Two new pieces

Taking the concept again with the paint being very chaotic, the whole piece is very expressive.  It might be a little hard to see the bottom one, but it’s the rose in the paint

Before and after

The other piece

New piece 18×24, pen and acrylic on paper, “Every King Needs A Queen”
Like my other piece The Calm Before The Storm, I went with the same concept, this time, I put the image down first and then went over with acrylic.  I titled it this because everyone needs someone that stands by them through the tough and good times.  The paint represents the obstacles life throws at you, it’s how you face them not just by yourself, but with that person.

Before and after

Chaos

 

Another new piece “Chaos”

Acrylic and gel pen on paper

This one is done with acrylics and with a brush. I called it chaos because of the paint in the background being so loud, expressive, and chaotic. Also, with the face having tears and the hands reaching out, illustrates everything can be chaotic, trying to find a way out of chaos and to a place where we all image is our escape.

The Calm Before The Storm

 

 

New piece “The Calm Before The Storm”

Acrylic and pen ink

I used no paint brush in this. What I did is I took paper towels and put acrylic paint the paper towels, then spread the paint which is seen in the background. Once I let the paint dry, I added the figures that are holding hands. The expression the figures give off is Love. The title “The Calm Before The Storm” indicates love but love between two people that is true. The paint in the background being expressive and the movement in the paint illustrates what “The Calm Before The Storm” is reading off.

What Path Will You Take

 

A better image I am just posting.

The meaning behind the piece:

This piece I had had in mind for awhile.  It is a very simple piece of four roses, however, simple is powerful.  I wanted to illustrate the good and the bad of what life can throw at you.  From the top is a healthy rose and moving on to the next rose to the next to the final one on the bottom of a dying/dead rose, depicts the ups and downs of what we all go through.  Stages of life, healthy to death, but also what we go through in life.  For awhile, I did not know what to title this piece, even before it was completed.  I titled it “What Path Will You Take” because yes it illustrates life and death, but it goes beyond just that.  As I said, it explains the ups and downs of life, but the reason for the title, because we all chose our paths in life and that road we chose, we face challenges, and it’s how we overcome those challenges that makes up who we are, character.  Yes, those challenges are difficult and at times it may feel like we are the bottom two roses depicting failure, but we all fail all the time.  If you let failure keep you down, then the path is simple.  If you fail but keep fighting to strive for greatness, greatness will arrive at the door and that path is hard work.  The hard work path is hard but a feel of accomplishment is great.  Yes, the piece also revolves around the cycle of life and death, but the explanation above is the true meaning the piece tells.  As someone looking at this piece, you may read my description and agree, but take whatever message it flies at you, because the message only hits if you truly believe what it’s trying to tell.

Facebook Page

 

Here is my FacebookPage – https://www.facebook.com/MattKantorsArt

Above is a screenshot of what my page looks like.

Check out my page and hit like.

What Path Will You Take

 

18×24 – Conte – Drawing – “What Path Will You Take”

This piece I had had in mind for awhile.  It is a very simple piece of four roses, however, simple is powerful.  I wanted to illustrate the good and the bad of what life can throw at you.  From the top is a healthy rose and moving on to the next rose to the next to the final one on the bottom of a dying/dead rose, depicts the ups and downs of what we all go through.  Stages of life, healthy to death, but also what we go through in life.  For awhile, I did not know what to title this piece, even before it was completed.  I titled it “What Path Will You Take” because yes it illustrates life and death, but it goes beyond just that.  As I said, it explains the ups and downs of life, but the reason for the title, because we all chose our paths in life and that road we chose, we face challenges, and it’s how we overcome those challenges that makes up who we are, character.  Yes, those challenges are difficult and at times it may feel like we are the bottom two roses depicting failure, but we all fail all the time.  If you let failure keep you down, then the path is simple.  If you fail but keep fighting to strive for greatness, greatness will arrive at the door and that path is hard work.  The hard work path is hard but a feel of accomplishment is great.  Yes, the piece also revolves around the cycle of life and death, but the explanation above is the true meaning the piece tells.  As someone looking at this piece, you may read my description and agree, but take whatever message it flies at you, because the message only hits if you truly believe what it’s trying to tell.

Keep Calm Cause Basketball Is My Life

 

This piece is titled “Keep Calm Cause Basketball Is My Life.”

Acrylic, 18×24

With this piece, I wanted to do something very simple than my usual detail mind set.  Everyone has seen the Keep Calm images, and with them being “popular” I used it in this piece.  Obviously, its a basketball and the words Keep Calm Cause Basketball Is My Life, with a black background, but it has so much more behind it.  Every basketball player understands it.  It doesn’t have to be a basketball player, any athlete understands the meaning if they play a different sport, but for a basketball player, as myself, basketball is life.  The saying “Ball Is Life” well, basketball is my life.  Those who love the game, love to work hard, get better, always thinking about the game, watching the NBA and or NCAA is a student of the game trying to make for oneself.  Basketball is more than just a game.  Basketball is about team, family, sacrifice, leadership, growth, playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back, and its life.  All these descriptions of what basketball is also deals with life lessons.  Basketball is a beautiful game because you got five guys working as one trying to achieve a goal and ultimately the main goal.

As a former basketball player and now a coach, it is a different perspective and very hard to watch players play while being a coach due to the competitiveness in me that just wants to play and misses the game.  I can still be a student of the game, just in a different seat.  Learning from my coaches as a player and coaches I have been under, I take all of the knowledge and turn it into my own philosophy.  It is hard for me to just walk away from the game now that I don’t play anymore and heading into my fourth year as an assistant coach, its another year I am grateful I am still with the game.

Keep Calm Cause Basketball Is My Life

Art

Watch a movie titled “Boyhood.”. Interesting movie, however, there was one section that grabbed my attention.  The main character, Mason, is in a dark room, developing his photos and his teacher walks in.  Towards the end of the conversation, the teacher asks, (regarding towards art)

“What can you bring to it that no body else can.”

This really got me thinking, because I never put that expression into thought. But it’s true. What can you bring to art that no body has brought before? What will make you stand out from the rest?

When I heard about this, I thought how it applied to my art work. I have some what relating my work to the style of Georgia O’Keefe. The simpleness of the subject correlating with vibrant colors, with an abstract feel that allows the eye to still depict what feeds back, is how I put my voice in my work, but still experimenting with different techniques that allows me to bring what no body else can.

Whether visual, written, music, poetry, etc, what can you bring to it that no body else can.

Picasso Quote from Criminal Minds

I watched Criminal Minds episode of the artist who takes blood and uses the blood as his medium. He tried to convince the art gallery director to accept his work and this was a quote he said in the episode

“The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”
Picasso.

I thought about this and it makes sense. The world is not perfect and it never makes sense and that doesn’t mean as for an artist, the artist’s work has to make sense as well. Art is up to the imagination but the artist knows the message behind the work. Art doesn’t have to be simple and understandable. It should be lefted up to the imagination of the audience that only makes sense to them and no one else.

Robert Johnson

In this month’s laurel of Asheville magazine (September) the cover artist is Robert Johnson.  My senior year at Warren Wilson College, my painting class took a trip to his house.  I was fortune enough, along with my classmates, to meet him, view his work in person, talk to him, see a piece in progress, his inspiration,  etc, etc. 

His work will be exhibited in the Blue Spiral Gallery in downtown Asheville February 26th – April 24th, 2015.

Laurel of Asheville Lifestyle Magazine