Thursday, July 16, 2009

Buried Treasure


My internet friend Seth Apter over at The Altered Page is doing a collaborative project called "Buried Treasure" in which invites bloggers to find special features of their past blog entries and repost their favorite posts. I have started blogging relatively recently so my favorite post is actually a very recent post. I have very recently taken up being creative and expressing myself through "art". I actually believe I did was not fully aware of how important creating and expressing myself until I took Mary Ann Moss's "Pure Experimentation: Stencilry" class over on Dispatch From LA. It freed me of many of my fears of color, and and my need for perfection. It allowed me to just play... And it freed me to fail and just spray over something I did not like and start all over again from the same piece of paper. More importantly it is just plain and simple fun in the sun... Increasingly these spray paint art features are becoming more and more personal for me.

Here is the original post "This is a some artwork done with a stencil I cut of an old picture of my Great Grandpa Barley on my father's side. I still need to do some work on it and I need to get better at scanning these but you get the idea..."

This time I have decided to include the original photo of my great grand father Barley.




My blog has led me to make some amazing artist friends I may never meet but their support is very important to me. Thank you for stopping by.


19 comments:

Mary Ann said...

brian those portraits are all the more fabulous now that i know they are of your grandpa. AND you're a real sweetheart. AND may you continue to create expressively and enjoy every second of it!

xoxoxo

Mary S. Hunt said...

pleasure to meet you from seths treasure dig
what more of a treasure could you have found than your great great grandad!
keep creating
:)

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I stopped by earlier today and I'm glad I came back. Your stencils are an inspiration and so well done.

Poetic Artist said...

I love the portrait of your grandfather nd the stencils are great. I found you through Seth.
May inspiration always be with you.
Katelen

John M. Mora said...

my favorite is the second from tyhe bottom...regards.

Joanna Olson said...

What a handsome young man he was! You've inspired me to do one of my dad. Thanks for the post and I'd like to visit again....

Jill Zaheer said...

Found your blog from Seth's Buried Treasure post.
Glad you participated even though you are new to blogging. I too have recently found expression through art for myself- and it's changed my life. Hope you continue to seek lots of avenues of expression through art. It's just wonderful. What a creative idea to stencil over your grandfather's photo. The extent of our creativity is limitless. Continue to enjoy!

Chris said...

Brian, this is fun and meaningful, and it's also awesome looking! That was a great class. I'm glad you excavated this one!

ArtPropelled said...

So many different interpretations. I enjoyed your re-post, thank you.

Ginny Gaskill said...

Enjoyed your artwork.

Kim Palmer said...

I love what you have done with the stencils and your grandfathers portrait. Well done for letting go.Isn't it liberating and a little scary all at the same time!LOL

donna said...

The class was the BEST for me, too. Very good to free up and fly, eh?

3rdEyeMuse said...

this is my first visit (thanks to Seth) and I can honestly say I am thrilled to have found myself here - I think your stencil is terrific and especially like the third image (from the top - including the shot of your granddad). :)

wishing you continued wonder in your creative adventures!

Priti Lisa said...

I like the peice directly under the photo of you gf. Very Christ-like, I think...I am new to blogging too, it is very fulfilling, no?
Shine on, Lisa

inge said...

Hello Brian,

nice stencil sprayings you did !
I made a stencil of my daughter when "making your own stencils" was one of the crusades of Michelle Ward ( I saw you follow her blog too).

I think it's great to make your own stencil and especially with photos of relatives.
I like the layered spraying you did ! That's something I didn't do yet, but yours turned out great !

I read some of your previous posts too and you make nice stuff !
You seem to be one of the lucky guys to be able to follow a workshop with Tim : your heavy book is my favorite.

greetings from Belgium
Inge

web.me.com/pinkepinke

Patti Sandham said...

Isn't it wonderful to have your creativity set free!!! Love your stencil work.
It is so good for the spirit to play without worry of the results.
You lucky guy. ;)

A tired retired recluse @ Swallowcliffs.blogspot.com/ said...

I love this idea, stenciling from a photo! You experiments are awesome. Thanks for sharing with us!

Seth said...

Great to see the original photo this time around and so cool to hear your story about being more free to express yourself in art. So happy that you decided to paly along!

michelle ward said...

great work brian! your enthusiam is obvious, as is your skill. how cool to have discovered freedom through embracing the process by *pure experimentation*.