Welch Gab: Art on the mind...

The last few days have been full of chores and decision. We had to work out a glitch with school and financial aid, deal with the never ending stream of work or thinking about work, cleaning the apartment, and cooking. With all of this mundane stuff, we decided to do a little life evaluation to spice things up, and we ended up planning on moving back to Tucson. I am actually really excited about it. I use to say that as much as I liked Tucson, i would never move back because it would feel like a step in the wrong direction in this big life path we are all on. I am also one to know that things change, mostly due to that same path. We are still planing on going out of state for school in the summer of 2012, but we both want to be near friends and family in the mean time.

Besides that new event, I have been filling my brain with art. Now that I have decided to buckle down and go to art school, I have been driven to learn as much as i can before I apply and leave. Barns and Noble is Prescott's only large bookstore, and it has a great selection of magazines. Today I found two modern art issues that I fell in love with. The first one is called Hi Fructose and is filled with Illustrative type artists. The other is New American Paintings which is large, very well printed, and pretty expensive. It might as well be a book that comes out with a new addition every other month. Both of these offer regular updates on what is happening in the art wold right now, and are pretty easy to get.

When I was in high school, being involved in the fine art world didn't really interest me. The world is filled with snooty clicks who like to abuse their power. People tell you to be yourself and then judge you for it. They tell you that there is no way to succeed. That was all I knew about it. Don't get me wrong, that side still exists, but there is more to it. And I think most of all, i decided not to care if that was their attitude or not. See, the art world is a funny place. You will never be forever satisfied and on top, and there is a big chance you never will be. The point is that if you are an artist, you know that it doesn't matter. If you know that if no one would ever see or care about your work, you would still do it. Even if all you were doing was filling a barn full of canvas, you would be painting away at the new one. An artist's journey is not finding what the masses like, it is finding that piece inside that matters. You are constantly looking for something with out know what it is. It's the journey that becomes the muse for your creations. Knowing this, I realized that the material side of this universe didn't matter. I am going to school not for the degree, but for the education and the greater chance in finding my own journey.

These thought have lead me through a lot of new outlooks on the world of galleries and black dresses. I realized that knowing the artists of today is just as important as knowing the artists of the long past. Even though many have fleeting fame, the pieces they create are inspiring and personal. This is what our generation has to say about our world. We should know how to listen to it. I now find myself marking gallery openings on my calendar and flipping through my college catalogs over and over again, just to see what the student are creating. I am excited to be moving to a bigger city in a few months, and an even bigger one in a couple years, even if it's just for it's art and music scenes. For so long i was afraid to involve myself in this culture because i was intimidated. Now the thought of it is invigorating and inspiring for me.

Even though I have a long way to go for my personal journey, I am happy to be finally involving myself into the art scene. I know that if I just remind myself that it is my path and feelings that matter, I will succeed in what I set out to do. To always be pushing myself and my art to the furthest reaches that i can take it. So with all of that, here are a few of my favorite images that I have seen the past couple days...