Welcome to my virtual art gallery. I graduated from CU's art program with a bfa in 2005 and have been making art professionally ever since. I primarily work in acrylic on board. Many of these pieces have been created on recycled wood.
I have been working on understanding and mastering many different styles. My goal is to completely understand the history of art in order to create art that has a higher depth of learning and skill. To be honest, I don't know if this is completely possible.
The way I see it, the previous generations of artists have only had limited artistic paternity. One became an apprentice and learned all of their master's techniques to the best of their ability. Thus schools of painting existed in which one can see the influence of certain masters based off of which techniques are used.
These artists only had a few woodblock prints, and the paintings of their particular region to influence their styles so entire regions tended to have similar forms in their art. It reminds me of birds like the dodo which evolved into distinct species because of their isolation from the broader world.
I call the idea of an artist's influences their artistic ancestry. To define that term again; any art which an artist views, or any art that influences an artist forms their artistic ancestry. We currently live in a world where the art from every region is available to be seen online or in prints. I don't have to travel to Italy to see Michelangelo. (Which was a common practice for French and British artists for many years) Thus, my artistic ancestry is much greater than that of previous generations. I have a broader lineage and feel a responsibility to truly understand that lineage which is why I have been spending my time trying to figure out the ideas behind the artistic movements of the past.
As an artist, figuring out the ideas also means being able to do those ideas; much like a martial artist. You need to know how a kick is done, but it does you no good if you can't perform the move. So up to this date I have been concentrating mainly on technique in my art, leaving content not out of the picture, but not as my primary interest. As I've mastered more and more skills, I find that the content of my work has taken a greater role; which seems to me to be a fairly natural progression of things.
