Reflections of Tomorrow

Reflections of Tomorrow: A journey through some of the works of my recent past, and therefore a glance at where I'm headed. The image below for instance is debatably my first painting, from third grade and of course it is dedicated to my MOM! Many of the line making tecniques and use of color are still evident in my paintings today. There is a thread that connects decades (wow decades) of work together. I have yet to discover what that thread is specifically, other than something deep in my spirit that cannot be transferred effectively into words or perhaps it is the creativist in me erupting.

For this post I have selected a few different groupings of my work. Some of images are from my beginnings and some from last week but all have an influence on the path I tread.

Group One: Sporadic, Free-form, "writing in tongues", Gibberish, letting my hand say what my heart is feeling without my mind getting in the way. It all started around age 13 when I had a major shift in my life and spirit.





Group Two: The body, female, male, young, old, tall, short, skinny, not-so-skinny; what ever it is I am thankful I have one and fascinated with the variety and individuality that there is in our world/country/city/neighborhood. Basically I am a "people watcher" and I love to dissect what makes us all so beautifully unique.




Group 3: Give me a lump of clay and this is what I'll do, I'll make a this or a that, maybe one or maybe two. Ok enough Dr. Seuss! Below you have a few examples of how my mind works in 3-D and as you can see that the threads are being stitched together. For instance: seemingly random mark making, human form, emotion and anything unique.

Group Quattro: This group has been created and developed more recently but it represents a way of seeing that I have had for a number of years. These images are often taken with my camera phone (1.3 megapixel) and are achieved by finding a unique color scheme and then just moving the lens rapidly to create these light trails. I have never taken any mind altering drugs because art was always my drug of choice, these images are proof of it.

Group 5, 6, 7.... to be continued.

As the leaves begin to fall and a chilling wind blows through the valley a tension and energy begins to build in my spirit. As I reflect on the immense joy and literal mountain top experiences that I have had this summer, my heart prepares for the harvest season. Posted throughout are a few of the projects that I have either worked on or events/images that have inspired me in this last season that will hopefully bring rise to some new creative expressions in the next season.

Comments and questions are always welcome. If you are not a "blogger" please feel free to contact me via my email at: paulmessenger.art@gmail.com

It is my hope that as you meander through my works, the works of my students, family and friends that you leave this page with more than having entertained your eyes but also that something would connect with your heart, mind, spirit etc... and bring about a sense of appreciation for the raw creative process; unaltered by ulterior motives, intentions of profit or desire to impress. It is also possible that you will leave this particular blog scratching your head and that is an acceptable response as well.

I create art because I am a creativist, there is something at my core that is unrestricted by the constraints of this world (i.e. money, time, ability etc...) I must tap into that place and reveal its truths in order to live and flourish.

First, a disclaimer: The image above is what most consider to be art and from here on are images that are points of inspiration, images that lead to questions that lead to inspiration, images of nature (which some consider to be art as well) and images of others art, so if you are viewing this and feel confused about what is my "art" and what is not, I leave that up to you, the viewer to decipher whereas I consider the whole of the art process to be art, not just the product. Therefore it is not what hangs on the wall, but where that idea/image starts, what occurs in the process of development/creativity and where it all ends. I enjoy and love the entirety of the creative process, now come and enjoy it with me.

The image below was taken with a macro setting on my camera and is no deeper than .25 of an inch. It is a manila folder and a translucent folder, et the depth is amazing, it appears to be a surreal beach landscape in the desert (in my opinion).

Below: From the first sign of smoke, and being the first people to arrive we witnessed the rapid, explosive and devastating destruction of a country barn in Stafford Oregon.
This python skeleton was intriguing and inspiring to me... what a peculiar creature.

The image above is an image created by my grandma and its is a knit creation of my mom, I love this project. I just wish the image quality was better.

I love macro shots, the abstraction of subjects compiled with the deep, rich details is just awesome:)

Below: From an unknown hole in the back of my in-laws yard this image was captured by attaching my digital camera to a fishing pole and then lowering it into the hole with a timed shot and I discovered the mysterious and fascinating remains of.... an old septic tank!

When the sun lay's it self to rest (or in reality when the earth rotates on its axis) there is something inside of me that just... sighs....ahhhhhhh

I have began to be more and more fascinated with the almost inconceivable thought that at one point in its life, this and most other rocks were liquid: as in the moved, and blended and flowed and now we stand on them; weird.
A new discovery for me this summer was light-painting. Oh the simple joys in life are often profound to me. cardboard boxes, clouds, water; much more entertaining than blockbuster movies, ipods and facebook.
The images above and below are places of rest and refreshment, with a little jolt of energy from the snowmelt that makes up these bodies of water.
RICH TEXTURE.(period)
I love my moms artwork. Her paintings and crafts have always been always a point of inspiration, mainly because after 7+years of studying art at the college level for myself, her self-taught abilities to create beautiful and accurate image blow me away:)
Don't worry its not a cage, its a home for these nectar making beests. weird to think that my favorite sweetener is actually bee barf. (I apologize for the graphic nature of that statement, but its true)

Curly lighting??? as viewed from an excellent viewing spot oh the sound of thunder when its powerful enough to set off car alarms and knock things over in our house. Again far superior to playing wii tennis or even blogging for that matter:)

Thank you for taking the time to view and read these entries. Now please if you have a moment more, respond. create. listen. write. play.

Life's Deal. Pure amazingness.

Life's Deal: An experimental project with found art materials, traditional art materials, randomness and fun. Executed by Mr. Messenger's advanced visual arts class spring of 2009. Hurray for individuality.

 ("Life's Deal" unit concept inspiration from  http://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/sites/Projects/P006/P006_first.html)