My Artist’s Statement

I’m trying to put together my Artist’s Statement.  I’m capitalizing it, to demonstrate the great import it has taken as a project (LOL).  OK, I’ll try to answer some basic questions:

(1) Why do I paint? 

(2) How do you create your works?

(3) What do you hope the viewer will feel when they see your work?

(4) Who are you?

I think I’d like to answer these questions in a different order, or perhaps not in order at all.  Around 1997, it became clear to me that I needed to create some "balance" in my life.  I was spending far too much time working alone at home on my computer, and did not have sufficient outlets for other elements of my personality, such as my love of music and color.  In that regard, I didn’t really know how "color" might manifest itself, so I decided to take the most direct route, and took an art class in watercolors.  Simultaneously I began to study voice (opera and jazz).  One type of work I was doing on my computer, which I loved, was trading the stock market.  It was challenging, emotionally wrenching when things went bad, and wonderfully exhilarating as the market came to a bubble in 1999. 

Then, sometime later, a real estate agent came to list our home, and noticed one of my framed paintings sitting on the floor.  He made a comment about how beautiful that painting would look in the new office he is remodeling in his home.  I offhandedly offered it to him for sale, but had no idea what to charge, so I asked him to name a price.  He hemmed and hawed, said he didn’t want to insult me with too low a price, but when encouraged, made me an offer which was certainly much greater than I had (not) thought of, having had the painting sitting on the floor.  A full $300 came into my hands, and the gentleman walked away a happy man. 

 

That should answer the first question above: Why do I paint? TO MAKE MONEY.  Yes, I know, it’s not supposed to be "cool" to admit it.  A "true" artist is supposed to paint because he/she wants to, or rather, must.  I’m not one of them.  I paint, and often feel supremely frustrated by my own work, frustrated by the intellectual impediments of not understanding how to manipulate the paint, or getting the perspective right, or combining my colors in a way so as to produce pleasing results.  And yet, others seem to like what I do.  In fact, a lady who came to view my house saw some of my paintings on the wall, bought two of them, and urged me to stop whatever else I was doing and focus on painting, and that "you’ll be a millionaire within a year."  I’m not a millionaire yet.  But I’m having my very first one-woman show, for one solid month, and I’m thrilled beyond belief. 

 

The second question, how do I create my work? This is a rather nebulous process.  Sometimes I see an image that so compels me, I must try to paint it.  More often, it is a feeling I get inside, an amorphous vision of swirling colors and shapes that, if I focus a bit on them, might translate into an image.  I have even poured paint on a blank piece of paper, turned it around a few times to see what scene reveals itself.  Mostly, though, I proceed through photographs or en plein air. 

 

Which brings me to another aspect of my creativity: In the process of taking photographs for painting, some of those photographs stand well on their own.  I therefore derive quite a bit of satisfaction from composing and capturing a scene in a photograph.

 

Then there is my poetry.  I have written extensively in my early 20s, during a time of great turmoil in my life when my emotions were raw and I hadn’t a clue about antidepressants.  I wrote and crafted my words around lost loves and painful relationships, over hopes and fantasies.  So I decided to put together a book of poetry, and include in it my paintings and photography.  So was born "Common Bits of Life."

 

I am not computer-savvy enough to integrate music into my paintings.  Quel domage.  So I name most of my paintings with musical names.

 

This is a rather long artist’s statement, so I’ll have to whittle it down, say, to "To explore color in all its nuances, and create bold and vibrant impressionistic paintings in watercolor and acrylic."  To see more, visit http://YaelEylatTanaka.com

 

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On blogging, selling art and getting paid with stocks (or bonds)

I hear that Jim Cramer, the Booyah! King of entertainment television, the revered and often irreverent master of finance and all things stocks, blogs — often!  I don’t know how he finds the time, between studying up on stocks, to appearing on television and preparing for his show.  I’m a card-carrying fan.  I LOVE this guy.  He is fun, light, and the education he presents is unparalleled, certainly among the trodgy (there ain’t such a word, but that’s OK), old-school websites online.  He is entertaining — but he is also right on.  Did I mention that I love the guy?

I’ve been trading since 1997, have been "rich" for about five minutes in 1999, then lost it all, and then some.  It was easy money, so I didn’t appreciate it as I should.  And here we are, many years later, suffering through a recession which is no fault of our own (losing money in 1999 WAS my fault).  There’s a lesson here for all of us, I suppose.

I used to trade almost exclusively, but I have since branched out into music and art (painting and poetry).  This is, fortunately, not my own source of income, so I can’t count myself among the Starving Artist Society.  Today I delivered a group of my paintings (42 in all) to my show venue.  You see, since starting to paint in earnest about two years ago, I’ve been accepted to have an exhibition of my work!  It’s just an intellectual appreciation at this point.  It hasn’t really dawned on me that there has to be some talent here for the gallery to foot the bill to sponsor me.  Well, we’ll see.  The exhibition will be held for the month of June, from June 1-29, 2009, at the Mook Gallery at Center Place in Brandon, Florida.  Just my paintings.  One-woman show.  I’m thrilled!  But I’ve been selling my art outside of any exhibitions, through my website (http://yaeleylattanaka.com), through eBay, through personal contact, and I’ve also begun accepting "creative" payment, notably in the form of shares of stock.  I’m thrilled.  It was a stock I had wanted to buy; it pays an 8% dividend, so my payment for the paintings will keep on growing.  The buyer of those paintings has owned that stock for over 30 years, so his cost basis is nil.  He gets practically free paintings; I get a desired stock.  Seems like a win-win to me!

Technorati Tags: finance,stock,Cramer,trading,shares,money,show,exhibition,brandon,florida,one-woman,paintings,poetry,music,display,gallery,website.

My upcoming show, and blogging

OK, OK, you’ve got me convinced: I should blog more.  I should blog often, and my blog should have CONTENT.  I mean, it has to MEAN something to someone.  It has to appeal to people, so they would read it and return to it, to continue to get those little morsels of information or jokes or special offers.  OK, I guess I’ve got to step outside of myself, and give myself away, so to speak.  I’ll try.

 

Today, I "met" a kindred spirit from down under, Tony Moffitt, an artist who blogs about his success in selling and promoting art.  I’m sold, I’m certainly going to follow his blog (http://tonymoffitt.blogspot.com/).  But more than that, he was friendly, amusing and so far, seems knowledgeable in areas which have been elusive to me.  For example, I’m preparing for my first show of my original paintings.  There is no theme to my show, although I did christen it with a name, "Common Bits Of Life."  Initially, I thought I would include my poetry in the show, each poem in its own frame, printed on fine paper, with the book available for sale; but then things became a bit rushed, the finishing of paintings, framing, assembling, tagging, so I simply abandoned the idea of the book, but the name remained. 

 

And as the day approaches, I am awash in fear and lack of confidence.  Will anyone show up? Are my paintings good enough? Are they properly framed? Will people snicker in private, wondering how I made it through? Will I have to drag all that inventory back home at the end?@!  You see, I paint to sell; I don’t paint for its own pleasure.  In fact, the pressure is such that I get no pleasure from it!

 

Woe is me, if someone should read this!  Still, there is opportunity in fear, opportunity in failure; indeed, there is opportunity in anything we do. 

 

I’ve pursued my digital art, and have selected a few for printing and displaying at the show.  I’m delighted with those.  They are whimsical, bright, abstract and fun to do.  Now, THAT’S a pleasure.  Here are some samples.

Dream

Snippets of last night’s dream flow into my consciousness.  I was buying a house, or, as it turns out, two houses.  They were in a blue collar neighborhood, and I was going to look at them.  Somehow the dream is joined by another dream where I was staying at a motel on a main road with a side entrance, to which I had the key, of course, but in last night’s dream, that same key with the side entrance opened the house I was buying.  How strange.  There were people living in the main house, with lots of tile on the floor, mismatched by room, in the gold-orange motif with designs.  The kitchen was open entirely to the eating area.  There was a woman cooking, and two people seated at the table.  There were more people in the small back yard, as they led me to the other house I was buying, in the back.  As we entered the courtyard, they commented, Yes, they destroyed it, referring to some youths who had vandalized the house.  And in fact, as I entered the other house, it was a royal mess, even the concrete had been uprooted.  My mother was staying with me in the hotel, and she became very angry with me, I don’t quite know why, maybe because I had made such a bad investment? When I saw the mess, I resolved to back out of the deal, and forfeit my $1000 deposit.  I remember that number, and I remember thinking that if all it cost me was $1000, I got off cheaply.  Strange dream. 

On Digital Art…

In an effort to prepare for my show in June, I plan to print a sampling of three large giclee prints of my digital art creations (hmm), and print much smaller ones to be put in loose leaf form in a book, with a price list for select sizes.  I’m still struggling to find a medium of displaying my work as if against a colored wall, or set up over a sofa, with some particular decor.  I see it on eBay, but have not found a program that will let me do that kind of display in my website, for instance.  I’m sure they exist, I just haven’t found them.

Technorati Tags: computer,digital art,creative,colorful,display,software,program,graphics

Blogging…

I’d love to continue posting, but I’d like to create a link on my website.

A poem for Obama

An Exaltation Of Larks

by Yael Eylat-Tanaka

 

Arise, that we may know ye,

Oh child of the universe.

Arise ye child of many nations,

And raise thy voice on high,

That we may hear ye.

Sing a song of hope, a song of glory,

A song of ageless victories,

Of sadness and pain now strewn asunder,

And mercy for the weary soul

That toil in fear and anguish.

Raise our hopes with songs of justice,

And our spirits in times of gloom.

Barack, thy name means light,

And ye shall bring us forth from darkness,

As a beacon held up high.

Ye shall purge the doubtful,

And shall cleanse the greedy,

Ye shall put the mighty throng

Back on a path of trust.

Through thy mind and fortitude,

Let a new course be forged,

And through thy strength,

The land reborn.

Arise, child of the universe,

Thy time has come.

For the timid and the strong,

The believer and the cynic,

The rich and the common man,

All who know thee feel thy power.

The dawn of generosity is here,

The strife of peoples has ended,

Generations of the dust,

Children of the darkness,

Have now awakened to a new dawn.

 

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On the road to Costa Rica…

http://yaeleylattanaka.com/travel.aspx 

Don’t ask.  I’m supposed to be excited, but I’m more scared and apprehensive than excited.  Fear the unknown.  South America.  Dengue fever.  Malaria.  Earthquakes.  Nonpotable water.  Don’t know what to believe from the news and what to disregard.  On the other hand, Costa Rica has for years been in the limelight as a very desirable destination.  We are about to find out.  The plan as it stands right now is to arrive San Jose, visit some of the museums, Costa Rica University, the marketplace, then drive to Arenal, and from Arenal to Guanacaste before returning to San Jose for the eventual return home.  We are not taking a formal tour, but prefer to organize our own adventure.

Technorati Tags: travel,costa rica,arenal,unknown,south america,exciting journey,mountains,Dominical,Tarvelocity,Kayak.

Self-Esteem

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Webster defines esteem as regard, respect.  I think that’s too limited in scope, but for such scope to be expanded, one must look at other attributes than esteem.

Hence, courage, valor, daring, fearlessness.

Self-esteem has been discussed in the media forever, it seems.  Magazine articles have been written about it, psychologists have pontificated about it, untold numbers of books have been written.  And if any of them have made reference to the central core of esteem, I must have missed it.  Not that I have read every book on the subject…

Self-esteem is self-pride.  Not the pride mentioned in the Bible as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.  Rather, it is pride in a job well-done; pride in accomplishment; pride and satisfaction at having overcome a difficulty.

When I was in college, I failed a course in computer science.  I failed because I simply panicked at the final exam and "blanked out" after writing my name.  I sat and stared at the paper, read the questions, scoured my mind, but nothing came out.  Nada, zip.  So I handed in my test paper with my name on it, but nothing else.  That experience only served to cement in my soul my fear of test-taking.  Try as I might to walk out of class with my head held high in defiance, I nevertheless felt the deep anguish of having forgotten everything I had learned at a crucial moment.  I convinced myself that I did not need computers for my chosen field, and endeavored to accept that F on my record, and hope no one would notice.

Problem is, I noticed.  I was aware of my own cowardice.  I knew an F was not compatible with my own self-image.  So I enlisted the confidence of my best friend, confessed to him that I had failed by default, but that I had no intention to correct the infraction.  I could live with it, I said.  But no… he encouraged me to return and retake the course, and swore that he would support me in my studies to the very end.  As that was my final term in college, I resolved to sign on again for another 16-week long drudgery of a class in what to me was gibberish, an unnecessary exercise in futility.  But I gave my word.  I would see it through, would not quit.

The specter of having to again complete the same course was unimaginable to me.  The only way out would be to pass the course this time in order to remove that F.  And so I trudged along.  My final project for the semester was a computer program which had to be completed before the final exam, handed in after Thanksgiving.  That Thanksgiving Thursday, I appeared at the University computer lab which fortunately was open (we didn’t have personal computers in those days, and the university lab had only four stations).   To say that I was tense and nervous would be an understatement, but I found a station, sat down and proceeded to collect my thoughts and work on my project.  That was 11 a.m.  Several printouts later, many revisions later, my mouth dry, my eyes stinging, I completed the project.  The packet of neatly folded dot-matrix paper was put in my briefcase, and I prepared to leave.  That was 10 p.m.  I had not gotten up since I sat down at 11 a.m. that morning!

Until one is committed, "All sorts of things occur to help one that would not otherwise have occured." Goethe.

I did not have to take the final exam, and passed with the admiration of the professor.

Did I raise my self-esteem a few notches?  Yes, indeed.  I faced my fear.  I surrendered to it, and gave my word that I would persist until I was victorious.  I did the difficult.  Nothing can compare in feeling than to overcome a major obstacle.

Like a cat

I was eating my lunch, savoring grilled tofu and green beans, doused with sesame oil and soy sauce when I thought I’d heard the garage door open.  That would be my husband coming home.  Amazing how I instinctively attempted to protect my meal, in an almost imperceptible flash of a recoil, anxiety that it might be threatened, fear that he might see me eat and wish to take a bite! I did not wish to share…

Technorati Tags: food,meals,protective,cat,anxiety,control,recipes,ambrosia