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Put a Bird on it, Nathan Mary Quinn!

5/16/2018

6 Comments

 
Picture
​"Put a Bird on it, Nathan Mary Quinn!" - acrylic on canson art board, 20" x 15".  Ready to frame.  Available here.

Oh, now I've gone and done it.  Entered the world of distortion, but in a jenly way. 

Do you want to check your internal distortion meter?  Go ahead, draw a face and then purposely distort it.  What are you feeling?  Sheesh!  I am such a tender heart.  After I recently learned about the artist Nathan Mary Quinn, an attempt at distortion was mandatory.  So I decided to paint the artist himself in a wonky manner.  Imagine my surprise when I felt really bad for messing up his face this way!  What makes everything better?  Put a bird on it!  Or two.  Maybe upside down.  And maybe like they are giving Nathan Mary Quinn a big hug to say "I am sorry for distorting your face."  

But other than learning I am maybe too soft for painting in a distorted manner on a regular basis, I learned a thing
or two from Quinn's own story.  And this is where the real treasure lies in this painting.

Quinn was abandoned - literally - by his family at the age of 15.  He came home and they were gone.  Everything.  Just an empty apartment.  Yet he went on with his life, education, employment and art.  And he doesn't bemoan his childhood.  He is grateful for where his own story took him.  That makes me re-examine a few things about my own troubled upbringing and see them as huge gifts.  Whoa.  That was unexpected.  Hmmmmmm.

But here is where it gets really good, all you artists who are struggling to find your "voice" in the art world.  So he is making his art, right?  Gets offered a chance to show a few.  Needs one more for the show and is really out of time. So he just lets loose and does whatever.  And KABLAM!  There is is.  One piece, not like the others.  And someone notices.  The story pretty much writes itself after this.  A Cinderfella story.  

What this means for people who create: get out of your own head, your routine, your predictability and just LET LOOSE!  Do it! Don't think about it.  See what happens.  I double-dog-dare you.

Maybe you need a little motivation to try this, so here is a sweet repeat of one of my favorite inspirations.  Put a bird on it!  And you can, too!

Congratulations to Carolyn L., the winner in Monday's childhood talents commentary drawing!  A little birdie is coming your way.
6 Comments
Dotty Seiter link
5/16/2018 08:10:40 am

Jen, you've gone and done it!!! Time for me to do the same—just LET LOOSE. Put a bird on it. Get out of my head.

Thank you for the invitation.

Reply
jen
5/16/2018 08:33:49 am

ha ha! My pleasure, Dotty! Just paying forward the Nathan Mary Quinn mojo!

Reply
Carolyn
5/16/2018 03:26:38 pm

Really? I won the drawing? Wow, thank you my sweet friend. But, after reading this today, I just need to let loose - and maybe just put a bird on it! Been working cleaning the yard for several weeks getting it summer ready, so now it is tme to paint some! 😍😍

Reply
jen
5/16/2018 04:17:39 pm

Indeed you did win! Best cure for yard cleaning is painting! ha ha! I imagine it is getting hot there about now. A good time to move back inside?

Reply
Carol Edan link
5/17/2018 02:41:53 am

Your distortion is mild compared to what Nathan does, or what I have seen. What trauma he must have gone through, and is still battling, We all have remnants from our childhood that we deal with, We have to let go and be free. I have to muster up some courage to try a face mashup! Thanks for the birdie clip!

Reply
jen
5/17/2018 08:35:12 am

Indeed! Mine is SUPER mild! And yet I struggled to even consider any more. Clearly this is way out of my wheelhouse. I have a new appreciation for Quinn's work, his process and inspiration. It takes a herculean inner strength to paint this way!

Reply



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