Back in the States. . .

It was a frenetic trip to Japan.  I was only able to get a week off of work because of a new job for Sony that’s coming down the pike, so I had to cram in as much stuff as I could. 

The highlight of the trip was spending some time with my wife’s Great Aunt, Michiyo Ishikawa.  She is an accomplished professional fine art painter who came up with a technique that combines traditional Reverse Glass Painting with Gold Leaf Gilding. 

Years ago, my mother in law showed her some pictures of my work, and she liked it, so she decided to teach her technique to me.  I didn’t know until afterward that she has only taught it to one other person. 

I’ll share the final when I’m done with it, but there are many layers of oil that need to dry completely before the next layer is applied, so it will be at least a couple of months.

It’s a process that involves a lot of masking and patience, neither of which I’m used to using in my painting!

Big in Japan

I am going to Japan tomorrow, and therefore will not be posting for the next couple of weeks.  In honor of my newfound commitment to this blog thing, I have painted and uploaded a header.  As with every painting I do, it doesn't feel finished, but I'm going to leave it up there and hopefully all the little details that bother me will fade with time. . .

Delusions the Internet is Interested Part 2 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blog

I’ve been resisting internet social media.  I signed up for facebook years ago to view some videos of a friend, and didn’t post anything myself until a few months ago.  I hate the pretentiousness of social media, the idea that there are people out there that actually think what they are doing is so interesting that it warrants constant twittering of the minutia of their daily lives.

I had always lumped blogs in with twitter.  I am a relatively modest person, and do not think that anyone is interested in following my life or my work.  It was only after I started visiting blogs by artists that I admire that I even considered it.

And, after doing it for a little more than a month, I have found the advantage to blogging.  It is not ego, though I do think that is the draw for some people.  This blog forces me to progress.  Even though no one is visiting but my wife and I, I have put forth to the internet my personal artwork. 

If I give up on a project, it is a public failure.  It’s not that big of a deal, but it helps drive me to continue.  One of the hardest things about taking on a personal project is seeing it through to completion.  It’s easy to be excited about an idea when you start, but once you start hitting roadblocks, it’s easy to lose the desire to finish.