paintings, bookmarks, NFT
No, don’t worry, it won’t be a self-portrayal and it’s not the title of my autobiography, and no advertising for Jethro Tull either – the older semesters must have mentally screamed out immediately: “Vice versa, man! It must be: Too old to rock’n roll, too young to die”. [1]
What it’s really about is 2 stacks of unfinished work. How that? Ideally, I start a painting and finish it in one session. But often the paint has to dry first and by then I’ve already started another painting and I’m somewhere on a long journey or I just don’t know how to go on or I’m just too tired to continue working.
Then the next day when I look at the unfinished work I’m in a different mood or whatever. I used to just throw a lot away. Now it’s going to be piled up and mentally I call this pile “too young to die“.
At some point, I try to continue, and again nothing may come of it, worse than it is almost painted to death. But something still excites me and I hope to someday be able to do the few vital life-saving surgeries – and then the work comes on the pile: “too old to rock’n roll”. That easy 😊
Today I would like to show 2 samples that not only survived this long journey but are now among my favorites.
painting #1
I’ve reworked it 3 times and the last 2 times it was just a few brush strokes that changed the direction of travel and saved the image from perishing.
painting #2
Is a typical example of tormenting, thinking about giving up… Anyone who grows houseplants knows the phenomenon: a plant, and it doesn’t even have to be your favorite plant, is dying. Leaves turn brown, dry up… In and of itself, the problem would be easy to solve: throw it away and buy a new flower pot. But no, now the Samaritan’s heart begins to beat violently and the poor plant must be saved from perishing. This is my “…rock ‘n roll” stack.
painting #3
The life in this picture seems to have been saved in principle, but the necessary life-sustaining interventions are still missing. I have a few possible solutions in mind but am having a hard time deciding. [2] So back to the pile “…rock’n roll“
Scam alert
For my artist colleagues here: In less than 1 year 3 different people tried to cheat me in connection with my art. Since I’ve been selling online (antiques, collectibles) for 25 years now, I basically know all the tricks and yet I almost fell for it in the first case. Similar trick/situation the 2nd time – both would make a funny story. I may be “too old for rock ‘n roll”, but I’m not “thick as a brick”, to say it with Jethro Tull again 🙂
Why I’m taking up the topic here is that the new scam is different and other colleagues may also become targets. I received an offer this week, someone wanted to buy 2 of my paintings as NFT (non-fungible token). [3] He offered $3000 a job. No problem. I would have to mint them. Basically no problem, but it’s not really cheap to mint NFT. He named me a site where I could mint my 2 NFT and he would then immediately buy it. Communication has stalled since I requested a purchase guarantee.
and a little extra for bookmark lovers
After uploading my youtube video on bookmarks, I got the urge to try some new ones. Here is a selection of the latest. With this series, I tried to become lighter, airier, or like a warm summer breeze. The constructivist aspect was brought more to the fore and the “palette” kept narrower. Of course, one may wonder how a half-grown man would play with flowers so doggedly, but I learn more from it than one might think.
New update at bookmarks
and a little extra extra
I received the flyer for my Chongqing exhibition. One thing is for sure: this flyer won’t win the academy award 🙂 Well, let’s see. The opening of the exhibition is right now, as I am preparing this article.
footnotes:
[1] Jethro Tull is a British rock band formed in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk, hard rock, and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound.
[2] Basically, I see 3 possibilities. 1) The simplest is to set accents with black, which gives them strength and life of the warm tone. 2) to create an additional level with the contrasting color violet through to wine red. 3) Staying in the warm tones and working out the communication of the pictorial elements.
[3] As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think much of NFT in terms of its function as a store of value. A year ago, some achieved millions at auction. Interest has already waned and the big auction houses are starting to avoid the subject.
related: a couple of new works
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