Serious about Series

I love, as I am sure many artists do, to create work that is themed. It's how our brains think, this organizing and assimilating similar information in sequence; in time. Today I was reflecting on the seriousness of series and why it is that we do this. All sorts of psychological reasoning filtered through the synapses in the part of my brain that stores memories and I become aware that association is how every little thing we do in life is learned, forgotten and retrieved.

To date, I have begun, have work in progress or have completed a total of 12 different "themes" or series. Let me reflect on these.

1) My Life in Rhyme (2011-2014) As part of this series, I completed a total of 55 paintings in a variety of traditional mediums to accompany a volume of 52 pieces of 52 pieces of poetry that were written leading up to and away from my divorce (1998-2004). ( See my news feed titled, " Canadian Female Artist Kim Peto Concludes Series with Publication of Book."
2) Creation (2011-2014) As part of this series, I worked mainly in alcohol ink on either metal or yupo surfaces, although there were a few pieces created in other traditional mediums. I began with the big bang and worked closer to our current timeline with eventual creation of the earth and all things in it, ending with the creation of man. This is series is now complete and will be retired shortly.
3) My Garden- 2012-Current. This series will be one that is ongoing for quite some time; I would think as long as I have females being added to my family. To me, women are like delicate flowers; beautiful and soft, blowing in the wind and providing beautiful scents and appealing images for the world to admire esthetically. Additionally, we bear seed, we are strong and can exist year after year, trial after trial and weather just about any storm and come back even more vibrant and beautiful the next year than we were previously. Each piece that is created is done with a specific individual in mind. Each is named in French ( fleur de) in honour of my Grandma Benoit and the legacy of raising her children in a French Canadian society. In walking through my garden, you are walking through my family.
4) Miscellaneous (2011-Current) Any image that is created purely for the joy of creation outside of a particular series is included herein.
5) Holiday Inspired Art-(2012-Current) As one draws toward every new occasion to celebrate, new ideas are formed and opportunities given to create images that reflect upon the state of mind that I am encountering as I approach each holiday season. I utilize my own holiday inspired art in cards that I give away to friends and family and I would hope that others might find joy in doing so as well.
6) Aliens (2012-2014) For a while I was intrigued with how alcohol inks could talk to me in images that felt very alien and eventually took on alien like characteristics. I love studying aliens, the idea of ghosts and foreign non-earthlike beings and perhaps this is why when the inks spoke, they spoke in very non-human terms.
7) Daily Inspiration- For a week in November 2014, I for the first time in almost a year painted every day for a week. The paintings were done within twenty minutes of returning home from my day job as an HR Manager for a large infrastructure company. I completed these pieces as a stress reliever and it's interesting to me what revealed itself in the inks that week. The final one, " The Window in the Room" was finished on a Sunday and was also the last of my paintings done for my series, " My Life in Rhyme". The end of a week, the end of a series and eventually the piece was gifted to the owner of the company where I worked at that time. It is the last position that I will ever take wherein I will put in more time to an organization than to my own needs and was a turning point in my life.
8) Parroting- 2014-Current. This new series tries to mimic the styles and nuances and personal, as well as artistic lives of my favourite artists but in digital format. This has proved to be somewhat tricky, as many traditional art doesn't translate so well to an untrained digital artist's skill set. I have learned that I have to accept my imperfection in trying to mimick those who define perfection and to be creative in my approach. It's my favourite set of art that I have worked on to date. I feel myself growing as an artist and as an educated being.
9) Statement Art- 2014-Current. In the past few months I have felt an urge or need to on occasion create based upon inspiration of current events and political issues. The artwork created in this series will be ongoing until the point and time where I no longer feel the need to comment artistically.
10) Fingerpaint Friday- LOVE this artform. It's the best way to be creative throughout the day at any time and place where I need to release creative energy. I downloaded the fingerpaint app while on vacation in December 2014 and I am impressed with how detailed and beautiful the images can be if you take the time to play. I would assume that this is a fad and in time my interest, as in all other mediums will fade and be directed elsewhere, but for now, it's a great treat in the Doctor's office where you know you are going to be sitting for 20-30 minutes minimum with nothing better to do.
11) Great Expectations (2015) - As a child my favourite book was Great Expectations. A few weeks ago, I revisited this book and in doing so found that I wanted to use my Fingerpaint App in spaces of time to coordinate characters from the novel by Charles Dickens. The series is now complete.
12) It is what it is. (2015-Current) I am finding that as I get older this simple cliche is becoming more and more poignant and much less cliche than I ever thought it to be. You can't change some things and sometimes in life we try and complicate our lives, analyze what is going on and find answers when in reality sometimes the answers are a lot simpler and staring us in the face than we realize. This understanding is lent to the artworld in my new series. I create and then I name it for you. There is no need to figure it out. There is no hidden meaning. It is what it is and I state it. Jasper Johns started this trend by creating every day normal images from common objects. My twist is that I do this and then write into the painting specifically what it is.

I have ideas for the future, but for now, I'm paralyzed by the idea of the Masters and so my anticipation is that I will remain finishing up my Parroting series and eventually retiring my others. This year has been a joy in that I have had so much free time and opportunity to just explore the shit out of my creative capabilities and allow stream of consciousness to exist in my creative process.

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