Paintings from 2021

It has been said that art is about evoking an emotional response. The artist creates items, situations, and events that are born from their insides, their guts, their unarticulated thoughts, their pre-emoted emotions, and present them to others possibly to have someone express agreement, sympathy, or just an acknowledgment that they, too, have experienced. Through this process of agreement, our perception of reality is manifest. With this in mind I present my work in the hopes that others will see, agree, and confirm my own emotional response to what I experience as I navigate this life.

Dream landscape. Acrylic on paper, 2021 © Stuart Dummit.

This is a little 9″ x 11″ acrylic painting on paper. I love the atmosphere and color of this one.

Seated figure. Acrylic on canvas. 2021 © Stuart Dummit.

About 24″ x 32″ this is one of my favorites. I doubt if it will ever leave the nest. But I could be wrong. The colors and textures and, again, the atmosphere are key.

in progress…where do I go from here?

Untitled. ©2018 Stuart Dummit 16″ x 20′ acrylic on canvas

A painting in progress….not sure where to go from here since the original intent has been altered by the process of making the picture. I do these things and there isn’t a big, deeply meaningful motivational driving force. I don’t know… what do you think?

Pop-up Exhibition at the Verge

Had a fantastic experience with the Verge Center for the Arts here in Sacramento, and a pop-up exhibition featuring some of my work along with the work of Jason Clark. There was a screening of the bio-pic “Tom of Finland” and a showing of photos, paintings and multimedia works, and some fantastic conversations and meaningful interactions. Here are just a few of the images from the event.

The crowd prior to the screening of “Tom of Finland.”

Artist Jason Clark in front of some of his work.

Fernando and Mike – they set up the event and ran the bar. Awesome men.

Artist Jason Clark addressing the crowd.

Me, Arianna (Gallery Director,) Jason (artist,) and Ronn (Sacramento Valley Leathermen organizer.)

Some attendees in front of a few of my photos.

More of the amazing crowd.

Artists Stuart Dummit and Jason Clark.

So many thanks to Arianna and the crew at the Verge Center for the Arts, artist Jason Clark, organizer Ronn Darwin, Fernando, Mike, and all of the people who came out and made the event a success. Thank you!

All images ©2018 Stuart Dummit.

Vessel 1

 

Back to painting for me. 16 x 20 inches, acrylic on canvas, produced in Sacramento, CA in May of 2018,  This is based on a small watercolor painting I did some years ago. You can see some major and minor changes in design and coloration, but the basics are there. I will probably continue to work with this basic imagery. There is a post-cubist element to the construction and design, and an attention to color application and, in the case of the new work, a painterly approach.  I would love to hear comments on the images – what impact do they have on you?

 

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all images ©2018 Stuart Dummit

There Was A Crow

I have been writing. I have been writing stories that I want to integrate into a larger story that chronicles a series of defining developments in the lives of a small group of characters. With each of these characters I find that there is something about a crow that resonates. I recall a line from Martin Scorsese’s film Kundun where the sister of the future Dalai Lama recalls the birth of her brother: ‘…there were crows.’ Yes. There will be crows.

There Was A Crow.

©2016 Stuart Dummit

On Not Functioning Well Under Expectations

not really the title – electronic drawing processed with Dreamscope, Snapseed, Art Studio, and LiveSketch HD on electronic pad device🔝

Protopostartism. 

Artifact.
DES Archives. Used by permission of the DES Department of Propoganda. 

©2016 Stuart Dummit DES All Rites Reserved.

the continuing question of (f)art

Again, is it “art” if one of the tools used to create it has a mind (algorithm) of its own? Is it “art” if it is just well crafted? Is it “art” if it has no purpose other than to break up space on the wall behind your couch? I think it makes no sense to be so divisive. That is, until divisiveness is in my own best interest, and then I’m all for it. One must fight art disease at every turn. [The term art disease was coined in the 1970s by conceptual artist Richard Olson who defined it in terms of “the hardening of the categories.”]

With that bit of stupidity out of the way, I present to you a recent example of my electronic drawing, painting, and/or print making. The question is really, “does it make you feel anything? Is there an emotional response?” (and, again, not a rhetorical question.)

“I Am” Electronic Print. ©2016 Stuart Dummit

 

Concern

This is another drawing that has been manipulated by one of those generative apps used by thousands to make their pictures more “unique” and “individual,” like all the others. I’ve been using them as a midpoint in the process to drive the image in a different direction and then to use the choices I’ve made and the choices made by the app algorithm as creative nourishment. It is all so absurd when I think about it, but the point is to, a) express something within me, and then, b) elicit an emotional response within you, the viewer. If it is working, then I’ll continue until I’m bored or have nothing left to say along these lines. If it isn’t working, well, then somebody better tell me. Thank you.

Per usual, this image is ©2016 Stuart Dummit. All rites reserved. ▽△

a reconfiguration of a watercolor from 2014

as always, ©2014-2016 Stuart Dummit

Ocean Interface (2005)

 

 

Ocean Interface.    Acrylic on Canvas 2005 30″ x 40″