David Hockney - An Inspiration

"The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you're an artist."

What a find! Until today I was not familiar with David Hockney and his work. The above painting and quote have hit me like a ton of bricks.

Hockney is a photographer turned painter. His use of color and imaginative designs are bloody brilliant in every sense of the word.

In my photography I prided myself that I did not Photoshop my images but relied on Nature to provide. I don't even own the program and have never desired to. But, I can't say I wasn't tempted to "cheat" by enhancing the color.  Sometimes I gave into temptation. By cracky I AM an artist!

©Kinsey Barnard

I Just Learned What I Already Knew

I've just had an epiphany. Strange as it may sound, I just learned what I believe I already knew. When it comes to art I am not interested in painting what I see outside myself. I am far more interested in what I see inside myself.

It was right in front of my face, within my photography. My stated objective with my camera was to paint with it. Not using Photoshop but capturing Nature in those naturally rare moments when she reveals just what an artist She is.  Images that, to my eye, were Nature's most unusual and unique works of art. Things that so few people ever notice. I found many, but, to my never ending frustration very few seemed to appreciate Nature's abstract expressions.  People have made a great fuss over images that, to me, are little more than pretty pictures whilst ignoring what I thought was the most incredible art I have ever seen. Images like Ice Puppets is not my art. It's nature's art. I was nothing more than the conduit. The two images below illustrate what I mean.

Tobacco River in Autumn

Above is a very pretty photo that has been popular amongst my photography fans. I don't mean to be glib but to me its just a pretty picture, a suitable model for a landscape painter. Below is an image that lights my fire 10,000 candles. It's just the kind of thing I would like to paint.

Ice Puppets

Although, if I were to flip the Tobacco River photo upside down and crop everything out but the reflection I might have something that would have appeal. But then, who needs to paint it? Nature already did.

Nature paints the water.

It's dawning on me that there may have been a reason for me to be able to see and photograph subjects such as Ice Puppets. To me that image was an opportunity to look inside Nature's imagination. How often does one have the opportunity to do that?

It's clear. I am not drawn to realism when it comes to art. Over the past 14 years, in Montana, I have spent thousands of hours and hiked thousands of miles with a near obsession to photograph the unique and imaginative within Nature. I have never known why. Perhaps this sudden interest in painting is not a new beginning but the continuation of a journey already begun. Just the thought of it excites me no end. I am such a loon.

I believe every cloud has a silver lining. In my case the silver lining is realizing nothing really matters in the grand scheme of things. That's why I'm going to enjoy painting. It just doesn't matter what I paint as long as I enjoy myself doing it. If I stop enjoying it I'll stop doing it. It doesn't matter. I stopped taking myself too seriously long ago.

©Kinsey Barnard

Hockaday Musseum of Art

Today (11-27-15) seemed like a good day to visit the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell. Heaven only knows I wanted nothing to do with the Black Friday thing.

Looking at paintings in museums has never been high on my "I can't wait to do that!" list. I visited the Louvre, the first time, in 1967. I was nineteen year old. I remember looking at the Mona Lisa and thinking "What the heck is all the fuss about?!" I expressed my amazement only as a self defense tactic. Who would dare say what I really thought? Certainly not moi. The part of the Louvre I went wild for were the Egyptian Antiquities, beyond beguiling.

Hockaday Museum of Art - Kalispell, Montana

Now that I have decided I want to try and paint, I am suddenly eager to go look at paintings. I am very anxious to study how artists have achieved their effects through their brush strokes, how they dealt with light and shadows.

The Hockaday is a modest museum but quite nice. The museum houses a variety of painting techniques and genres. The subject matter is primarily, the natural world. One entire section is devoted to the Crown of the Continent aka Glacier Park. There was one painting of a Indian buck that really grabbed my attention. It was called simply "Young Boy" and was painted by Charlie Russell. I have no words to describe how beautiful it is. To me more beautiful than the Mona Lisa. This one small painting was worth the visit.

I learned that black and white painting is generally termed monochrome. Whist I adore color I also love black and white photography. It has a special essence all it's own. Several people have told me my black & white photography is reminiscent of Ansel Adams. That's a pretty heady compliment. Anyway, I can certainly see myself trying my hand at the absence of color with a brush.


©Kinsey Barnard