. Also, battling the snow, ice, sleet, and nosehair-freezing cold can be interesting at least. Stepping outside into the empty white crystallized frozen death of winter; it's daunting and beautiful at the same time.
I always thought to myself that I would not like to live somewhere where there isn't winter, but I think I am changing my mind. Maybe I could do without a few months of freezing weather every year. It sounds so cliche and I hate that, but as I get older winter seems to take more of a toll on me. Well anyways, I haven't been writing much but I have been somewhat productive on the painting end, doing several small watercolors that will actually be framed and for sale in the near future hopefully. Although I have sold a couple paintings and prints and have had offers for some of my work, this is the first time I will actually formally be offering original paintings for sale. Above is one of those paintings I have been working on over the past few weeks.
As I have said before, in my style of art I usually waver between total non-objective abstract painting and figurative abstraction. Figurative in the sense of not just figures or faces but portraying anything that is from life, or refers to or symbolizes anything from life or nature. Recently I have been creating more figurative work and therefore thinking a lot about what I am trying to say with the images.
Not to say that the non-objective work doesn't have a lot of thought behind it, it is just an entirely different engine if you will. When I paint non-objectively I am creating on a new level with a new language. I mean I define what the viewer sees and what they see is something they have not only never seen before, but something that they can't draw immediate conclusions about; something that conjures up no images or thoughts from any objects or people or landscapes or anything.
"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels." -Francisco Goya
I am not altogether sure that the phrase impossible monsters is not a compliment, I would be pleased if someone said this about my work. And I am not saying that Goya is even referring to non-objective paintings as fantasy and reason as objective art, I'm just using his quote as a metaphor for this.
But what about the opposite: reason abandoned by fantasy? - When this happens you get the Vulcans, (from the Star Trek universe, yes I am nerd I know) who in their total logical world often fail to understand the humans and they way they express themselves so thoroughly.
What about applying this idea of total reason to government, where countries have tried to control artistic expression. Russia in the early 20th century (and now again seemingly), current day China, early 20th century Germany. In all these cases there is a reaction of underground expression. Oppression breeds a reaction of cultural evolution. Obviously one does not want to be oppressed creatively by a government, but in cases where this happens there is often a lot of great art (music, painting, literature...) that happens in reaction. (And at great risk to the artist).
"Free speech is essential to education, especially to a liberal education, which encourages the search for truths in art and science. If expression is restricted, the range of inquiry is also curtailed... The beneficiaries of a free society have a duty to pursue the truth and to protect the freedom of expression that makes possible the search for a new enlightenment." - Norman Dorsen
Die Brücke (The Bridge) is a group of German artists who played a major role in the development of the expressionist movement in early 20th century Europe. They sought to create a bridge between old styles like fellow German printmaker Albrecht Durer and a more visceral, free, raw, direct form of personal expression. A metaphorical bridge to a better, more free future both in life and in artistic expression. Their first exhibit was held in 1906.
You can credit this group of artists with inventing the linocut, something I have been getting into doing lately. They also energized interest in the woodcut has a viable expressive medium, and to me this is the most interesting work that they did. The woodcut was used in medieval German culture has a popular way to illustrate a narrative, but Die Brücke artists used the woodcut because they felt (and I agree) that it is a direct, raw, genuine, mode of personal expression.
Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Two Cats, 1915, Woodcut.
The group was started by four German architecture students; Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, joined later by Otto Mueller, Emile Nolde, and for a short time - Max Pechstei. Some of the influences on these Die Brücke artists were: Edvard Munch, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, all of whom exhibit elements of expressionist use of color and form in their style. But rather than painting only light or the reflection of light like their predecessors the impressionists, they infused their work with emotional expression.
One of the themes of the group was an outcry against the excesses of bourgeois society. German philosopher Frederich Nietzsche (1844 -1900) was also very critical of bourgeois society and was an obvious influence here. The Die Brucke artists set up studios on the outskirts of Dresden in a working class neighborhood, their aim was to separate themselves from modern society and free themselves from the trappings of a culture that disconnects one from a more vitalized, direct, and personal way of expression. They preferred a more liberal and bohemian lifestyle than the rigid, often strict institutions of early 20th century Germany could provide. This quote is from the Die Brücke manifesto; which Ernst Kirchner carved into wood in 1905:
'Putting our faith in a new generation of creators and art lovers, we call upon all youth to unite. And being youth, the bearers of the future, we want to wrest from the comfortably established older generation freedom to live and move. Anyone who directly and honestly reproduces that force which impels him to create belongs to us.'
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Bathers Throwing Reeds, 1910.
Their work with woodcuts is the reason that this group of artists intrigue me so much, I have experimented with woodcuts myself and have always found woodcut prints fascinating for some reason. I like the angular lines, the minimalist color usage, the experimental and random aspect of the process. On one hand the carving can be laborious and careful, but then random in the sense that you can't predict every time what you will see or happen when you remove the inked paper from your block. I don't know if the fact that my family heritage is Czech has any influence on my artistic style, but I suspect that it does. Maybe that's why I like German Expressionism and identify it in my work; it has elements of that style - the same kind of heavy lines, figurative elements, facial expressions, a raw-direct, earthy kind of spiritual realism, rather than spiritual idealism like some of the romantic or earlier expressionist work.
This old drawing of mine (2003) is really just a quick hand, foot and face study that I added some color to, more of a play with figurative design than anything else. In class I always found myself doodling my hands because there was never anything interesting to sketch from the classroom, (I guess I could have paid attention to the lesson). Anyways, I have always liked drawing hands and feet.
The process of sorting through all of my old artwork is turning into a lengthy process. I have so much work that I have not thought about for a long time. But the moment I see a piece that I have forgotten about I am taken right back into the time when I created it. That is one thing that I love about art, it can be like a portal to a time and place, akin to smells that bring memories to your mind. At the same time though, in regards to sharing the work - do you really want people meandering through these visual expressions of emotion and personal expression?
"To have all your life's work and to have them along the wall, it's like walking in with no clothes on. It's terrible."-Andrew Wyeth
I can't speak for all artists but I think a lot of the time the answer is yes, you should relish the chance to show your work, and overlook any shyness you may have about it. Not just show the work, but you need to also ruthlessly promote yourself I say. Well maybe not ruthlessly but you get my point, - that I believe an artist has to be confident in their work and share it unabashedly.
Below is an interesting quote from Kazimir Malevich on his earlier work. A member of the Futurist and Suprematism art movements, he was a champion of non-representational art, (images not depicting the natural world; or non-objective art) as not only a valid form of expression, but a dominant one. In his Futurist style he used many icons or images from his past and present. But he considered this style of Cubo-futurism to be too dependent on images of the natural world. He sought a more distinct and personal, universal clean kind of abstraction and thus was born his Suprematism style. A supreme form of abstraction; an attempt at avoiding completely any relation at all to anything else in the world.
"Nobody understood that an icon was a representation of an actual person, or that color was its medium of expression. I never made any association of ideas when I looked at these paintings, and they seemed to have nothing to do with me or my life."
A trendy kind of popular image these days in photographs and decorative posters and things, are intense close-ups of flowers, you've seen them I'm sure. In case you didn't know, American artist Georgia O'keefe was the one who popularized that motif; being the first to paint flowers from that bold perspective. Let's look at a quote from this great artist:
"I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me - shapes and ideas so near to me - so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn't occurred to me to put them down."
-Georgia O'keefe (1887 -1986)
She is also well known for her abstracted landscapes of the American Southwest, where she spent most of her later life. She found solace living in New Mexico and it obviously became part of her and her work, check out some of her paintings at this Georgia O'keefe gallery. She developed a flowing and beautiful style of painting, and is definitely one of my favorite painters.
For me truly great art comes from unique perspective. An original idea from someone who cannot paint well for example, still goes further than an artist who paints a bowl of fruit in seemingly perfect but uninspired replication. Take this quote from Michelangelo for example:
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
-Michelangelo
This idea extends well beyond just painting of course. That is why I consider almost anything art. Look around you right now, every object you see that is man or machine made started as an idea in someone's head. This quote from comedian Stephen Wright is funny yes, but there is some truth in it:
“I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it.”
Or take the paintings of Mark Rothko for example, who didn't care about the color and design relationships of objects, but rather the emotional response from the viewers to his 'color field' paintings. (And if you've never seen a Rothko original in person than you've never seen a Rothko).
A lot of people are completely anti-abstract-art or indifferent to it. I say to you - of course there are some lame money-grubbing artists in the world who paint cheesy, decorative, uninspired, artwork that they might call 'modern'. When I talk of modern art I am not speaking about those artists. Real art comes from the soul and is not about making money or impressing critics or galleries. Real modern art is an unrestrained method of expression, where one is free to define or not define the principles and application of ideas on a multitude if not infinite set of levels.
It's been well over a half-century since Picasso's work took over the art world and helped change it forever. You would think in the time since then that abstract art has a whole would be more integrated into modern culture than it is now. But I think the opposite has happened. The separation from the audience and the art is even further now. Non-representational work especially, is still met with immediate dismissal half the time if not more, from otherwise seemingly intelligent people. This quote from Picasso illustrates this point:
"The critics say I draw like a child. When I was a child I drew like Raphael. It took me my whole life to draw like a child."
The French do have a way with words. One of my other favorite poets is also a Frenchman; Rimbaud. But let's look at this quote from Charles Baudelaire:
"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art -- that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.” -Charles Baudelaire (French Poet, 1821-1867)
Very eloquent too, are his words, and very true. the invention of the camera freed the artist from the bounds of merely recreating life and opened the floodgates into the realm of creating reflections of the spirit; and everything that Baudelaire says above. This is another instance of me not being able to say it better, no matter how many words I try to use.
I've honestly often felt like sometimes that I am truly a poet at heart and not a painter, and have come back to writing poetry more often, recently. Reading some of my past work is always interesting, especially when I don't remember writing half of it. So, The following quote from Kandinsky fits me and my art, very well:
"Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colors, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential."
-Wassily Kandinsky
If I do say so myself, I have a natural sense of composition, enhanced from years of being a professional picture framer, and designer involves things like helping people pick the best shade of white from twenty choices, for example. (If the customer needs 20 choices, I know what colors I would use.) That ability to look at a stack of colors and instantly know which few you need to work with, is developed. What I really loved about the work was absorbing the thousands of different pieces of work by various artists that I came in contact with every day for years. So anyways, I guess my point is I agree with Kandinsky wholeheartedly.
One of the main criticisms of abstract art is that notion that anyone could do it. Well then I say do it! Certainly there are people who produce abstract imagery cheaply and for profit (has with anything) but the artists that are creating honestly do so out of a need to create; to express one's self, as Alfred Manessier expressed with this quote:
"My pictures aim to express something my own heart has experienced and not to imitate something my eyes have seen." (Alfred Manessier, Religious Art in the Twentieth Century, p. 196)
Even though most of us can draw and paint classically as well, the freedom to define a personal language of symbols, color, texture and ideas is much more challenging and fulfilling than recreating reality.
Edward Tajchman is a modern artist who uses oil and acrylic paint, sculpture, watercolor and whatever medium the world offers to create artworks that are gateways between this world and other places. He attempts to bridge the spaces between dreams, between worlds, between people, between time and space, between all natures of reality.
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You can e-mail me here (no spaces): e d t a j c h m a n @ g m a i l . c o m Feel free to contact me with questions of any kind or if you would like to submit an article related to modern art and/or the creative process.
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All artwork by Ed T. is clearly marked as copyright. All rights reserved, derivative works, posting, copying, everything. Violators will be prosecuted. All writing is copyright by Ed T., all rights reserved. Contact: edtajchman @ gmail .com
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