Telling Stories is Never a Neutral Act

"Telling Stories is Never a Neutral Act" - oil on canvas, 24 x 20 x 1.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

"Why have I told you this?  Telling stories is never a neutral act.  The teller has a motive, and the listener becomes complicit once the contract of storytelling has been executed."

 from The Rosewater Redemption​ by Tade Thompson

Artists are storytellers.

Sure, our stories are told in paint (or clay, mosaic, photography, collage, metal, wood, etc.) but still there is a story teller and a story receiver in the equation.   It is a bit of an interesting tale, though, where the story may or may not be clear, or may change between the telling and the receiving, depending on the type of art and the viewer's experience of it.

Telling Stories is Never a Neutral Act

Sometimes, as a storyteller/artist, I don't even know what the story is until someone like you, dear reader, comments on how the piece feels to them.  And then there is a little AHA lightbulb - it is often spot-on.  We are complicit,  you and I, in these tales woven in paint.  I like the idea that we're conspiring together.

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​About the art:  beginning with a heavily textured and gesso'd canvas, painting a portrait in oil paint (this one inspired by a photo of a coal miner).  The underpainting was allowed to dry for several days.  Then adding thick, loose oil paint (mixed with Liquin) in large brush strokes all over the face.  Moving the paint with squeegee and rubber wedge from left to right.  I returned to the details with a small brush to bring out the eyes and face highlights again.  Then, a Gamsol-soaked wet brush dragged along top edges and allowed to run through the wet paint, leaving delicious texture.  Want to see it in action?  Head over to my instagram for a little video.

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​NUDGE-SHOVE is coming!  Show opens right here August 1.