memoir of a grey piece...

I've been looking at a piece titled 'movie reel'. it can be seen at my website or on facebook. that particular piece was dedicated to my sister for her birthday. i wanted to do something special as she is near and dear to me. i was pondering what to do for days and to no avail no ideas. what i ended up doing instead was just painting and hoping (knowing rather) that it will come to me. what ended up ensuing was what is on the canvas right now. what i really wanted to talk about was the color that was used in it. that piece was the first piece i ever used a color that i mixed by will, no secret formula just mix and there it is. i liked the way that shade of grey can never be bought, replicated, reproduced or remade. that particular shade reminds me of the car from back to the future. it can also be related to a lot of those old movie reels too. it wasn't my first attempt with color (which i hate) but it was my first attempt at making and using my own color and that was exciting. i feel i did a great job, and I'm not know as a man who uses color. in the future i may or may not use more color, who knows. as a self taught artist such as myself, i think it of utmost importance to do what ever controls the art (mind, body, soul, etc.). i personally just paint and shape a piece accordingly, i don't use pictures, references etc., i just think and paint and the combination comes together and great things happen... obviously the main focus is the shade of grey i used in the topic of conversation but the more i think about the art that i do, and the more people ask me about it, the more i realize there is a lot more to it. each piece has an initial undertone and then an interpretation. a picture never does justice unfortunately but an explanation and an emotion go a long way.              

Newest painting

My recent piece, which I have not yet made available to the public for viewing has a lot of interest to me. I didn't have a clue, I just did whatever felt natural. It ended up being intreperpretive. It could be literally anything. That wasn't planned, I was in the mood to paint but did to have anything I felt had intention. I just made lines, filled in spots and it was created. I must say I am happy with it. My concern is, what do I call it? Will will people think? How do I answer their questions? It'll be interesting when I display it. I mean it's bad enough when people look at my work and immediately don't get it. After all it not still life, abstract or something they can relate to, so it should be forgotten. I only know, enjoy and relate to art. My style, my way. I feel what I do and the way I do it is innovative, unique, original and possibly deep. I'm not an art technician. I could be but no thank you. I realized that I can't be a traditional artist like people want. I'm ok with that. My dream is one day someone says wow, he was he Picasso of his generation. I started art 6mos. Ago and I already won an award, copyright and trademark. Also I will be having my first opening in November and am represented in 2 galleries. All I can say is I love what I create and I love the place it comes from...I would have never thought that I would get so much from art. The people I've met, the conversations I've had and the place I go are deeply cherished by me and I hope it lasts a lifetime.

business card

i made business cards awhile back, the idea was to help promote myself a little better (that and people have a tendency to forget you quicker than they met you). yesterday while designing and building the 2016 calendar i felt or rather deemed it necessary to redesign my business card. granted the template pretty remained the same but the information changed a whole lot. it has a lot more social connected website directions and what have you. can't say for sure that i like it better but one thing is for sure, it will give me more access and exposure or at least its supposed to. Just in time too, as i will be traveling to an art opening and handing out my card. as trivial as it may sound having a way to extend  yourself a not totally disregarded it having a forget me not card available, its important to have, to me anyway...

latest idea

I am excited to announce a new idea I have. I am going to make and release an annual art calendar starting with 2016 and it will be available each year I continue to do art. The calendar, which will include my very own work, will be hand selected, arranged and designed by me. I have been putting my heart and soul into this thing. I want walk away knowing something in public was solely completed by me...no shortcuts, help, input, suggestions, nothing. This is my second attempt at it. Each time i have attempt it, it has taken roughly two days of barely eating and no sleep. Currently i have 1 proto-type and a more significantly completed draft. My goal with the calendar isn't to make money but rather challenge myself to match a completed artwork with a month of the year, that way each piece will have a significant correlation to a month of the year and since it will be and is thought out by me, it will be one of a kind! Once the calendar is completed i'll show it off and offer it up. I know I've put a lot of effort into it even in this, the earliest of stages. It may or may not be special to others but it will be individually special to me. I will be able to look back on all of the thought, effort, and creativity that went into the creation of it. I am surprised at the fact that I'm willing to put my artwork on something besides canvas and I'm also glad that my artwork will have another place it belongs so people can enjoy it.

My daily connection to art

i realized that even if I don't paint I am still connected to art. Allow me to explain. Totally confusing thought and even more confusing to talk about. I assumed that if I don't paint Im not a real artist. I go to galleries, art walks, look up artists, read art books, see posts about art, watch my kids do art, have my favorite artists I read about, connect to local artists, look for art openings, try to become a featured artist in galleries, manage an art page, make products and services around my art, buy art supplies, tweet and blog about art and I'm sure there's more but I can't think of them at the current time. I recently asked myself a question, in what ways do you connect yourself with art? I pondered that question for days. Like I said before I thought that if I'm not painting I must not be connected to it. The more the I thought about the question the more I noticed the ways I was connected to it. I now realize and consider my involvement with art to be extensive. I also feel less guilty about taking a day away from painting. And I have a new found appreciation for how much art is a part of me and how much I am a part of art.

my latest painting session

Last night (roughly 10pm) I started to get into "paint mode", that's a random, made up saying I for my description for when I want to paint. Anyway I found a canvas, every brush i own (literally), paints and a comfortable place to do it, check out twitter @ACRYLICTRUJILLO for the picture. I decided to put down a layer of white paint, concentrated into one area (the middle) and quit. Good music was playing and I got up out of my chair, pick up the canvas, opened the door and put it outside. Next I grabbed another painting from roughly three days prior and began working on that, put colors on it and hated it. What turn started as a good night completely sucked. I wasn't going down without a fight so I at the very least wanted to correct my mistakes. I found and went with old faithful (black and white). I worked with those 2 colors and things started to click and come together, the evening was not in shambles, when I finally looked up, 2am (EST) was nearing. I decided to stop and go to bed, after eating chocolate of course. The point I stopped and the progress of the piece can be seen at facebook.com/JamesRichardTtrujillo.

Puzzled

Today I was doing touch up work on my piece titled 'puzzled'. It has been hanging for awhile now. I am very happy with the way it turned out. I have seriously considered donating it. To have a piece of my work displayed and accepted for donation would make me ecstatic! I really hope it works out that way but if not, plan B: Hang it in the gallery. As you can see, the decision and fate/destiny of this piece in very puzzling, the name is shockingly appropriate.