The Stories Behind Our Art

There already a thread for this.

Have a look.

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1653768

Which reminds me I need to upload an image and share a story there.

This is a bit different than the other thread. I don't know why they can't co-exist. The other thread is Please share an original art work with a story or journal to accompany it which may help viewers or buyers to understand each art piece better. Share the story (inspiration, history, purpose, meaning, etc..) behind your creative artwork and perhaps that connection will lead to better sales as well :-). Long or short are all welcome, thank you!

This one is more on the lines of what was going on behind the scenes that you DON'T necessarily tell the customers about!!! The stories you share with with other artists and photogs.

You may be right, Melissa. Yet I don't agree.

Xueling begins the OP with, “Please share an original art work with a story or journal to accompany it.”

Which is pretty much exactly what Tom's entire OP says.

Certainly, Xueling was a great deal more detailed in articulating the point of the thread.

Nevertheless, I will let the moderators decide.

Meanwhile I will honor the originator of this idea by posting on that thread. To me this simply looks like a copycat thread.

Again, the moderators will decide.

Peace. Out.

Thomas, the story behind this piece has to do with human suffering it's not about a single event happening in any specific part of the world but a general observation with regards to one aspect of the outcome of the subject.



For a clearer understanding of the sculpture you may want to view the description of the sculpture.

i try to let the image do the talking if possible. because dialog is usually forgotten about, its nice to know about back plot, so i'll add that too, but it's all made up, so it may not matter that much.

---Mike Savad

Hi Thomas - fun thread. The truth behind out images - & they think it is all play & no work.

This painting is a view outside my kitchen window. My intention was to paint traditional / realism.
The watercolors seemed to take on a life of their own . I realized that it became highly symbolic for me - as I was mourning the loss of my sis.in law - & my cat.

Roots, the cat's back turned away, reflecting & the change of seasons.

This one was inspired by a recurring dream I was having about being aboard a ship at night and not being able to see anything. I'm sure someone out there could analyze it and tell me the deep significance and meaning of it all, but in the meantime I just used my art to change the narrative of the dream a bit. I imagined what it would be like not to be *on* the boat, but to be *part of* the boat, like the figurehead out in front leading the way. And because it was a figurehead of my own imagining, I gave her a lantern so she could see even in the dark. I haven't had the dream again since.

@Janine, I love your piece, and the meaning behind it. Art certainly does aid in the healing process, doesn't it?

Here is one that I think tells the story without the need for any explanation.

I agree with Mike. I think an image should speak for itself or be left up to the viewer to determine.

of course the story can make it more interesting but you can't always be around to tell it, assume people will read it, or assume they will remember it.

The one image I have that may be an exception is this...



It was taken on Lake Michigan during hurricane Sandy in 2012.

But this one can stand alone without knowing about the hurricane. There are plenty of storms on the lakes. But I did have one woman buy this as a large framed print at one show I did this summer because her grandson was born the day I took this picture in a hospital in New York that didn't have power because of this storm. The story about it helped her connect to it. But most people that see it seem to like it before they even know where or when it was taken.

This is my favourite story.. and despite sharing this in the other thread, I think it's worth sharing again!.

When I sold the sculpture Sagara and Mani, the woman who bought the piece told me the story behind her purchase.. Already a mother to a 4yr old, she had recently given birth to her second. It was not an easy birth and the few months prior to our meeting had been very difficult with sleepless nights etc.. She was "at the end of her tether". Very stressed and regretting her decision to have the second child. Her loving husband persuaded her to try and chill out a little by attending the annual village festival. The festival includes an art exhibition which I had submitted my sculpture into. The first thing she saw upon entering the exhibition hall was my sculpture...and she burst into tears! She told me that my Art had reminded her what her life was all about. She felt terrible and guilty for having cursed the kid and at the same time felt wonderful for having been reminded about a mothers love. Once she had pulled herself together she instantly made me an offer for the piece. I accepted her first offer (as if i could turn her down :-) and immediately used the money to buy another piece of art I had been admiring...

Thomas... Superb shot! and definitely worth a few holes in your foot.

John...Another fantastic shot. The story of the child born in the blacked out hospital certainly adds to it. Personally, I would include it in the description. I've never seen a lake this angry. I don't recall ever seeing the North Sea this angry..truly awesome.

Mario.. your art is some of the strongest ART iv'e seen on this site!

Janine...Gorgeous painting. It's strange how our sub-conscious minds work!

2D image of an old abandoned church near Langford Estates on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

You could say I have an affinity for old abandoned structures. Thinking back on it now, I feel rather stupid, taking the chances I did, going through these decrepit places when they could have collapsed at any time or had wild animals taking refuge there. Many of these dilapidated structures ceased to exist shortly after I visited them to explore and take pictures.

At the time, my parents lived near this area. There was only one way in and one way out and you had to pass by this old abandoned church on every visit to my parent's house.

Next to this church, near Langford Bay Estates, were some modest headstones in a small neglected, cemetery. Not long after this image was taken, while traveling to my parent's home, I noticed the old structure had vanished.

Exploring the Church...
As I started walking across the floor of the old church, camera in hand, a window on the right side suddenly flew up of its own accord. Don't ask me why I didn't high-tale it out of there pronto, but I'm convinced the vibrations I caused while walking triggered the window. When I looked on either side of the window, hanging inside the walls were ropes with counter-weights which at one time would have helped one to more easily raise the window up. Although an unexpected surprise, the experience proved to be a very interesting excursion into this old abandonment.

The original picture was taken with a Konica SLR film camera many years ago during the colder months. I breathed on the lens, aimed, and waited until just enough evaporation before snapping the shutter to obtain the foggy effect.

On an unrelated (I think) but also strange and unusual occurrence, I left my parent's home and was on my way back out to travel to my own home near Baltimore. It was warm weather and I had the windows of the car rolled down since it had no air conditioning. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is pretty much all country, made up of flat farmland. Traveling to and from my parent's residence consisted of roads between fields for much of the trip.

As I was traveling, and incidentally near the area of the old abandoned church, suddenly something from outside shot through the passenger side window. It hit the headrest and in the next instant there were green feathers floating about in my car. When I checked the back seat I found a small dead green bird!

Two things were very odd about this event...
One, the actual occurrence of a bird flying into an open window of the car while I was speeding down the back road.
Two, I had never seen a green bird on the Eastern Shore of MD my whole life growing up there!

For whatever reason, it seemed appropriate to call this event, an OMEN.

Please include your stories and art here:

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1653768