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This page is dedicated to the creative spark
Many people think about photography and they don't make the connection to art. Part of the reason for this is the fact that not all photography is art. Some photography is dedicated to journalism, some advertising, commercial work, and general snap shots. The best photographers create art even when they are in the process of creating a different category of work. I have found that even a lot of photographers don't see photography as art. Photography is a tool to create the art. We bring to it our inspiration, we strive to create a moment in time in a way that preserves it for all to see. Hal Gould taught me the difference from photography and other traditional art forms. "Photography is the process of elimination while painting is the process of addition!" Hal Gould 2003.
This summer I attended a number of workshops at the State Fair that were run by Rodney Wood.
Rodney is an artist that works in many mediums. He has done sculpture, photography, and is now doing paintings. There are a few things that I have found in the art done by Rodney and that is a creative spark. I enjoy his paintings, and I love listening to his descriptions of his first photo show one done in digital with a little 1.3 megapixle camera. He did the whole photo shoot with available light and he used candles as his available light. Then when the show was put on display the room was also light with candles to ad to the effect of the lighting in the images.
Too many artist including photographers seem to attempt to re create images that they have seen done by other people. Where as I believe it is a good idea to gain inspiration from another artist I don't think we grow as artist when we act to mimic the work of others. I strive to work out side of the box. When a friend of mine encouraged me to attend Rodney's workshops he said I would be brought out of the box even more, and that I was!
I don't want to talk about the content of the workshops you should attend one on your own. But I am happy to have observed the fine art of Rodney Wood. Rodney had a show at the Rubbish Gallery in Colorado Springs that highlighted his paintings. The works were magnificent and well out of the box.
© Rodney Wood 2006
Where ass all the elements in the photo above have been depicted in art, here they are uniquely combined to create a piece of art that strikes at the emotions of the viewer in an all new way.
I enjoy the fact that Rodney creates images that show people in a natural state and that they don't all look like models. When I am doing photography I tend to look for the more athletic bodies but, I have been known to photograph people that are far from model material. Rodney's art is created in such a way that draws the viewer in and then taps at their emotions.
© Rodney Wood 2006
When I went to the opening of this art show I was observing the way people viewed his paintings. People would stand in front of an image for 10 or 15 minutes, they would move in close, and then stand back and take another look, they wanted to touch the images, they wanted to get to know the people in the paintings, and they wanted to become a part of the art. You may want to know how I know this and I can say it is because I asked a number of the patrons! People were wanting to get to know the artist and his state of mind while he was producing the images and what he thought of them now that he finished them and had them on display for the world to see.
© Rodney Wood 2006
One of my friends approached Rodney during the show and asked about a painting of a lady sitting with her arms across her chest looking off to the side, and what appeared to be a man with his hands on her shoulders. My friend asked Rodney what he saw in the model and Rodney turned the question back on my friend. My friend gave his response and Rodney informed my friend that the model was in a stir of emotion that correlates with what was going on with the model at the time of the sitting. I chose to leave this image off of the web site to draw your interest in visiting Rodney's web site to view all of his images and so that you can see it in a new light and draw your own opinions about his work.
Click on the link above to see Rodney's work and feel free to purchase some if any of them are left to be purchased.
So I have been talking about what others thought of Rodney's work and now it is time for you to hear what I thought. I found many of the images calling me. I wanted to give them a home in my home. I felt as though I was viewing images that I had seen before and yet that I have never seen before. I could relate to them in a way I don't usually relate to paintings. I found it interesting that just this year (2006) I had been working with the Blue Bird Project in the Pikes Peak region for the first time ever. I have been photographing them and love to watch them fly. ~see top photo~. I love to photograph lightning (go to galleries to see some of my photos of lightning.) I have also been researching and photographing archeological astronomy of the American South West for a number of years; to include the medicine wheels in Wyoming. Rodney captured the second image that shows lightning and what would appear to be a medicine wheel. I also love photographing the human form hence the name of my web site and photo gallery. I photograph the male and female form and find beauty in both of them. I seldom see an artist that is comfortable depicting both. In this show you can see that Rodney is also comfortable with both. As I walked through the show it was as if Rodney had been a viewer in my mind and found a way to depict what he was seeing on canvas. How on earth did Rodney do this? This show really captured my attention and I hope to one day have the resources to own some of his work for my home.
Thanks for your time to read this - Bill Young
Above paintings posted with the permission of the artist, Rodeny Wood.
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“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery” -- Francis Bacon
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