Chaos is the Wisdom: April 2009

What is art?

There are those who think of art as something to decorate the walls (as with certain paintings), or to kill time (as with certain works of literature), or in general to make one's world more lovely. I think otherwise. Art is not by definition pretty, or decorative, or even nice. Art is, by my definition, a dynamic process the result of which is life becomes more meaningful. Art does more than "be created." Art itself creates. Art begins with the artist, who puts the words on paper, or the paint on canvas, or the music and thoughts into a song--whatever the medium may be--but that is not what makes it art. If one walks past a work of art, or hears the sounds of a work of art, the creation process continues. The observer of true art cannot simply smile and move on. With true art, the observer must stop, and think, and react, and change. Art creates a new experience, a new understanding, a new expanded universe. A society that restricts or censors its art is restricting its own growth, its own existence. A person who limits his/her exposure to art is stifling the very nature of that person's life, the process of growing and learning and discovering. Life holds secrets that are never learned by the cautious, by the afraid. By involving oneself in the dynamic process of experiencing true art, one expands reality, one makes the world a bigger and much more meaningful place. Life is art. Art is life. It's the complexity of life (and art) that makes it worth living.
--- Sammy.......3/26/2009

Art by Saml to be publicly displayed...finally!

In March, 2010, the artist will display many of his paintings at the Paseo Art Space gallery, 3022 Paseo, north end of Paseo district in Oklahoma City, (that's near NW 30th Street and Walker), in a solo exhibition tentatively titled "The Evolution of an Artist." At the current time, none of his art has been shown publicly in the US. There are a few of his paintings--small, dust-and-grime-covered, nearly forgotten, from a few years back--hanging at the open-air beachside El Restaurante Malecón in Puerto Vallarta, (it's the tree-encompassed edifice in the painting below), and one nice painting of his strange Pelícanos once hung in the PC Cafe on Olas Altas in Puerto Vallarta--until it was stolen. The show at Paseo Art Space will last the month of March, with a public opening set for the evening of Friday, March 5, 2010.

My Artist Statement for Paseo Show, March 5, 2010

The Evolution of an Artist – A show by the artist Saml

--Sam Botkin

I am an artist who has until this point in life (March 2010) kept my creativity to myself. I taught high school math for a career, during which time I produced art in private to maintain my equilibrium. Since my college days, I made decisions regarding my life that allowed me time and feedom to be creative. It took me 35 years to understand those needs, to realize that in fact I am an artist, a person who must go beyond the limits imposed by reality. I love producing musical art; I have written thousands of pages of novel manuscripts; and I have spread gallons of paint on smooth surfaces, just to see what might result. When I retired from teaching in 2008, I decided to take my paintings public. Sixteen months after that decision, here is my show.

My official creative training is minimal. I did take a couple of art classes at Oberlin College, graduating in 1970, but that effort was dampened by the turmoil of the sixties and the Vietnam war. (I did develop my signature during that period...the artist Saml.) Otherwise, I have trained myself. I was greatly influenced by a humanities course I took in college, where I researched a report on the expressionist art movement of the early 20th century, from Klee and Kandinsky to Picasso. Klee was my favorite, but I was proudest of Picasso. He was a magician with his art, and it was his originality as much as his art that I most admired.

My art itself has evolved greatly over the years. For many years, I painted when the mood struck me, painting images from my dreams, or my imagination, using acrylics beginning in my college years, then switching to oils once my methods matured. Ten years ago, I decided to take my painting more seriously, and for a painfully long time, I worked at "getting better" by reproducing lovely depictions of real life, lots of beach and park and street scenes of the people of Mexico. More recently, I liberated myself from those social demands, and I have now returned to producing images from my fantasies. I have learned a great deal by watching young people create their art: i.e. my seven-year-old niece, a girlfriend’s five-year-old daughter; and in the past few years I have worked hard to develope my innate desire to paint like a child.

I was inspired in this past decade by the art and artists in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, specifically José Marca and Rogelio Dias, two artists who paint confidently with uninhibited expression. I became friends with Marca and gained from him an understanding of the patience required to produce an intended result on canvas. I learned through an intermediary (the gallery owner who displays his art) of the turmoil lived by Dias and expressed in his art, and I found a kinship there that pushed me to exploit my own inner chaos.

It does not bother me if my art sometimes offends. For those who are offended, just shake your head and move along.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Now here's a story worth blogging about...

I'm working in my barn tonight. One of the pleasures of working outside (my barn is open on one end so it's almost like being outside) is that I commune with nature. The fresh air, the bugs, especially the birds. The birds and I share the barn. Tonight the wind is blustery, but I'm protected well, just cleaning out my brushes, enjoying the quiet night, when a bird, then two birds, probably the wrens that keep me company all day, start chirping from opposite ends of my enclosure. Don't sound too frantic, but they keep it up a while, so I sit on my sofa (yes, I have a small sofa in my barn) to listen. Very pleasant. I'm wondering what the fuss is all about, when I notice the white plastic grocery bag (of paper towels) I keep hanging from my easel-thing (big bunch of boards nailed together to hold whatever size board or canvas I come up with to paint on) starts moving. Something alive inside. I watch, as the creature slugs about inside, seems to be working its way towards the open top. Then it gets stuck, probably caught up by the paper towels. I finally go to check it out, when out of the top pops the head of a young feathered wren, fully alive but obviously flustered. I chuckle as I assist the little guy out, then watch as he flutters like first-time fliers do, in a downward diagonal beeline towards the corner of the barn floor. Apparently his maiden flight had landed him in my towel bag. Or else he mistook it for a nest. Either way, the birdie is in the world now, no doubt be flying well by tomorrow.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

OKC Art Festival time....

It's nice to go see others' art, but I sure am reluctant to leave my barn (studio). Got to get work done before it gets too hot. Lost nine days of work last week (9 days in a week?) with my trip east, (won't complain about that though, Rickie), gonna lose another five days coming up when I go to Chicago (big art show going on there at the time, so it may be okay). All in all, except for the occasional heavenly experience, I'd rather be in the barn.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

3815 miles and once again back in Oklahoma....

Nice road trip. I just wish that lady I met in Fall River with the platform sandals and the pushup bra would email me (address in profile!). I have a pick she might be interested in.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Well, it happened. I saw Rickie Lee Jones.

I sat ten feet from her, chatted with her, gave her my Flying Cowgirl t-shirt, but most of all, I got to experience the magic. She's a very special lady. A gift from the great creative spirit. She said one thing, that we are all God, that we are each and every one of us a part of the holiness of this life (not her exact words, but that's what she said, in her own way). She is a special part of that holiness. I'm glad I live in her world.

Here I am, Fall River, waiting for Rickie Lee...

I'm actually just across Narragansett Bay from Fall River at the moment, passing the next few hours at my sister's house in Providence while I await the big Rickie Lee Jones event tonight. The cross-country drive went well, and quicker than I had anticipated. Even spent a few hours in Newport yesterday, checking out the scene, buying t-shirts from the Bait & Tackle shops and visiting a few of the artsy locals. (Hi, Cynthia! Local herbologist. Here's a plug for your Fireworks Gallery--Galerie Feux d'Artifice. 32 Franklin Street.) Anyway, once I left Newport, I drove to Fall River and stopped by the Narrows Center, set off the alarm when I entered the empty facility, a beautiful place created just for intimate concerts like the one I'm about to see, then met Patrick when he came to check on the screaming alarm. My good luck, since that put me in a position to become a patron of the arts center and get a reserved table for the show. I'll be sitting a few feet from Rickie!! I am excited. Life is cool.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Yoga my world...

I've been practicing yoga for a while, benefitting greatly from the physical and mental manipulations that stretch both body and spirit. Never expected that my recent decison to expose my private life would include the yoga thing, but there it is, on the world stage (world wide web anyway), all the news that's fit to promulgate. (Guy, light shirt, yours truly.) http://newsok.com/multimedia/video/18038855001

SCROLL DOWN FOR MOST RECENT ART

CLICK THIS LINK to view My Art in PUERTO VALLARTA

CLICK this link to see paintings of Puerto Vallarta, painted in USA.

Links to art pages

Shamliri's Swan

The Moon, The Swan, And Magdalena

CLICK these links to view MORE ART

Before The Beginning

Camila Vs The Ant

Beneath The Full Moon

Yo y Mi Gato

Mama Iguana

The Girl With The Blue Curl

Man-eating Iguana, Playa Los Muertos

Un Día en Playa Los Muertos

El Plato Vacío (The Empty Plate)

Spilt Milk

Artist, After The Fall

Morley's Banjolele

I Dreamed I Saw A Crowd Of People

Tumbling Through

Living, Playa Los Muertos

Hot Day in Costa Rica

Honeymooners

Troubled Dreams

Artist and Model

Last Month's Art Show

ART WAS DISPLAYED DURING NOVEMBER 2010

VIEW PHOTOS FROM OCTOBER 2010 ART SHOW AT PASEO STUDIO!

PHOTOS FROM SEPT 3, 2010, ART SHOW PARTY

PHOTOS from August 2010 ART SHOW opening

Flow

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Farm Girls At Night

Breanna and her Big Spotted Dog

Tommy and Two Tanangers

Rock Climbing Beneath a Lizard Sky

Father and Son

La Rubia

SOON TO COME: VIEW PNTGS 4 SALE (NOT Ready yet)

ART FOR SALE

Paseo Art Space Show was held in March 2010.

Sandy's Magic Dog

Illegal Immigrants In Love

Ms Omo

Twee Hawn