Processes

"We begin to see that the completion of an important project has every right to be dignified by a natural grieving process. Something that required the best of you has ended. You will miss it."
Anne Wilson Schaef  
 
Steve and Jason
Me and my buddy Steve, after my first ascent of Red Shirt
Yamnuska, Alberta. 1999
 

Introductory Discussion

Skip the digressive psychobabble and take me to the image library!

In the exploration of the various media I enjoy experimentation in, failure is often an important element. I can't begin to express how frustrating this crucial componant is in many of the projects I immerse myself in. The corollary to this is that failure can also be extremely rewarding when you round the learning curve and integrate failure with post-failure success. There have been more than one occasion where, tears runnning down my cheeks, I've been posessed with the urge to pack everything out of my basement and skid it into one of the large dumpsters outside the condo complex where I live.

Although many of these instances are worth sharing, a recent experience involving the flooding of my basement with approximately 200 litres of liquid plaster stands out in my mind. The magnitude of the sheer despiration I felt at that moment was analogous to the euphoria I felt several days later as I de-moulded the most technically advanced plaster negative in my brief career as an artist.

Probably more frustrating than the numerous failures themselves, is the lack of technical information available relevent to the various media I find myself engulfed in. I've often thought that the internet would be a perfect tool for artists to share thoughts on technique. Often struggling to locate any media related information, and when actually finding a site that touches on the process I am working with, they are for the most part sparse in technical detail or descriptive imagery.

I'm under no illusions that I will be able to bridge this gap between technical ignorance and nirvanna, I do however want to share some of the technical treasures I've acquired at what has sometimes been high cost. So here you might find photo galleries and technical documents outlining some of the processes I have begin to explore in the creation of the work you find throughout these pages.

 

Technical Galleries and Image Libraries