A philosophy of art.

Oregon Dune Sonata

Landscapes are special to me because they can represent an expression and a  striving for the ideal--the longing to roam in a a world of beauty and sophisticated balance. The other night I dreamed of a landscape quite different form this. I don't know what it was, some insanely beautiful combination of Scottish Highlands, New Zealand and Norway. Alpine meadows and streams running over the land. You could hike anywhere in this world and see divine vistas. Life in such places is completely free and there are no consequences that last beyond the morning's bleary eyed awakening. Dreams will forever amaze me


So this desire to recreate dreams in art... I've thought a lot about this and for a long time was haunted artistically about the impossibility of being able to do this. Especially in the world of Cinema, my other big passion and beloved art form, it is very expensive and hard to re-create the imagined visions. But two things have helped me: First the magic  of the tools become more affordable even as they become more powerful, and two, I've learned something very important. And that is to follow the dreams without expectation for where I will end up.

Inevitably when we follow a dream we are disappointed by barriers and things that stand in our way. But, if we are willing to be flexible and take an interesting turn at each barrier, looking for what opportunities are there, sometimes we can eventually find a sort of idyllic dream space, though perhaps  not the one we thought we were going for.

This has become one of my big driving philosophies of art. To be willing to give in to the change in plan, the new idea, the alternate direction, and let go of the strict preconceived idea of what I was setting out to do!

Does this make any sense to you?

I guess in a way I try to trade the haunting shroud of desire for the bright light of faith--faith that by always stepping forward I will eventually get the golden moment. And the process of art is  much more interesting and surprising this way

These images of the Oregon Dunes were taken late in the day in the summer of 2007. The one below is has a much more low-con processing scheme and overlayed with the texture from one of my favorite washi papers.