Featured Artist: Kolja Tatic (part two)

Kolja Tatic  is bound to be a very well-known household name throughout the world. Talent and vision...(To read all of part one click): Kolja Tatic

"Waiting..."

Kolja Tatic

Photograph, Computer Enhanced

1873x702 pixels

Using various mediums his artwork spans three decades.  What is fascinating is the cohesive voice that is woven throughout these pieces: In his words, "I am always painting the same idea, the same world, different from our own: silent, distant and lonely..." His imagery is haunting and at the same time very beautiful.  Despite the solitude and vastness of the world depicted, his work alluringly invites you to look at it, to ponder it, and to explore it further.  In some of the works he uses figures, but in others there is simply the suggestion of a figure, be it a shadow, or a stone sculpture or even an empty space that is a non-form: as in an opening, shaped like a living being, in a wall or building.

"Expectation..."

Kolja Tatic

Wood Sculpture

18x29x7cm

As I began the tour, I was struck by the strength of each piece, and I nearly found each painting to be my new 'favorite.'  When I say tour, I am referring to a web gallery in which you actually get to 'walk through' rooms with artwork on the walls.  As you come to a painting, you can see it from an oblique angle, hover your cursor over it to see the title and then click on it to see the full painting.  His online exhibition of oils, entitled, "Glass City" has approximately two dozen paintings in two galleries.  There is also a third gallery that is under construction.

"Hall..."

Kolja Tatic

Oil on Canvas

65x80cm

Although Tatic does wish to evoke the previous feelings he described, he does not want to influence viewers with his own words and prefers them to use their own imaginations when looking at his work. He believes it best for each viewer to observe his work from their own individual silence.

"Around..."

Kolja Tatic

Oil on Canvas

45x60cm

Currently Kolja Tatic is living in Belgrade, Serbia where he is painting full-time.  Although he is not selling his work, he says this may change in the near future.  To view his online exhibition of oil paintings, click: Glass City Exhibition .  To see his other works of art, please contact the artist and he can direct you to his other web sites.   To contact the artist, email Kolja Tatic at this address: kolja.t(at)eunet.rs.


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My Painting Process- Current Work 7

This is a work in progress- the latest view taken after 12/1 painting session.

"Be Mine"

Oil on Canvas

30x40"

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Featured Artist: Kolja Tatic (part one)

Kolja Tatic is bound to be a very well-known household name throughout the world. Talent and vision like Tatic’s can not go unnoticed.  Breathtaking, contemporary and surrealistic are what come to mind when looking at his art.  His pieces are in various media: photography, wood sculpture, oil on canvas, and digital art.  He first began by taking photographs in 1979 and has had over 150 group and solo exhibits showing this work.  In 1986 he began painting in oils and in 1997 he added digital art to his creative process.  His sculptures were created just at the edge of this new millennium.  His artwork can be found in private collections throughout the United States.

"Abandoned Red..."

Kolja Tatic

Oil on Canvas

65x80cm

Born in Jagodina, Serbia, in 1962, Kolja Tatic was drawn to the arts at an early age. When asked about childhood influences, Tatic replied, "My father was my first teacher, and when I was about 12, I saw for the first time paintings from Giorgio de Chirico and Dali." He went on to say, "...when I first saw "Love Song" and "The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street" from de Chirico and "Premonition of Civil War" from Dali, I saw 'mysterious, enigmatic worlds...'" He said he considers secrecy, mystery, and premonition to be among the most important factors in quality artwork and wishes to create "enigmatic, mysterious, silent places" through his artwork. In this, I believe, he has certainly succeeded.

"Balance..."

Kolja Tatic

Oil on Canvas

65x80cm

Part two of this featured artist will be posted tomorrow.  Come back to see more examples of this beautiful artwork.  To contact the artist, email Kolja Tatic at this address: kolja.t(at)eunet.rs.
. 

Please post reactions to Tatic's work by clicking 'comments' below.

My Painting Process- Current Work 6

"Be Mine"

Oil on Canvas

30x40"

Coming down the home stretch for this piece, I have discovered some things about photographing the work that I will share in a later post.  When you compare the photo of "Be Mine" in today's post with previous posts, here: Current Artwork , be aware that the apparent jump in quality of the painting is in large part a jump in photograph accuracy.  The photo above was taken this morning before today's painting session.

In order to complete the piece there are a few things left to do.  What remains is adding more form to the figure while maintaining the subtle changes in flesh tone, painting all elements so that the light effect supports the painting's mood, adding back in the pieces I removed previously and unifying the piece, overall.

Check back to see the end result and the next piece I have started.

Regarding November's Artist of the Month, I thought I would have the post up , but this is delayed a few days as I communicate with him about some details of the article.  I believe it is worth the wait as I am really excited about his work.

I love hearing from you:  post your thoughts by clicking 'comments' below.

Not Enough Hours in the Day- Part 3

Earlier this week I began the topic, Not Enough Hours In The Day.  While learning the business side of being an artist, I then ran across a timely post on an art marketing site this week. It directly relates to our discussion about doing too much. In an art business coach's, words, "The problem with saying Yes to everything (which essentially means being a people pleaser) is that you end up saying No to yourself and everything you want for your life."* True to form, art biz coach, Alyson Stanfield, fills in the gaps left by others. Not being able to improve on her words, I encourage you to read Stanfield's full post. Although geared to artists, her suggestions can be easily modified by anyone with the "Yes, I'll do that- disease." To view Stanfield's post, click: Say No With Grace.  I'm keeping it short today- more on this topic in the coming weeks.

* Stanfield, Alyson, Say No With Grace, ArtBizBlog.com, June 23, 2008.



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Not Enough Hours In The Day- Part 2

This is part two from yesterday's post.  We were talking about recognizing where we are before we can consider an effective change when we are trying to do too much.

OK, I am going to use a simple, silly, personal example to illustrate this.  Most, if not all, of you are not aware that I am an imperfect speller.  If I did not recognize this and/or did not want to make a shift, my writings would be full of misspelled words.  I would not use spell-check and I would not use a dictionary when writing for you.  Furthermore, I would not even pay attention to the words I misspell repeatedly, to try and remember the spelling next time.  Does this make sense?  I accept that my spelling ability is weak and I choose to make a shift.  In my example, the shift is then made by using additional tools as well as my mental memory to learn from my mistakes.

Getting back to shifting to, enough hours.  Let me give you one cool tool I employed many years ago: (repeat after me), "I'll think about it."  It is that simple.  This is the problem I had in doing too much: If someone asked me if I would do something, I barely considered it and said, "yes," as it seemed like a small request and I wanted to be helpful.  At the time, I was a single parent who was working and going to school.  I had also decided I was 'supposed to' volunteer in the children's schools.  Oh, I also had my art studio which I was working in part time.  It was insanity, at best.  To use this tool properly, I had to employ it in all situations: "Julie can you work an extra shift this weekend?" or "Mom, can we stop at the video store, tonight" or "Julie, can you bake some cupcakes for next week's party?"  "Julie can you watch my dog this week?"  Even if I thought I already knew the answer, I would say, "I'll think about it," and give the asker a time that I would get back to them with my answer.  Then I would be able to take a moment to realistically see if this was something I ought to do.  This kept me from either always saying, "yes" or swinging the other way and always saying, "no."  Sometimes "yes' is appropriate and sometimes "no' is appropriate.  If we let the mind give the knee-jerk answer, the response will almost always be the wrong one.  That's another way the mind messes with us, by the way.

Part 3 of this topic shows one way to say "no" with style: Not Enough Hours, Part 3

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Not Enough Hours In The Day- Part 1

When discussing routines, clearing out the mind clutter was one idea presented.  One way was to make a list of tasks.  Another was to write and practice a formal, but flexible routine.  For previous posts click: Routines.  If we write down all that has to be fit in our routine, at some point we may suspect or even determine that "there might not be enough hours in the day." 

Well, guess what.  There aren't.  Not for what my mind has me thinking that I have to do.  What do I mean by this?   Recall that I spoke about how our minds can "run us" rather than we running our minds?  This is just one of the ways a mind can run a person.  By ensuring that every minute of every hour is filled with stuff that "must" be done, it keeps the person running.  Layered on top of this for some is the 'failure factor.'  Because we don't get it all done, some of us can feel like failures, as if we should be able to do a better job.  Why does this even matter?  Because it is another way the mind keeps me from my higher purpose.  For an artist it is one sure way to allow a stifling of creativity.

Perfect Mind Play:  Create a situation that is impossible, then when unsuccessful in completing the super-human task, wallow in a failure stew.  Get up the next day, and do it again.  Are we having fun yet?  Do we just keep doing this day after day and year after year?  News Flash:  It does not have to be this way.

If it had to be this way, it would be a universal truth for all humans.  And I am sure, it is not.  Having experienced both sides of this, I prefer the enough-hours-in-a-day approach.  So, how does one shift from the not enough to the enough?  The first step is, yes, you guessed, recognizing where you are and wanting to make a shift.  This is extremely important.  If  I can not see where I truly am, I just continue to delude myself into thinking I am somewhere else. 

This introduction to 'Not Enough Hours in the Day' has been changed from its original format and divided into parts 1 and 2.
For part 2 click: Not Enough Hours, Part 2


What has worked for you when there was too much to do for the allotted time-frame?
Please post any comments or questions by clicking 'comments' below.