“The Color Red” show at Jingletown Art Studios in Oakland is my first exhibit this year. Red represents power and courage. I often use red in my artwork to show the remarkable resilience and fortitude of my heroes. My pieces emphasize the diversity of experiences, that they make on their journey.
Red is a very emotionally intense color - Emotions are ranging from passionate, intense love to anger and violence. It is a strong, stimulating color that represents excitement and energy. My heroes discover freedom. In my post apocalyptic world, it’s just them with themselves. I like them to be independent – they are imperfect, but striving. I’m blending the warmth of red with the optimism of yellow to give them the power to rise and to write their own history.
In total, I have four new pieces in the show, but I think „Love burns“ is the signature piece. It is about the feeling of emptiness, loneliness, and being without purpose. Everything she loved, became everything she lost. I think everybody knows the feeling when suddenly for no apparent reason, everything falls apart and you only get the chance to watch it. It is running like a fire – too quickly to stop. Everything in this material world comes and goes. Sometimes we attach ourselves so strongly to people, that a part of us is gone, when they are gone. The only thing that remains is our love.
Being an artist, I can relate to my heroes journeys of isolation and solitude. I am a loner. That gives me time to wonder, and to search for the truth. Solitude is necessary to be creative. Early morning euphoria - late afternoon frustrations is a pretty common phenomenon in my everyday life. Repetitive rituals to catch a whisper of inspiration like reading a book at Java Beach Café. Tortured execution in late night and weekend sessions to finish my work. Most artistic progress comes out of this loneliness.
Photo Credits: Heather Piazza
I hardly crawled out of my art studio last month. Too much work and no time for meeting up with people. But we all crave some degree of human interaction. The opening night was quite special to me. I liked the energy and interaction of the JAS artist co-op workspace. I’m pretty good at creating the illusion that I’m not alone at these opening receptions. But I can be surrounded by people and still be alone. I guess at heart I am an introvert - most happy in the solitude of my Outer Sunset garage art studio.