Flight of The Birdman

'Flight of the Birdman' is the first painting I've done in over a year. I took a self imposed hiatus from painting to study color, form, and a more efficient way of creating. I also had to make sense of the geometric forms that have been coming through my sketches. I got to a point with my painting process in which it just didn't fit me anymore. My previous style involved painting randomly until a recognizable shape emerged. Then I would determine the color palette based of the underlying layers of color that randomly produced that recognizable shape. It was an extremely time consuming process that involved lots of mind power and multiple layers of color. My animation of the creation of  'Accretion del Corazon' best exemplifies this process.
Every piece in that old style of painting was a creative puzzle that took lots of studio time to solve. I decided that I'd rather use that mental power towards more efficient ends. Though I still paint from feeling, I've learned to channel those intuitive impressions into a more focused piece. I now decide on a color palette way before I pick up a brush. I've chosen to limit my colors so that it doesn't compete with the meaning and emotional impact of the piece. I've also discovered for myself how much time it saves when you work from a preliminary sketch. It's easier to solve creative problems on a smaller scale than working large. 'Flight of the Birdman' is the first in this new process of creating. The painting is based on a sketch from this past June.

In Ancient cultures around the world there are many references to the Birdman. Anthropologically speaking, it is the syncretism of the human and an animal towards supernatural ends. Birds have a freedom that we don't have; the gift of flight. From an indigenous point of view this makes them the closest to the sun with the ability to carry the prayers of the people to space and beyond. For me the birdman represents focused thought and feeling. My break from painting this past year lead to more than just a different approach to painting. There were lots of spiritual insights that came with it. With this being my third year as a full time Artist and DJ, I'm steadily learning how to manage my thoughts and emotions. It's hard to put into words the mental discipline it takes to maintain a creative mindset in a world of endless distractions. With the financially precarious nature of self employment, It's incredibly easy to be pessimistic about life when the financial flow is not where you'd like it to be. Despite all this I know I will succeed at what I'm doing. With focused thought and feeling we can all manifest what we need to move forward.