When I worked at PRISCOMM and then Wirestone I had the opportunity to collaborate with a bunch of extremely talented and creative people. It was the people that I worked with the spurred the drive and gave me the energy to work so hard for many years.
The great thing about working in a creative business where much of the creative talent is channeled for commercial purposes is that each creative I worked with were passionately creative both in and outside of work. And while so much of the creative product we created for our clients was generated digitally and using the latest and greatest tools of technology, each of these creatives had outlets that I fondly refer to analog creative.
There are so many names and faces that come to mind but a recent email from a friend and former Wirestone art director inspired me to jot this post. It also jogged my memory about many of the Wirestoners, as I also was fond of calling our team, analog creative pursuits. Jim Young with his relentless pursuit of music, pottery and sculpture, for example. Doug Buchman who has earned his place as one of Orange County, if not Southern California's top water color painters. And Michael Ward, who's email inspired me to share the work of these great artists and friends. There are others including Jason Clark, Bonnie Toth, Elaine Welinder, Vance Martin and James Parker and many others. Each had creative pursuits that expanded their character and enriched anyone who'd bother to get to know them more.
As analog art goes, many of these creatives have yet to create websites or blogs. Because many times the art is for expression, personal pursuit or simply for the sake of art. But Michael's email was just to fun not to share. He shared with me the story of his analog creative pursuit. And the fact that his realistic oil paintings are a passion of painstaking patience and as a result, take some time.
[…]I don't set out to paint nostalgic scenes in my paintings; it's just that I'm
so slow that by the time I get them finished, they've become nostalgic. The
fireworks stand seems to strike a chord in a lot of people–childhood memories
and all that. And, there are only a handful of cities that allow fireworks
stands in OC anymore, and even fewer vacant lots for them to set up, it seems
Michael discusses the painting which I have desperately tried to show in a jpeg here, but to see it in person and you'll get an idea of the incredible detail and work that took Michael two-years to complete.
[…] I painted this over a two-year period,
finally finishing it in time for the 2003 OC fair. I had always wanted to do a
fireworks stand, with all the signs and colorful fireworks boxes. The image is a
composite of several photos I took of a stand on Harbor and McArthur, in 1995,
in what was then a vacant lot. There happened to be a small brushfire at the
top of Saddleback when I took the photos, which is in the painting. The title,
“Almost Independence Day”, is from a Van Morrison song.
He's selling limited edition prints that are 42 x 26. Check out the painting and more of its story here.
The other piece of artwork I'm sharing here is a watercolor painted by Doug Buchman. Unfortunately, Doug doesn't have a website live at this time. Though you might catch him with his lovely wife Heather and young son Frank at the top art shows in California. I've watched Doug's artistry grow and blossom for more almost twenty years. I'll be sure to share his website with you when it's live.
Maybe it was my recent visit to LACMA. Perhaps Michael's email. Or perhaps my own mind hammering me to complete many stalled and incubating creative projects of my own. No matter what, take this post as a reminder or inspiration to pursue your passion. Create. Explore and express. In art or whatever works for you.
Check out this site: Inspire Your Creative Side!
