The multiple layers of distant mountain ranges presented in deep blue hues, contrasted with the golden skies. The sky is rich with textured golden and cream tones, depicting the warm glow of natural light. My mood was enhanced by the calm and quiet reflections.

At time of writing, this piece is available for purchase here.

Image Credits

All Images Are © Peter Van Giesen

Peter Van Giesen Artist Bio

Peter N. Van Giesen grew up in Ontario and completed university degrees in Psychology & Religion in British Columbia where he currently resides. Inspired by “The Eternal Aura of Nature”, for him, the act of creating art is “a mystical process, a spiritual work…”

Van Giesen describes his painting style as one that hovers between representation, impressionism with a dash of abstract. “I attempt to reach into the fabric of the world exploring the dynamics of tension and elasticity. I create images based on the interplay between darkness and light, the interconnected aura of the natural world.”

Peter was recently featured at Art Tour International

Blog / Website: Peter N Van Giesen Artist

Follow Peter Van Giesen on: Twitter | Facebook

This painting serves as a attempt to capture the majesty and tranquility of both the snow-covered peaks and the contrast between the vibrant greens on the rocky outcrop and the cool blues of the ocean. Harmony and interconnectedness were themes that guided my brush.

At time of writing, this piece is available for purchase here.

Image Credits

All Images Are © Peter Van Giesen

Peter Van Giesen Artist Bio

Peter N. Van Giesen grew up in Ontario and completed university degrees in Psychology & Religion in British Columbia where he currently resides. Inspired by “The Eternal Aura of Nature”, for him, the act of creating art is “a mystical process, a spiritual work…”

Van Giesen describes his painting style as one that hovers between representation, impressionism with a dash of abstract. “I attempt to reach into the fabric of the world exploring the dynamics of tension and elasticity. I create images based on the interplay between darkness and light, the interconnected aura of the natural world.”

Peter was recently featured at Art Tour International

Blog / Website: Peter N Van Giesen Artist

Follow Peter Van Giesen on: Twitter | Facebook

Memento Mori: “Take A Little, Leave A Little”

It would seem on the surface that artists want to share in order to fill some attention void. This can veer into the obnoxious for some. I had a serious poet friend in my youth who would regularly shove a sheaf of papers at anyone within reach demanding, “Read this!”. Sharing has taken on a whole new meaning in the modern digital age, and of course artists and writers want attention for their work, but not for an ego boost. At least not all of us. Amanda Palmer says that as a musician, she wants to be seen, not looked at and notes the distinction. It’s the difference between adoration and connection. I believe process also plays a vital role in this experience.

If someone looks at a painting or reads a poem of mine, I am not looking for praise or compliments (although that is very nice), but something that a viewer or reader might add of their own. Something that says, “Yes! I’ve been to that metaphorical place you write or paint about” (or not). Isn’t communication part of what art is all about? I believe that hidden in every painting or poem are questions begging to be asked. True communication is always best when there is a response or exchange of some sort.

The very process of painting is about communicating with your materials, images, and forms.

If artists and writers are honest however, we will tell you that often we have no idea what we are doing. Most of us rely on a combination of skills, experience and sheer determination to realize a painting or piece of writing. We experiment. We tinker. We “see what happens”. Photographer Sally Mann calls hers a “magpie aesthetic”, scavenging whatever happens to be around to capture with her camera. The creative act is like being an explorer. I go blindly to the vast corners of my imagination and then report back with a tangible record. I want to know if where I’ve been resonates with anyone at all, or whether I’ve only experienced a fever dream on my own. Being left with no observations or reactions is sometimes, to feel unmoored.

But artists thrive on the wisdom of insecurity! (thank you Alan Watts) A more accurate word might be uncertainty. As an explorer, I accept uncertainty as part of the deal, along with a dash of romance. I’m not talking of course, about romance in an erotic sense, or something wrapped up in a Valentine, although there is eroticism in viewing the world from a romantic lens. (Nature is my Valentine).

Both uncertainty and romance seem required to suspend our belief during the creative process until we are convinced of something. I am used to these two states of being. Many of us operate on the fringes of society or convention all our lives, foregoing soul-sucking employment or costly possessions in order to pursue our work. Or perhaps the work teaches us that uncertainty is the only way in. I know that dogged pursuit eventually leads to something. Susan Sontag refers to the the world as an “aesthetic phenomenon”. At my fingertips is a landscape of color, shape, form and movement, without politics, context or agenda. That seems to me the ultimate romantic view. I fell in love with that world view and artists’ interpretation of it at a very young age. It was and remains mysterious to me.

Organized Chaos

Much like the mystery we initially fall in love with in humans. We respond to their being or presence: their look, smell or manner, even though we know little about them. We might even be stopped in our tracks by something that can’t be explained. Paintings can be like that. They act mysteriously on our “nervous system” as Francis Bacon liked to say, before any information or meaning has leaked out. My particular style of working is to obey what I might even call “romantic” impulses and only consider them afterwards. This keeps the uncertainty from slowing down the flow in the studio. Artist William Kentridge believes that one doesn’t have to have a brilliant idea, but a trust in the material in your hands. To trust your impulses as recognizing something that is part of your process.

And what is the need for artists and writers to tell a written or visual “story” in the first place? To share their “impulses”? To some degree it’s built into our DNA as humans to share. We are born to connect; to convey an experience. In presenting my work, I am sharing the experience I had in creating it. Looking at a painting is to have a singular experience as well. Often people who view my paintings relate some very elaborate narrative that they see in the image and wonder if they got it “right”. But of course, there is no right.

Both mundane as well as life-altering experiences invite reflection. Looking at art provides a similar invitation to reflect and ask questions. And there aren’t any wrong ones. To be clear, I am not a believer in “explaining” paintings. The best paintings to my mind retain a bit of ambiguity so that they continue to evolve and change, just as significant experiences in our lives continue to inform and mold us long after they occur. I also don’t consider an audience during the painting process however, in finished paintings, the meaning in my work evolves over time, with contributions from viewers a part of that. Ideally, this is what sharing work with peers can foster.

I have many artist friends who welcome a constructive critique or comment. Emerging from the creative process prompts me to look for shared excitement about where I’ve been (Look what I found! What do you see?). I love to talk about art and making it is my way of starting the conversation.

Photo Credits

Photos by Linda Laino – All Rights Reserved

Guest Author Bio
Linda Laino

Linda Laino is a visual artist and writer who has been making art in one form or another for over 45 years. With an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she received two years of fellowship awards from the Virginia Museum, Laino was influenced by language from a young age, and moves between painting and writing in search of the connections and the crossover. She has shown work regularly in solo and group exhibitions since 1988, when she was awarded a prize from The American Craft Museum in New York. Her work is included in major collections including the McDonough Museum in Ohio, and Fundación Valparaíso in Spain. In recent years, she has been making art around the world at residencies in New Mexico 2015, France 2016, Spain 2018, and Maine in 2023. In June 2024, she traveled to Greece where she was awarded a grant for a month-long stay to paint on the island of Skopelos. Her poems and prose have been published with distinction in many small presses and anthologies, most recently in “La Presa” out of Guanajuato City. Her poem, Poem at Sixty was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2019. Originally from Philadelphia and Richmond, Virginia, since 2012, she has lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where the color and flavor allow for endless inspiration.

Visit her website: www.lindalaino.com

Sculptor Richard Hunt nails it for me. Art making is like wandering. Artists wander without the intention to find anything specific, but usually, the search results in finding something we didn’t know we were looking for. I’ve wandered through the tunnels of art-making for over forty five years; making my mark, as Hunt says, like leaving a crumb trail. A mark that proves I lived and noticed the world in my own distinctive, quirky way. A world that I honed and dressed up in my imagination. A world that becomes even more interesting to me the older I become but one that is rapidly moving on. I’m sixty five years old. My age suggests many things, some of them cliches which I try not to fall into. But what is certain is that I am no longer young, no matter what age I feel. I can’t claim youth when, (statistically at least) 3/4 of my life is over. This is not negative or morbid. Just a fact. A fact that brings me into panic only when I think of all the art I will never make.

Circa 1993, Author

I recall a moment in my twenties, when my then boyfriend’s mother muttered a similar lament one holiday gathering after receiving all her favorite books that year. I will never live long enough to read all the books I want to. It struck me then, that this life-living was not only about the “fill” zone of adventures to follow and achievements to accomplish, it’s also about how we narrow our lives naturally by many factors that we both choose and don’t choose such as geography, class, wealth, and profession. One lifetime, no matter how rich or exciting, can only fit so many experiences. It never occurred to me in my younger days to think about all the things I would never do. No one dreams of that. This has become known commonly as the “fuckit list”. The idea of my future art landing on this list has lately left me with a sense of urgency. To paraphrase poet Mary Oliver’s oft-quoted question, what art do I plan to make with the last part of my wild and precious life?

Part of the thrill of invention is to walk around the world being flooded with images. These come from observing of course, but also from reading and writing poetry, listening to music and odd things people say in random conversation. Maybe it’s a product of undiagnosed ADD or older onset, but I’ve realized what causes the anxiety is that the flood of ideas are all exciting to me. Which ones to choose?

I have a habit of (ability for?) “images dropping into my brain like slides.” When I once read this verbalization from the painter, Francis Bacon, it was like a light bulb for me. It was the perfect way to describe my own particular mental download. That is, collaging or superimposing bits of the world together that suggest or spark a dialog. The irony is that I paint as a way of asking questions, and don’t know much about what I’m going to paint until I’m painting. But those mental pairings or juxtapositions that crowd my brain definitely have an influence in the way I put things together-both in paint and words. Old sketchbooks bear this out. Sometimes it is years to get from the mental download to interpreting that idea into a poem or a painting. I’m a slow painter. I stare at my paintings a lot.

2023, Author/Mexico

I once had a sketchbook in college that had directives by artists on each page intended as inspiration. One I’ll always remember was, Do more work. It’s easy to be an artist in your head. I conjure this phrase whenever I forget the “work” part of art-making. Getting the idea out of my head and into a tangible form. Part of that work is decisions. They are hard enough during the making of something, but deciding on the many ideas or directions from which to begin is sometimes more daunting. When you hear of artists being stuck or blocked, that is the reason. Decisions are what propel an artist from A to B, whether it’s a bold brushstroke or an eloquent sentence. It’s much less risky to leave ideas in your head. There, they are always successful. I imagine myself on my deathbed, running through a catalog of “successful” images like a cartoon flip book.

But before that event, I am lucky to have had a lifetime of art-making so that I can grow old with art. I’ve had years to establish a relationship to my practice, so there is no danger to lose the impulse or curiosity to make it. As a young artist, I worried that at some future date I would run out of ideas–ideas being the stuff of art in my particular education. Your art was deemed weak without one. I came to believe in ideas and so I was certainly concerned with retaining and generating them. As I became a working artist, I recognized early on that it would in fact, be impossible to run out of ideas and (much like my young boyfriend’s mother) I will never live long enough to realize all of them. Art making has a way of building on itself, but also detours deliciously through unintended alleys along the way. This results in a lot of choices. The artist’s job is to decide which of these alleys offers the richest landscape full of the most possibilities. As time gets shorter, I attempt to be more attentive to what is persistent. And whether my mental downloads ever get realized, I at least get to enjoy them in my mind’s eye.

We often hear art historians discussing and interpreting dead artists’ unfinished work and we are meant to feel deprived that the vision– surely a great one– would never be fully realized. Much has been said and written about what it means to be an older artist. Most will tell you that whatever their path: fame or obscurity, there is a surge of freedom that results from other obligations in life dropping away.

Faith Ringgold honored with a retrospective at age 92 at New York’s New Museum in 2022, recognized at 82 that “Being an artist is a way of life”. Well before 82, one would hope to have found a way of life that fills your gut, and sustains your curiosity. Artists enjoy a profession that not only promises to keep our brains alert, but has the potential for greater insight as we age than the work made earlier in life. And the art that never gets made? To keep working is to keep generating questions, and that’s what keeps the world interesting. It is all part of the process: making marks as I wander through the tunnels. I feel like my best work is just an alley away.

Guest Author Bio
Linda Laino

Linda Laino is a visual artist and writer who has been making art in one form or another for over 45 years. With an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she received two years of fellowship awards from the Virginia Museum, Laino was influenced by language from a young age, and moves between painting and writing in search of the connections and the crossover. She has shown work regularly in solo and group exhibitions since 1988, when she was awarded a prize from The American Craft Museum in New York. Her work is included in major collections including the McDonough Museum in Ohio, and Fundación Valparaíso in Spain. In recent years, she has been making art around the world at residencies in New Mexico 2015, France 2016, Spain 2018, and most recently, Maine in 2023. In June 2024, she will travel to Greece where she was awarded a grant for a month-long stay to paint on the island of Skopelos. Her poems and prose have been published with distinction in many small presses and anthologies, most recently in “La Presa” out of Guanajuato City. Her poem, Poem at Sixty was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2019. Originally from Philadelphia and Richmond, Virginia, since 2012, she has lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where the color and flavor allow for endless inspiration.

Blog / Website: www.lindalaino.com

Before it advertised Braum’s Milk, this little building advertised the Townley Milk Company and housed what might be the smallest store in all of Oklahoma City, selling, well, mostly beer.

Built in 1963, the design of the Founders Tower was and is now a favorite well known landmark on the NW quadrant of Oklahoma City. It was first offices anchored by a bank and now luxury condo’s and apartments.

Image Credits

All Images Are © DARRELL SMITH

Guest Artist Bio
Darrell T. Smith

Darrell T. Smith is a real estate broker, writer and artist from Oklahoma City. He has written and published many short stories (including Life As a Human) and is the illustrator and publisher of the Big Branson Coloring Book.

Website: Darrell T Smith Art & Design
Follow Darrell on Facebook

Man made the machines which now dream

Enhanced Creativity and Exploration

AI technology has the potential to expand artists’ creative horizons by providing them with tools and algorithms that push the boundaries of traditional art forms. With AI-generated art, artists can delve into uncharted territories, exploring unconventional styles, and creating entirely new visual experiences. By feeding AI systems with vast amounts of artistic data, artists can leverage machine learning algorithms to discover fresh perspectives, unexpected combinations, and novel techniques, thus expanding their creative repertoire.

Collaborative Partnerships with AI

In the future, artists will likely engage in collaborative partnerships with AI systems, blurring the line between human creativity and artificial intelligence. Through interactive interfaces, artists can communicate their visions to AI algorithms, which can then generate preliminary concepts, offer suggestions, or even co-create artworks. This symbiotic relationship between humans and machines will enable artists to tap into the vast computational power and pattern recognition capabilities of AI, augmenting their own artistic abilities and allowing for a more immersive and experimental creative process.

Artists and AI will have profound impact on expression

Democratising Artistic Expression

AI-powered tools and platforms are poised to democratise artistic expression by making art creation more accessible and inclusive. As AI systems become more sophisticated, they can assist individuals with limited artistic skills in transforming their ideas into visually captivating artworks. This democratisation will empower a broader range of people, transcending traditional barriers and enabling individuals from diverse backgrounds to engage in the creative process. AI-generated art can become a medium for personal expression, social commentary, and cultural exploration, fostering a richer and more diverse artistic landscape.

A Profound Positive Impact on Artist’s Visions

As AI technology continues to evolve, it will not replace human artists but rather amplify their creative potential. By automating repetitive tasks, providing inspiration, and offering innovative tools, AI frees artists to focus on the core aspects of their craft—conceiving unique concepts, infusing emotions into their work, and pushing the boundaries of human imagination. With AI as a collaborative partner, artists can envision and bring to life artworks that were once unimaginable, thereby expanding the frontiers of art and inspiring new artistic movements. Ultimately, the profound positive impact of AI on artists’ visions lies in the harmonious fusion of human creativity and the computational capabilities of machines, propelling the world of art into a captivating and unexplored future.

In conclusion, the integration of AI technology into the artistic process holds immense potential. With enhanced creativity, collaborative partnerships, and increased accessibility, AI stands as a powerful ally for artists, propelling them to new heights of expression and enabling the realisation of previously unattainable artistic visions. Embracing AI in art promises a future that is both transformative and deeply inspiring.

Image Credits

Images are by Gerald Lee Farrell – All Rights Reserved

Guest Artist Bio
Gerald Lee Farrell

Gerald Lee Farrell is a visionary digital artist based in the United Kingdom, pushing the boundaries of creativity by harnessing the power of AI. With a passion for exploring the intersection of art and technology, Farrell is at the forefront of the artistic movement that embraces AI as a transformative tool.

Combining his artistic sensibilities with cutting-edge AI algorithms, Farrell creates captivating artworks that defy traditional conventions. His work reflects a deep understanding of both the artistic process and the potential of AI to enhance and expand creative possibilities. By leveraging AI, Farrell explores uncharted artistic territories, generating mesmerising visuals that captivate audiences and challenge their perceptions of what art can be.

Through collaborative partnerships with AI systems, Farrell has discovered a new realm of artistic expression. He engages in a dynamic dialogue with the AI algorithms, exchanging ideas, refining concepts, and co-creating artworks. This unique synergy between human creativity and machine intelligence results in a harmonious blend of artistic vision and computational ingenuity, pushing the boundaries of artistic innovation.

With a focus on democratising art, Farrell is passionate about making the creative process accessible to a wider audience. Through his AI-powered tools and platforms, he empowers individuals with diverse backgrounds and limited artistic skills to explore their own creative potential. His mission is to inspire and enable everyone to express their unique perspectives through art, fostering a more inclusive and vibrant artistic community.

To experience Gerald Lee Farrell’s groundbreaking work and delve into the mesmerising world of AI-infused art, visit his website at Geraldleefarrell.com. 

Well, this customer service rep picks up a paintbrush, makes a painting, and then turns it into one of the hardest “I Spy”-style TikTok challenges yet.

The reason?

To take her mind off work. To avoid being defined by her job. To become what customers never see: an artist.

You see white clouds, but can you spot a GIRL IN A WHITE DRESS?

Unlike an office, a puzzle is mentally stimulating. It challenges you to use your brain and eyes in creative ways to complete the challenge involved. That’s why Belinda Tagoe, a local Atlanta artist, made her art into a child’s plaything for adults. It’s well-known that puzzles are a way to keep your brain in tip-top shape. But, what’s another thing that happens when you’ve forgotten about the drudgery of work for a few moments?

You become a kid again.

The only thing warmer and cosier than these fall colours is that house. Can you find it?

Being an adult involves being in Corporate America.

• You work rote jobs.
• You’re shackled to someone else’s schedule
• You think about retirement, housing, politics, and other adult stuff
• You might worry about the future of our economy and society

The world loses its sense of fun, as a result.

Okay, that’s Bank of America Plaza to the left. And, that’s _______________ to the right.

Technically, you have more freedom as an adult, but, in some ways, you have more freedom as a child. When fewer duties occupy your head space, you can fill it with more colors and joy. That’s what these puzzles are about. They’re all about mindless escapism.

And, if someone’s working a bleak job like customer service, why couldn’t they use some of that?

I bet you won’t find the penguin in this picture.

You can see the videos here on TikTok.

Photo Credits

Images are (c) Belinda Tagoe – All Rights Reserved

Guest Artist Bio
Belinda Tagoe

Born in January 1996, Belinda Tagoe is a painter and an illustrator. She’s been making art since 1999 (early starter). Belinda’s not the type to ponder about the deeper meaning or the socioeconomic implications of every painting that she makes. Instead, she sees everyday objects like a car, an elephant, a piece of broccoli, or a teapot and thinks, “hey, what would this look like in a different setting?”. The end result? Some of the surrealist and idyllic pieces that you see before you. Her artworks are an escape from reality. Her main goal is to make sure that, for 10 minutes a day, you aren’t thinking about mindless 9-5 busy work or rent. 

When she’s not painting, she’s reading about meteorology. She’s a heck of a weather geek!  Also, her favorite surrealist painter is Salvador Dali. 

Website: belleroseart.com 
Instagram: @marmaladepop88
TikTok: @marmaladepop88

Yet… my eyelids are hanging. I’m yawning. I’m filled to the brim with dread and misery. I had a full night’s rest. Slept a peaceful 9 hours. What’s going on? Why do I feel so empty?

Simple.

I had just come back from the greatest Christmas vacation I ever had. Went to the movies with my family. Enjoyed a hearty Christmas dinner. I devoured a turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, almost like the Thanksgiving dinner that we had just a month ago. Sugar cookies, my favorite sweets ever, were dessert.

But, just 3 weeks later, I was about to clock in and take more back-to-back phone calls from pissed customers. You see, I was working a call center job for a large financial services company. You have to know just how emotional people can get about their money. I had just 5 more minutes before a flood of phone calls came ringing in. As someone who’d done call center work for 2 years, I felt less and less like a human being.

“I’ve gotta get out of here. Only reason I’m here is for the cash anyway”, I thought. But, no sense complaining. If you have a problem, then find a solution. I shifted from “I’m miserable” to “what could I do to escape call center work?”.

It was this very moment that I recalled a commission that I finished in college. Montreal, Canada. Yes, that name was familiar because I made a painting for a school staff member who visited this city and wanted a way to memorialize it. This man loved it so much that he bought a print and hung it in his apartment.

I wondered, “Obviously, other people hate their jobs. There’s no way that school staffer was the only person who visited a cool city and wanted a painting of it. What about painting glow-in-the-dark paintings of city skylines?”. Yes, I loved this idea.

I always have random ideas for artworks. I’m the kind of person who’d paint an Ice Age landscape of a woolly mammoth enjoying a waterfall, a port at the Aegean Sea in Greece, or something as surreal as a teacup solar system. As an artist, it’s always been my aim to transport viewers to an almost mythical or surrealist location that they’ll never see in their daily lives so that they can forget about the endless rat race for a moment. I sat on this idea for several months. But, finally, I decided to start working on this painting series.

I cherish the work that I make, and I’m happy to have earned a few awards as a new artist, such as the Finalist Award for Art Show International’s 2022 International Juried Art Competition for my detailed landscapes. I don’t make art just to show how great of an artist I am. I make art to help people see that there’s more to life than mindless jobs. There’s plenty that this world has to offer beyond the 9-5 grind. If I can make someone realize that through a glow-in-the-dark painting of a city that they love, then I’m good to go.

Photo Credits

Images are (c) Belinda Tagoe – All Rights Reserved

Guest Artist Bio
Belinda Tagoe

Born in January 1996, Belinda Tagoe is a painter and an illustrator. She’s been making art since 1999 (early starter). Belinda’s not the type to ponder about the deeper meaning or the socioeconomic implications of every painting that she makes. Instead, she sees everyday objects like a car, an elephant, a piece of broccoli, or a teapot and thinks, “hey, what would this look like in a different setting?”. The end result? Some of the surrealist and idyllic pieces that you see before you. Her artworks are an escape from reality. Her main goal is to make sure that, for 10 minutes a day, you aren’t thinking about mindless 9-5 busy work or rent. 

When she’s not painting, she’s reading about meteorology. She’s a heck of a weather geek!  Also, her favorite surrealist painter is Salvador Dali. 

Website: belleroseart.com 
Instagram: @marmaladepop88
TikTok: @marmaladepop88

But then isn’t it equally shocking, how it can all suddenly be tossed into mayhem and be questioned by one single significant event?

Often, that event can be a traumatic one. But in my case, it was from simply sitting on a dock, fishing, with a free wandering mind, watching the sailboats glide by.

And rather than it being about a profound new discovery, it was the opposite. It was the young me buried deep inside, saying hello to the old me, asking “Is it my turn again?”

As a bit of background, many of you know that I had never picked up a paintbrush before 2005. And I do mean never. The desire to paint came out of nowhere. I am completely self-taught and this life-changing shift in middle age to becoming a successful visual artist still surprises me to this day. (And for which I am ever thankful and eternally grateful.)

BUT…while I never had picked up a paintbrush…I had picked up a pen. As a child, I doodled on EVERYTHING. Books, scribblers, any spare piece of paper, and I am sure, a few places my parents were not very happy about. And all I had at my disposal was an ink pen.

I had totally forgotten that.

Then one summer three years ago — completely out of the blue as I lazed on the pier fishing — some images suddenly flooded my mind.

My doodles!!!

Out of nowhere, I remembered how I used to do these and thought “I need to see if I could do this with my paints!”

The next thing I knew I was at my easel, and these images flowed out of me as if it were yesterday. As if I were ten again! As if, no time had passed at all. But now, I can add my fifteen years of artistic skill to them.

What I find most incredible is that these had been sitting inside of me — ever so patiently — for the last forty years waiting to come out. Patiently biding their time, until the time was right. Waiting for their chance to fill me with joy again.

And are they ever!

I find it interesting that when I first released this DOODLES artwork series that a lot of the reactions I received were: “it seems to have an aboriginal influence ” or “a first-nations feel”. I even heard people say they felt there was some “Mexican vibe”. In any event, a very “cultural” kind of comment was often the response. I was even asked what artists inspired me because while it was colourful like most of my usual work, these were different. There were even circles in them!

While people may think there is some form of cultural or ethnic influence in these works — and I am okay with that — the truth is there is not.

There could be nothing further from the truth.

These are Andrew.

Andrew at 10 years old.

Ready to be seen again.

Since embarking on this series, I have sold many canvas-based artworks in it. Here is an example:

Andrew Stelmack by one of his Doodle Series Artworks

But the greatest leap of all is that it has expanded the body of work that I do. I have discovered this style works well as a mural and I have recently completed two projects in Toronto incorporating them.

Who ever thought I would be painting murals? Not me, I can tell you that!

The first is a massive Rainbow Mural in downtown Toronto that I created and dedicated to my community. To give back for all I have been blessed with. You can find the full story on it here.

You can find a time-lapse version of its creation here.

Rainbow Mural in downtown Toronto

The second is the entrance to a brand new LGBTQ wing in The Wellesley Rekai Centre Care Home in Toronto. Another cause close to my heart. You can find a time-lapse video of its creation here.

Entrance to the LGBTQ wing at the Wellesley Rekai Centre in Toronto

Who thought this ten-year-old in me still had so much yet to give?

As you look at my artwork in this Doodle series, I hope you enjoy meeting this part of me as much as I am loving getting reacquainted with him.

And if a long-lost part of you comes knocking on your heart out of the blue one day? My suggestion? Don’t turn away. Throw open your arms and let them in. Embrace them.

They are every bit a part of the you that you had gotten so comfortable with.

There is always, still more to learn. And another journey to be had. Stay open to it. It’s surprising where and when it can happen.

Photo Credits

All Images Are © Andrew Stelmack

Andrew Stelmack
Artist Bio

Andrew lives in Toronto, Ontario Canada. You can see his ever-evolving artwork through his various solo and group shows in Toronto as well as through the many galleries carrying his work in Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Prince Edward County, Gananoque and Oakville. His works are found in many private and corporate collections and his work has been presented as gifts to Ministers and Members of Canada’s Federal Parliament.

As well, Andrew has recently launched his first novel called SEND IN THE CLOWN which is available on Amazon and Kindle.

Blog / Website: astelmack.com

Follow Àndrew Stelmack on: Facebook | Instagram | My Other Artistic Side

Image Credits

All Images Are © mafloku

Guest Artist Bio
Mafloku

Mafloku is a Mexican artist that works and resides in Tampico, Mexico. Financial Public Accountant who despite no formal training and a seemingly unrelated diverse background in prestigious financial, governmental, public and private institutions, and having started a very short time ago, has accidentally discovered ease of expression in boarding profound insights through color and innocence with an overwhelming positive reception with exhibitions in his home country as well as overseas, acknowledgments, and various national and international publications.

Blog / Website: mafloku

Follow Mafloku on: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram