Carlsbad Art and Culture

A paycheck might be too small and a car might run too slow. A dog might bark too often and your jalopy might need a tow.

An upstairs neighbor might wear high heels late into the night and an ocean might sleep long with waves out of sight.

A neighboring building might encroach on your view and June gloom might tease like an unwanted rue.

UpState construction might dig way too long and your mind might replay that catchy and unwanted song.

When irritations scatter your day from start to end and your night drags on like and email that won’t send.

When your blood boils hot and your hair begins to thin, stand back and open your eyes, remember where you are livin’.

Look at these shady village streets and the places you go, remind yourself that you live in Carlsbad… a village paradise at the end of a rainbow.

What do you love about living in Carlsbad?

You scatter Facebook and Twitter with photos. You cover your car with eye catching stickers and you dye your hair the color of a late September sunset. Long painted nails make your office job impossible and the exterior of your home is painted the colors of a brightly decorated Easter Egg. In one way or another, you attempt to make yourself stand out.

You yearn for attention, but is that desire to be noticed enough? To be noticed is one thing, but the lasting impression is another. You may take off a magnificent dress at the end of a day, but that memory, if truly magnificent, carries on through stories, articles and photos. A beautiful song goes mute the day the artist stops singing unless it is chosen to be covered. A historical event with lasting importance is immortalized through film.

“Being noticed is one step short of a lasting impression”

How do you standout? How is it different than just being noticed?

Conceptual art contains a well thought out reasoning for the creation of a piece. Emphasis is put on the meaning, rather than solely on the visual experience. Dali described the psychological findings of Freud through symbolism and Duchamp challenged the traditional notion of art. Rothko simplified canvases to solid planes of color and Rauschenberg presented the creation of art while erasing art. In these cases, the art lies in the idea; the visual elements are vehicles used to transfer a conceptual meaning.

Other artists created with a primary focus on visual aesthetics. These pieces are broken down and defined using the elements of art: line, shape and form, texture, color, composition and space. A visual journey is the goal of the artist. The artist creates a path for the viewer’s eyes following lines, symmetry and color domination. The success of the piece depends on the harmony of these visual elements, not on symbolism or conceptual theories.

Other pieces use the elements of art to help strengthen an underlying message. The direction and placement of lines can dictate the feel of a piece. Vertical lines represent height or a heavenly path. Diagonal lines convey a feeling of movement. Contrasting colors create a sense of tension.

Art attempts to ignite a conceptual or visual analysis. Some pieces serve as a vehicle to transfer ideas. The visual elements are less important compared to the underlying message. Other pieces stress the successful harmony of the elements of art through a strict visual experience.

Do you feel the above piece was created as a visual experience? Conceptual? What is your interpretation?

think of color combination, line, symbolism, symmetry!

Ideas are like snowflakes on a cold Winter day. Their whimsical decent concludes with a delicate landing upon a pile of previous brainstorms. In a creative blizzard, ideas clutter on the frozen ground in a thick blanket of inspiration. This layer continues to build, reaching your window pane, climbing your door and eventually trapping you within the walls of your studio.

Equipped with a color slinging shovel, you begin digging through the layered blanket of ideas. Each foot of creativity corresponds to a new collection of projects. Your studio walls begin to fill with freshly splattered canvases and the barricade that once trapped you begins to wither. Your roof becomes exposed, followed by the top of your front door. A recently stretched canvas glows as a ray of sunshine fits its way through a newly exposed section of window.

A squinted glimpse towards the clear sky results in a frenzy of work. Like a forgotten avocado, your ideas struggle to remain fresh. The sun’s rays pierce your blanket of creativity. One by one, your ideas melt and dribble down your front lawn and into the street. You work in a feverish torment. For every two completed projects, you lose one. Your fingertips are sore and your nose burns over a sea of drying paint. The balls of your feet feel as if they are filled with sand and your back ages with every move. Your stomach cries for attention and your eyes are the color of a late night shopping spree.

After months of preparation and dozens of projects, the seal of your studio door breaks. The rusty hinges swing wide and your eyes meet the Spring colors of a new season. A lush green lawn overgrows the front sidewalk and stretched white clouds smear across a royal blue sky. Birds churp and bees buzz as neighborhood kids chase the jingles of a local ice cream truck.

Weak and weathered, you stand feeble. You sweep the short path through your yard with a wide smile. You invite the community into your studio with nods and hearty handshakes. Your paintings hang on the walls as trophies of another Winter survival and are marveled at by family and friends. Your battered mind and feeble stature is a small consolation for the the smiles your work attracts; the sleepless months prior is nothing more than a dream when you learn that you have inspired and the work you endured is a fading memory when you have found your labor of love…

Happy Labor Day!

Click HERE for Labor of Love by bryan snyder!

What labors do you love?

An empty bottle crashes upon the sidewalk sending shimmering shards into the dark street. Swerving cars sway through the glass as a feeble corner house sends midnight serenades into the early hours. Doors slam and hiccups echo under the swollen moon. Windows rattle and a neighboring dog yelps. The front lawn, moist with late night mildew, is scattered with long faced silhouettes in sleep or drunken stupor. Night prowlers and hoodlums creep from the shadows as possums and raccoons scurry. The houses facade reflects the colors of humanity’s terrible passions from the neighboring traffic signals and a siren screeches in the distance.

The moon falls victim to cheap liquor and the sun awakens to a lawn littered with cans and half eaten burritos. Articles of clothing hang from the overhead wires and tipsy doodles scribble the face of a snoring teen. A mid morning breeze whips relics from overflowing ashtrays and a smirking neighbor washes the black marker from his fingertips.

Was the disgruntled neighbor’s retaliation justified?

A sandy toed boy sniffles as his favorite beach ball rolls into the distance. It tumbles along the sandy asphalt as a boy sulks on the porch of his beach side bungalow. Barefoot kicks launch the ball into the air and gusts send it bouncing off roadside debris.

The ball yearns for the delicate hands of his boy. His colors begin to fade and his healthy stature begins to sag. Nagging thorns prick and the ball winces with a slow hiss.

The ball is lost and his boy is lonely. Help them reunite…

Have you seen me?

Some artists prefer to create behind closed doors where they meticulously work from photographs or from within the imaginative walls of their mind. Their creative process is rarely seen and their finished product is unveiled weeks, months or years after completion. Others prefer to capture their subject in its natural environment, under natural light and in view of the public.

En Plein Air is a French term which means “In the Open Air” and is used to describe the act of painting outdoors. Plein Air painting became popular during the late 19th century when the French Impressionists began emphasizing loose imagery based on capturing the variations of light at differing times throughout the day rather than finely delineated pictures.

The popularity of plein air painting increased drastically around 1870 with the invent of paint in tubes. Prior to these tubes, painters made their own paints by grinding pigments with linseed oil. The “French Box Easel” with telescopic legs and a built in paint box and palette was also invented at this time making treks into the forests and along rocky coastlines less onerous.

Have you seen plein air painters lately? Where?

Click HERE for info on the Carlsbad Village Art Academy!