JaZzArt en València

I only ask God to create in me a pure heart and to renew my body and soul with His Spirit.

Well, I was going to write about it but really, the video says it all, take a look and a listen and let me know what you think of «contemporary expressionism» and of art (modern or classical) in general. Art is a contrived form of expression and never intuitive.

Why is it important to know (learn) about Art History? I ask you. I know why I studied, and continue to study, Art History. But I want to know what you think. And since I truly believe it is quite important, for artists and non-artists alike, because everybody loves art in one way or another. All you have to do is walk by one of the museums in your city and if your museums are some of the famous ones you will immediately notice long queues in front.

So I have tried to make the experience easy and appealing by creating short videos that deal with important artists that have shaped art history in one way or another. I will be continuing the series little by little if I see a good response. But at the moment I have not noticed much interest. The artists I have chosen are not in any order and the ones I have chosen are not my favourites or least favourites. They, whether I like them (some) or not, are part of this great history, so they are included. But you will immediately understand and know whether I like them or not.

In any event, here is one of the videos that has not had much views and really, this is one of the great artists, at least for me. I hope you enjoy it.

CHEERS

I don’t usually wake up thinking about art, but on a foggy July morning, watching the sun rise amidst the absurdity of the meteorological conditions, my thoughts went immediately into creating a record of such a daybreak. So, all morning I have been thinking about art, and especially about the new painting I am working on. I still have not put a single drop of paint on the canvas, but I have been «painting» it for about a week. Of course it is all in my head, as well as some ideas in a sketchbook. But yesterday I finally decided upon the composition. Funny thing, I decided to ignore all the previous sketches and create a brand new one of a thought that suddenly came to my head. So, now I know what the new painting is going to be.

For me that is the «process» of art. It involves trial and error, improvisation, allowing the subject to take centre stage and do it’s solo, and of course I must take into good consideration the rhythm of the entire work. That is the process of «JaZzArT» to create a surreal-expressionist work out of a bunch of ideas. Now I am thinking about the colours it will have. Colours are very important for my surreal-expressionist art as there is a lot of abstract within these figurative compositions. Colour creates the mood, the intention, the message and also attracts attention, and that is very important.

For me the process of art does not include inspiration, or muses, or intuition or the thought that I «am» or «have» talent. My talent is developed with every painting I create as I work, diligently and hard to make it «work». Talent is not a possession, nor is it something you are born with. Talent is developed through hard work, repetition, trial and error and with the desire to create. If people were born talented, they would have a genetic condition, and then be pre-disposed to create but what they create would not be art. Art has to be the result of effort, of enthusiasm and of discipline, and of course, the unquenchable thirst of the artist that guides him to the waters of creativity, which is art.

I am an academic artist. I graduated from Fine Arts at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. Since those days I have grown as an artist because I always considered that art was the search. So I searched and am still searching. I am also finding, I am also learning. I have sought out knowledge from any source, be it a book, a video, another artist, but always from somewhere or someone. There is no such thing as a «self-taught» artist (or anything). No one can teach themselves what they do not know. The knowledge comes from somewhere.

And at this point in my life and career, and after what I am seeing that goes on in art schools at unis almost everywhere, I no longer advocate a Fine Arts degree in Art. I would instead suggest an art academy where you can register and define your course of studies. If you are interested in abstract art you need not waste your time learning figurative (although you should have a good introduction to it), just like if you wish to pursue sculpting, why waste time doing watercolour landscapes.

But the worst thing that I see in the Faculties of Fine Arts is the way the professors want to guide their students to the art forms they like. The worst one is conceptual art and performance art. It seems like there is an overabundance of performance artists as well as conceptual artists. Fine, for whoever likes that, I’ve no beef with them nor with their style. But I think that if you are training to be an artist, an artist that draws, paints, models and sculpts, then you should not be influenced to veer your course of studies towards conceptual or performance art. And that is not the job of the professor. I never wanted a professor to guide my head or thoughts, all I wanted was for them to teach me the basics of art and of the art world (business), which they rarely touch upon.

CHEERS

It is such a delight to be back in this wonderful land and to sail its beautiful coastline…

And last night’s moon was incredible…

Now to do some sailing…

CHEERS

Well, let us talk about some of the thoughts of American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum in Russia in 1905. She wrote fiction until about the end of the 1950’s and after focused mainly on non-fiction, promoting her philosophy which she called Objectivism.

Ayn Rand believed, like I believe that capitalism is the only way to promote a free society with individual liberties and private property. I think it is the only way towards progress truly within a framework of freedom and Human Rights. Any type of government control of the economy, i.e. socialism and communism, limits the will and the energy of the individual to progress and curtails his freedom. The marketplace is the only control that works effectively and justly and a market based economy ensures growth and prosperity for all.

Here are some interesting thoughts from this brilliant philosopher:

«When you affirm and recognise that you need permission of the non-producers to produce, and when you see that money flows and enriches, not to those who work but to those who deal in favours and peddle influence instead of goods, and that laws do not protect you but are set up to protect them from you, and that corruption is compensated while honesty is self-sacrifice, without a doubt you can believe that society is condemned.»

Ayn Rand was twelve years old when the Bolsheviks took over and Lenin began to destroy every one’s life. So she knew full well the horrors of communism and of the disregard a communist dictatorship has for the people. Her father’s pharmacy was nationalised by the state and she, as soon as she could, fled the country in order to be able to live in freedom.

I admire her thoughts and writings because I learned many similar stories while living in Miami among the exiled Cuban community there. Many horror stories were shared of the hardships imposed by Fidel Castro and his communist takeover of the island. So I am well aware of how anti-human a communist government can be.

Ayn Rand died in New York City in 1982 of heart failure.

SOMETIMES ANTI-SOCIAL BUT ALWAYS ANTI-COMMUNIST

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Hablemos hoy sobre algunos de los pensamientos de la escritora y filósofa estadounidense Ayn Rand. Nació Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum en Rusia en 1905. Escribió ficción hasta finales de la década de 1950 y, después, se centró principalmente en la no ficción, promoviendo su filosofía a la que llamó Objetivismo.

Ayn Rand creía, al igual que yo creo, que el capitalismo es la única forma de promover una sociedad libre con libertades individuales y propiedad privada. Creo que es el único camino hacia el verdadero progreso dentro de un marco de libertad y Derechos Humanos. Cualquier tipo de control gubernamental sobre la economía, es decir, el socialismo y el comunismo, limita la voluntad y energía del individuo para progresar y recorta su libertad. El mercado es el único control que funciona de manera efectiva y justa, y una economía basada en el mercado asegura crecimiento y prosperidad para todos.

Aquí hay algunos pensamientos interesantes de esta brillante filósofa:

«Cuando afirmas, y reconoces, que necesitas el permiso de los que no producen para producir, y cuando ves que el dinero fluye y enriquece, no a quienes trabajan, sino a quienes intercambian favores y comercian con la influencia en lugar de bienes, y que las leyes no te protegen, sino que están diseñadas para protegerlos a ellos de ti, y que la corrupción es compensada mientras que la honestidad es un auto-sacrificio, sin duda sabrás que la sociedad está condenada.»

Ayn Rand tenía doce años cuando los bolcheviques tomaron el poder y Lenin comenzó a destruir la vida de todos. Así que conocía muy bien los horrores del comunismo y el desprecio hacia el pueblo típico de las dictaduras comunistas. La farmacia de su padre fue nacionalizada y robada por el estado, y ella, tan pronto como pudo, huyó del país para poder vivir en libertad.

Admiro sus pensamientos y su filosofía porque me enteré de muchas historias similares mientras vivía en Miami entre la comunidad cubana exiliada. En Miami se comparten muchas historias de terror y de las dificultades impuestas por Fidel Castro y su toma de poder comunista en la isla. Así que soy muy consciente de cuán anti-humano es un gobierno comunista.

Ayn Rand murió en la ciudad de Nueva York en 1982 debido a una insuficiencia cardíaca.

A VECES ANTI-SOCIAL PERO SIEMPRE ANTI-COMUNISTA

Así son los dictadores…

Although it may look like a tropical beach, this is the Mediterranean Sea at Malvarosa Beach, València…

Today, warming up to 24 degrees, and sunny! Surf’s up!

Cheers…

Y el número uno tiene que asumir la responsabilidad y dar la cara…