ABOUT CLEARING THE WAY

Hey guys.. it's Loren here.  I want to share a painting I have done recently.  It is called 'Clearing the way'  24 x 36 and acrylic on canvas.

'Clearing the way' is something we all have to do at different points in out lives when life just takes up too much space in our mind.   It also is necessary to do when we feel overwhelmed or bogged down with the 'stuff'  we take on even though we don't want to.  For me, it means moving things out of the way that are not important or needed to live a rewarding and fufiling life.  Getting things into focus is another way for me to clear the way.. Finding the right path or the right journey to take helps me to get rid of the things I don't need anymore, It also feels good to have a laser like focus that just makes all the stuff on the sides no longer to be important. I think that's what this painting is about for me. 

What about you?  Do you need to move things aside that are bogging you down?  Leave a comment if you would like to?  Cheers  

MY HEAD INJURY AND MYSTERIOUS OBSESSION WITH PAINTING

As I have been wanting to do, I would like to share some more info with you about the head injury I had some 3 years ago. In a nutshell, I had a huge, at least 7-10  lb. ceramic vase/vessel fall on the top of my head or "clunked" me on the head, while I was loading some pottery on a wobbly shelf.   If you are interested to learn more about how it happened, check out the post in my blog MIND GIGGLES TM.  There you will get the details of the accident before and after it happened.

THE SECRET
OIL ON CANVAS 30x40 
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2010
Since the "clunk" on the head,, I have had an addition and change in the direction of my creative passion and interests.  Prior head injury, I was primarily passionate about graphic arts, and illustration.  I was mainly pursuing a career in art licensing working with pastels and colored pencil. I never thought of painting as a medium for myself and I was not interested in the fine arts as a career.  But, something changed in me after the injury, some thing that I do not have an explanation for.  Although, I  still working on illustration and graphics, I have begun to furiously start painting and working in mixed media.  The ideas for painting have been coming from my heart.    Some time soon after the injury, I signed up for a painting, drawing and watercolor class which was "odd" for me, and although I was painting still lives in class, which I now loved (also odd for me) I was painting images from a deeper place in my heart at home from a deeper place in my heart.  You can see some of these still life paintings here and my fantasy paintings here. 

After being "clunked" on the head,  I have found that I want to create more meaningful and thoughtful images and pieces of art.  I am much more interested in expressing my emotions in my work.  I feel compelled to express my deeper feelings, thoughts and ideas.  I have made changes and choices in the ideas for paintings and mixed media works and they have also taken a turn in subject matter. Although, I have always been strongly interested in concept and ideas,  I have now become interested in expression of feelings and life experiences.  This is an amazement to me.  I have been shocked at the depth of my despair at times that has been coming out of my heart and soul and portrayed in my work. I find myself compelled now to express not only my joyful and exuberant feelings but now my sorrow, depression, pain and challenging feelings about my life in a way that I did not know existed. I am having to face and question some of my experiences of my life presently and as most artists do at some time, I am also facing experiences from my childhood traumas.  (UGGHH!!! this is a topic that in full is still too deep to share here).  Although I am not one to often wear my deep feelings of sorrow on my sleeve, and share it with others, I am for some reason expressing it in my paintings and art. Go figure! 

SEARCHING FOR MEANING
OIL ON CANVAS 18x24
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2010

 So as you see, things have changed creatively for me and I am just hanging on for the ride.  I wonder if anyone has experienced this same sort of shift in consciousness and focus from an accident or head injury?  I was "clunked" on the left side on top of my head and since I did not show signs of a concussion, it appeared that nothing was injured internally.  The only signs and symptoms are these changes in my obsession with painting and mixed media, and a change in my perception of color. which I talk about it in my blog MIND GIGGLES TM  So, as I have said, "Is my huge obsession with painting a coincidence or a direct result from being "clunked" on the head from a 6 lb ceramic vase? You be the judge."

FINDING MY VOICE BLOGGING & NEW PAINTINGS FROM FANTASY COLLECTION

I wanted to share with you that I am learning that as I proceed with my blogging, I am finding that I am having trouble focusing in on my creative voice.  I seem to be all over the place lately, and unable to focus on one thing.  I've been wanting to do everything my heart conjoures up creatively and I realize that there is not enough time or energy to literally do everything I want to do.  I wonder and am baffled how people are just able to focus on one thing and stick with it for along period of time?  What I've been discovering is that the more in truth I seem to be, the easier the words and thoughts seem to flow.  They also seem to make sense to me however,  I fear the truth in art and in blogging, in many ways because it is such a vulernable and scary place to be in.  I want to share so many things through my art, but at times I am afraid of what the "truth in art" really means.  I hope that as I continue to blog and create there will be a merging of the two and a sense of focus will awaken in me.  I wait and hope to find a song in my soul.

NEW PAINTINGS FROM FANTASY COLLECTION

I've wanted to post up some of my paintings that I've done over the past 3 years related to my Fantasy Collection.  I have been adding paintings to the collection and I am finding that my style seems to change from textured to smooth and back to textured again.  My subject matter and theme has seemd to change as well as style. 

I thought I'd post my older paintings up a little at a time, meeting up to my most recent work.

TIME TO OPEN UP
OIL ON CANVAS 16x20
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2010