action vs. inaction

talkers vs. doers
action vs. inaction
the rest becomes the subject of tedium.

to achieve greatness, we must live in the "now."
we must act in ways which move our lives forward.

i woke up this morning with the conviction that
we must take charge, individually and collectively, of our own destinies.
hoping or living according to expectations -- our own or otherwise, is stiffling.

my resolve for the day is to trust.
trust that if we simply act upon how we feel or do what we need to do,
it's the most any of us can hope for.
trust that it's okay to not know where we're going.
trust that the sculpture will become what it's meant to be.

worn & jeremiad

trouble

all she wants to do is ride.

jackson stir_aug2007

jackson1_aug2007

Marin MOCA announcement

the reception for the Art League of Northern California national show will be at the grand opening for the new Marin MOCA

Saturday 9/1/07, 5pm - 7 pm

perspective

from my archives, i pulled this first oil.
there's a naive freshness from early work, that i'm looking to recapture in my more recent work

movement

triadic

beauty and resolve

the *notion* of beauty:
we like to be near it, have it in our homes, have it in our lives, and hopefully have it in ourselves.
there are even times when we seek to somehow posess it.
is beauty something tangible that can be possessed?

is this the reason that the cosmetic and fashion industries are so lucrative?
is this why we want to be artists or collectors of art?
isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder?
is beauty something that's fleeting?

are there times when we have to resist getting too close to beauty?
can something be both ugly and be beautiful?
is it a matter of perception versus presentation?

i'm uncertain whether or not the two can be mutually exclusive.

random thoughts from the day.

More sculpture from 2006-2007

"delicate 2007"




"reclining looker"

clutter and irony

Today, on my walk across our beautiful City, I stumbled upon this sight.

(click image for enlarged view.)
Upon the handwritten sign is"Please pass papers through the gate and not on the sidewalk."
You can see why ;) Somehow, I find this amusing and ironic, but perfect in so many ways. This is the absurdity of life.

Yesterday's walk, much prettier:

Variations on a theme

The first sculpture is "Man Not Quite Broken." It's a forton cast.

The next is "Empting Nesting,"
a bit of commentary about looking to ourselves to fill empty nests.
I'll leave it to you, to determine the context of "nests" and "self."

Submissions, Summer 2007

Sometimes we need to submit to what we need to do.




When you believe in what you're doing, you do it until you can not do it any longer.

"Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that generation," Nelson Mandela 2006

statements & veracity

Art Statements. I find irony that we have to write about something that should speak its own language.
But out of respect to tradition, here's one I found myself writing for a couple of shows.

"Sometimes, I find things to paint, to sculpt, or to assemble.
More often than not, those things find me.
Be those subjects or objects, it is the very act of finding (things or ideas) that I begin to process the true act of discovery.
More correctly, it is from those objects that I discover true process.

My work comes from a desire to deconstruct and to assimilate a greater sense of the human condition.
Deconstruction comes from history; assimilation comes from knowledge.

I believe interesting work comes when we allow our minds to recognize history and its potential effect on our future.

I believe work can be a reflection of the human condition.
It is the identification of similarities and the enlightenment of discovery from which we find our audience.

When I create work, I want the seams and the edges to show. I want there to be a record of the process and of the materials. I want my audience to recognize places from which my work comes. I seek truth and disclosure.

I believe that change can be created with the knowledge that we must "never give up."
No matter what our plight, we must allow our voices to be heard.

It is from art, that I find community. It is from the world of forgotten objects that I find beauty.

In spite of ourselves, even when we want to, we can't give up, we won't give up -- because this is truly what we love to do.

Tami Sloan Tsark,
this 30th of July, 2007."

Summer 2007: Sculptural Wooden Gourd

"How I spent my Summer vacation, 2007:"



Perhaps not the WHOLE summer, but four weeks have been spent at a sculpture workshop in Marin, meeting and working with some very talented artists, (more photos available on Flickr.)
Carlton Bradford was the instructor. He's a really funny nice guy. For my first wood project, Carlton challenged me to make this weird gourd (that I had found at a vegetable stand last Fall on a road trip with my mom).

This was the first time I've worked with wood, and believe me, it is not the same as working with clay! Don't even get me started about doing sculptures out of metal :) Pound, spark, zap, ouch.
The good news is I made a gourd. The bad news is that it took me a couple of weeks to a gourd! emphasis on ONE little @#%! gourd. Yes, yes, we're learning a PROCESS...I understand that (I think...)

Much of the time was spent simply getting used to learning to use new tools and working with a new material. Wood is a lot more forgiving than I'd first thought. I started to get the hang of pushing curves, turning edges, etc. And, all I can say, is thank you for the invention of the power tool.

The first couple of days, we did self-portraits, out of clay.
"Emerging Self":

Never Give Up: La Vie En Rose

Sometimes, you find things to paint.
Sometimes, those things find you.
More often than not, those things find me.
...It is from this, that I paint my best.

Such was the case with "La Vie En Rose."
My friend brought me the broken glass with paint already splattered upon it.
The image was painted from a magazine in my dentist's office, that I "had to have."
The butcher paper was already on my easel.
The white painted board was sitting in the corner waiting for the "right thing."

This painting "came through me."
The title comes from the song which was, at the time, playing on my stereo.

I entered this piece in the Art League of Northern California's National show.

In speaking with my friend, Chris, who also has two paintings in this show, we realize that one must "never give up."
In spite of ourselves, even when we want to, artists don't give up -- because this is truly what we love to do.

It's an honor to be part of this show, with painters and artists whom I have the highest respect.
http://www.artleagueofnortherncalifornia.org/national2007winners.html

Right now, c'est vrai: "La Vie en Rose"

fishretirement2007

happy retirement, jim!

Painting from Memory or Subconscious

An exercise in painting from subconscious memory rather than from photo-refs.

From the studio, on the easel...