Expression and Influence

Soon after immerging from the first of two rather dark periods in my life, I experienced something of a burst of expression in my art work.  The social circles I moved in had a significant influence over my thinking which showed itself in the images I produced.  I was never much of a profound thinker.  No deep philosophies or profound insights.  Just images that I felt were expressive of how I thought and felt at any given moment.  During that time, pretty much every thought that came into my head found its expression in images.  And music was an important catalyst in the formation of ideas for my drawings.  The people I associated with had something of a strong influence over my preferences and thinking.  This, in turn, had an effect on the images I produced.  Through the music I listened to, I found inspiration that took its form from what some might have thought of as a kind of hereditary or ethnic awareness.  The images I produced made no political or social statements.  At least not any that I intended.  If the ideas I got for my drawings were to be expressed in words, they would actually be very simple, basic concepts.  Many of the images that I produced were arguably expressions of feeling as opposed to any kind of complex idea or message.  That being said, I'm sure it's not surprising that most were unable to find anything to relate to in my work. 

At any rate, as it turns out, after quite a few years, I no longer possess any of the original drawings from this brief burst of expression.  I do, however have some photos, slides, and old remakes of some of these drawings.  Maybe a month or so before the writing of this blog post, I was encouraged to reproduce at least some of these drawings.  I had the idea to do just that quite some time before it was actually suggested to me, so, the suggestion gave me the incentive to follow through with it.

The most recent influences on my work have been in the direction of technique and application.  These influences have enabled me to make a better production of my drawings.  So, I gathered what I had left of the elements I used to produce the original drawings and set about producing a remake. 

The one that I chose was actually the simplest of the compositions that came from this burst of inspiration.  Being such, it was an expression of a simple idea.  This image was composed quite a few years ago.  What the idea was, precisely, I can no longer recall.  But I do know that it was a very simple idea.  In the social circles that I associated with, there was a collective awareness and sensitivity regarding ancestral origins.  Knowing that gives me a good idea of what the inspiration for this drawing might have been.  It also provided me with helpful guidance in the development of the remake.  The original image was likely inspired by thoughts of a quiet strength believed to have its origin in qualities inherited from those who came before us.  This quiet strength was something that I would think best tapped through meditation.  The origin of this inherited strength is represented by an image of the ancestral home of those who would draw on it; this strength of who they are and where they came from.  A strength from which issues serenity and inspiration. 

If all goes well, more will follow.