The Thank You Avenue

Opinions, like many things, are rather personal and everyone has them. I was not going to go where many bring that comparison, but you get the point or have heard the saying.

Yesterday I read the article in Avenue Magazine about my return to the love of my life; writing. In all forms, whether through spray can or pen, keyboard or microphone, words have dazzled my senses. I am no connoisseur of the English language, nor am I a formally educated knowledge-pig who spits out random facts at no one’s request. No, I simply love writing and sharing my life and opinions through word, paint and speech.

I want to thank you, Jaelyn, for the article so nicely put together and for the words you chose. I want to thank those who dig deep into the revelation of the last couple years of my life through this blog. There are well over 200 posts. I realize it is wonderfully enlightening and entertaining, as well as a loose history to an individual’s journey. That individual is me. As paint to a canvas comes at a cost to a client or collector, it comes with a cost to the artist as well. Like writing and sharing viewpoints, personal growth or struggle, the artist or author is sharing where they are in their journey. I often remind those who purchase my work that they are not only commissioning my art, but my life at that moment and my ability in that time. Each year growth occurs, changes take place and the result is amazing. Whether through an article of the written word or a beautiful piece of art, the life of the creator is captured and their presence, capsuled. The process is beautiful, but not all seek to share. For those who do share in vulnerability, I applaud you, as it is no easy task to open up to a world so wide and so connected.

Be wise with your words, however. Be wise with what you share. Be not afraid of opening up, nor sharing your gift with the world, as vast and connected as it is. You are who you are and where you need to be, even if that looks dark or dismal at the moment. Just remember that life exists in the connections we have touch to touch, face to face, voice to voice and eye to eye. No one is perfect. If you choose to share, know that many appreciate it and that many do not have the courage to do so. Learn etiquette. Seek wisdom. Know that tools are tools and a master of the arts uses them to their full ability for the benefit or others and self. It’s not just about you. Life exists outside of this online realm and be sure to make that life great!

Thank you again, Avenue, and thank you readers, authors and artists, alike.

TKB

Photo by: Calvin Locke

Fine.

“All in Together Now” ©TheKidBelo 2011

A friendly Nia asked TheKidBelo some questions. The questions are unseen, the answers are here:

“I do not have an education in any art form, so I am not sure where that information came from. LOL. I did not attend art school at all, though have taught and spoken at many schools.

What pulled me into art was influence of my family, my older brother Matthew, skateboarding, music and a natural gift with creativity. I used to doodle on anything in the beginning, always fascinated with color and letters since a young, young age.

My artistic career started full time almost 5 years ago. It was well on it’s way from the stages of graffiti art that began in 1998 under bridges and on trains. My mind state was awesome. It was so open and wanting to learn, so ready to express and try things out. I had no real intentions of art except getting better at graffiti and better at yielding a can. I didn’t use brush until 2006. I didn’t like art in school and never got along with a lot of teachers who taught art. I was interested in shapes, letters and design (logos; skate/snowboard background). Again, I did not have a formal art education and I would not change that, as I love being free to think, paint and do and I do not want to pigeon hole to one style or system of thought (or the uptight art world).

There are many differences between fine art and commercial art. Hell, there are differences in every form of art. Commercial pays, fine art pays later. LOL. To be honest, I have understood the need for quality workmanship in art for a long time, from the ground up! From the canvas material or the base coat and so forth, a person needs to stand behind it all and all of its properties. If it is lowbrow, then it’s lowbrow, but why? Bullshit does not fly and the art world has a lot of BS birds flying around, as I see it. People get away with murder, but in opinion, I guess some could say my art is murder too. To each their own, I guess.

Art is glorious and raw in my mind. It is an expression of the heart and life of an artist, meshed so tightly with technique and expression. Reproduction, of which this world knows all too well now due to media and technology, stands little ground to original and beautiful self-expression. The process is not just the base, but the truest statement made. The art results from the truest self, and that self ebbs and flows with the currents of life, through season.

Education or no education, a true artist will emerge innovative, hungry, thoughtful and provoking, respected and enjoyed (plus many other things). People talk art, soft and subtle and mumbled with higher than thou attitudes at times and to that nonsense, I say beat it. Those people, those convo’s, belong to the burbs and brown noses and money flaunting heroes of our society. Enjoy it. Dazzle your eyes a bit and fill your heart some more. That’s my take on it.”

-TheKidBelo

Transitional positions.

“I’ll say this quickly, as I’m not going into great detail here with what I am about to say. Transition is an interesting place to be in as an artist in any filed. I feel this way because when you are creating and making your living off your work, you cannot really take a break to work out your ideas due to the cost of living and having to eat. As I transition through from one medium or style into the next, I find myself exploring new routes of painting and creating that often leave me sometimes nervous, sometimes questioning, but always moving forward. It can sting your system a bit, being open to your clients and fan base, when entering and working through your process in what seems like broad daylight. As most do not see the studio I am in, most do not see how the evolution takes place upon a canvas and therefore it may come as a shock to see the final piece, especially when my name, or an artist’s name, is usually subject to perimeters and confined to a certain style in other people’s eyes and minds. That being said, I endure and embrace the transition. I hope those who follow my work do also. As mentioned earlier in a latter post, you are investing in and purchasing a piece of a person’s life and journey when buying their art, whichever genre or medium it is in.

So here’s to transition, change, newness and the unknown! Cheers!” – TheKidBelo

“Siblings” 80″ x 50″ Acrylic & Aerosol 2010. TheKidBelo. (Sold)