MY FREEDOM CORNER

Often we find ourselves stuck between our minds and our perception of expected performance.

The result of this trap is never good for the individual regardless of what the circumstances may be.

On one hand the root of creativity does not stem from the mind but from the heart, on the other hand any form of expectance is an assumption based on our own stigma and therefore a poor judge of what others may expect of ourselves.  Following this journey will lead us away from the center of our own spiritual dwelling and into a nowhere-land in which the only one out of control is that individual.

Sometimes I will be creating a piece of work following my sense of joy on what I am doing when the mind will get into it and starts passing judgment on my work.  Either from a technique point of view or how it may be accepted by the general audience my mind will find fault on my work.  Slowly but surely allowing the mind uninvited influence is  -- for me -- a guarantee of doom.  So over the years I have been able to learn how to keep the mind working for my heart and spirit when I am in the process of creating something.

First comes the fact that when I work as a commercial artist, I have to realize that I have to provide a service that will please the client.  That means to have the ability to "MIND" the client's objectives and needs. Here there is room for the mind to have a strong part in the creative process.

Second comes the fact that we have been condition from childhood to follow rules, and to mind them.  And last the mind is part of who we are and consequently it is going to manifest.

When we put these tree factors together it becomes almost impossible to escape the mind in order to take  flight into the realms of free emotional and spiritual creativity.  I use different techniques to achieve this state and they all work at different times under different circumstances.  Amazingly enough the one that works best is the one that for most part tends to be the most negative one. Stubbornness!!!  When we use this particular characteristic on everyday communication with others it causes to most pain and dysfunction and I have learned to not go that route.  However when I use it on myself to protect my emotions and feelings from my mental scrutiny it works wanders at staying in course. 

Another approach that works well for me is to just relax and surrender to what I am doing in a child-like manner where the wander, the excitement, and the full of exploring lends me into a zone of manifestation that is truly awesome.

So the material I place in this page is mostly experimental stuff that I feel good about and often get to learn from it by coming back to it and letting the feelings resurface while I try to learn all I can about myself through this process.

Sometimes something hits me and generates a deep feeling or emotion.  Then I bring the image of t hat subject back and start to "play" with it to see if I can make the image generate what I feel about it.  While this image of the old car gives me fulfillment, and I feel that I have been able to show it in a form that represents well how I fell, it does so to me and  there is no guarantee that anybody else may relate to the same subject in the same manner I do.

French Brie cheese is a treat that I really love.  While the wrapper was white and the cheese as well, I find this rendition emotionally fit to represent how my taste buds rejoice into the experience.

Sometimes the way I feel about someone completely departures from the realm of classic portraiture.

In this case I often find myself standing on a platform in space looking out into the universe when I am around this particular child.

His manifesting spirit reflects the purest aspects of our humanity in a way that I feel I am witnessing the universe itself playing in its innocent magnificence!!!

One tripod, patience,  one very active squirrel , and some fun with Adobe Photoshop were the pre-requisites  for this happy picture.

While waiting for the light to turn green I noticed the harsh words on the truck's back window but I also felt that the blue helmet was a beautiful contrast to the rest of the shot.

So I took two shots keeping the camera from moving to the best of my ability.  I focused on the helmet on one and then on the words in my second shot.  At home in my studio, I copied the biker into the other picture where the words were sharp.  By using a telephoto I was able to keep the field compressed -- like in a comic art image -- my points of interest sharp, and the mood of a rainy evening in traffic alive!

Sometimes an image is a journey.  I started with a B&W image of a glamour shot I took of my wife about thirty years ago.  Then I went after a feeling that would bring in not just a sensual tone, but also the emotional energy that projects the physicality of the subject matter into that of spirit and a "je ne sais quois" that made me transcend from the obvious into the sublime.

Basic affects can often be the right thing to make a statement in the most sincere and direct way.  A simple postarization of the subject holding a product that she really loves a statement where everything else in the image is simply a background to lend only emotional warm colors.

Single light source from a west facing window lends a striking mood inside of a very old and abandoned building.  A story was being done and the producer (seen in the picture) became a part of the space as he watched the video crew going about interviewing a subject pertinent to the story of the building.  The affect  brings the feeling of the walls over the subject creating and seamless statement.

Americana!  Patriotism is often best appreciated when displayed by those who appear having had less benefits from the country they love.

This man made me feel wander-full about what his realities might have been to display the colors of his country while those of us with apparently so much more the give thanks to live in the USA act shameful and uncomfortable with patriotic dispays.

Everybody loves somebody sometime...  So goes t he song!   ...and everybody loves a sunset sometimes...

Puppy luv.....reducing the detail to an almost painting brush style accentuates the essential characteristics of this pet's personality.

The moment of truth!  ...when an artist puts everything behind the passion felt  and gives it  back to the same universe that gave it to the heart of the artist in the first place.

Shape, form, color ....ACTION!!!!!!

...seldom do I create an image that asks me to keep my mouth and mind shut.   ...this is one of those times.