The Fine Art Blog of Daz and Holly

 Anna Boch was, according to legend and Wikipedia, the first and quite possibly, only, person to buy a painting from Vincent Van Gogh in his lifetime. It was a freaking nice painting too, the Red Vinyard, below. 

Red Vinyard painting by Vincent Van Gogh

I love Vincent Van Gogh, his art and him as a person, he tried so hard, he loved so hard and yet suffered and ultimately failed in sticking around but those of us who have suffered for decades without selling a painting know that selling doesn’t bring success in the way that really matters, only the artist can judge their success.

I’ve never sold a painting until now and that one is below. Since Geno bought it fair and square that makes him my Anna Boch, only hairier, possibly.

Sea Maiden and Monster oil and glitter paints on canvas by Darren Daz Cox

Geno also bought my first print in my DeviantArt shop so he is my hero and the world will now know that he is a patron of the arts and a man with exceptional taste, just a little ahead of the curve.

But that will change soon as I start selling more. It’s not like it was unexpected, and like Vincent, I have no lack of confidence in my art. I’m just a virgin to selling art but there’s nothing there that will shock or surprise me, and I’m well beyond the point of changing my approach to art to try and cash in by producing sloppy work solely for the reason of selling it, and as you can see in one of the one’s I’m currently working on (below),

Grand Piano Girl, oil on canvas with glow in the dark paint, in progress by Darren Daz Cox

 

each painting is a unique thought, unlike painters like Thomas Kinkaid (I’m sorry, but Edgar Degas is "The Painter Of Light" to me and always will be).

 

And where would a blog rant about Thomas Kinkaid be without a mention of  William-Adolphe Bouguereau, he of the beautiful paintings and yet a name that is throughly left in the dust of time by The Impressionists, haha! Bougereau was like one of those MTV hair bands in the 80′s who played huge arenas until Nirvana pulled the rug out from under them, they had talent but talent isn’t enough, you need a story, you need the struggle.

 

If The Academic painters of Bouguereau’s time were like RATT and Twister Sister (who I love), The Impressionists were like 80′s bands on the SST label such as Black Flag and The Minutemen, their legend grows without it being ‘retro’. Compare The Beatles to, say, Herman’s Hermits, sure the Hermits were great but their music is oldies while The Beatles are still hip with many of the kids of today.

 

You might be of the generation that would wear a Phil Collins T-shirt out of a sense of ‘irony’ (or making fun of your parent’s lame music), but it’s hard to find someone wearing a Beatles T-shirt that isn’t a true fan, see what I mean?

 

yeah, I know, most of you are here because you searched for "trippy art" or you are an artist friend of mine from a social networking site and while you share a love of art, you have no idea what I’m talking about at this point, but some of you do, and that makes me deeply satisfied, more than selling a painting,

 

 I’ve been a starving artist ever since I first proclaimed I’d be a great artist one day in 1988 when I started college.

 

No I never stopped painting, ever, and I don’t suck, I never thought that, I only thought that I needed practice and now I can finally paint the way I want to.

 

I don’t fit into the local arts scenes, I’ve tried but, like Paul Gauguin, I have to do it my way or I’m just a hack who is an imitator.

 

"In art, all who have done something other than their predecessors have merited the epithet of revolutionary; and it is they alone who are masters." Paul Gauguin 

 

Imitation is fine, heck, I saw at least a dozen art blogs today that looked like they were paying homage to Henri Matisse, nothing wrong with that, but you can’t out-Matisse, Matisse. When it comes to a lasting presence you can’t just take a tried and tested formula, like Winger or Whitesnake did with 80′s metal, and expect it to last, you have to find your own sound like Nirvana did to be truly great.

 

"There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite." Paul Gauguin 

 

You can pay homage to the artists that inspired you without being an imitator however.

It is pretty obvious to me that the mighty Pierre August Renoir loved Elisabeth Louise Vigee LeBrun’s paintings as much as I do, maybe more, and not only painted the same lovely themes but pretty much chose the same career path as a portrait painter for people wealthy enough to hire him, just as Elisabeth did in the Age of Queen Marie Antoinette, but you can’t get their art mixed up.

 

I set out to be a GREAT artist in 1988, selling paintings has nothing to do with that, any more than being in the Top 40 makes you a great band, although there are always exceptions, which is a good thing.

Vincent Van Gogh became famous 6 months after he died, and all because someone, his sister in law, Andries Bonger Van Gogh decided to sell his paintings. 

Geno is my Anna Boch, now I need a Andries Bonger Van Gogh! 

I know, this is the best blog post you have read in a long time, as how many ass-smoochingly polite posts can you read without yawning at these days anyway?

Tell me YOUR thoughts in your blog, not what you think the majority of people want to read. If you are trying to get as many readers as you can then you are probably holding back the real you, which makes you destined to be retro like Loverboy rather than legendary like The Smashing Pumpkins. 

Just for the record, your musical taste doesn’t matter when it comes to art, these bands I’ve used as examples are all good, just in different ways and while I don’t care what kind of music Elisabeth LeBrun, Vincent Van Gogh or Paul Gauguin listened to, they are still the people I’d want to have dinner with if I could time travel!

Speaking of music, make sure you tune in to my streaming radio station by clicking this link 

http://99.22.246.189:8000/listen.m3u that should open in your I-Tunes or similar music player, and visit our FaceBook fan page by clicking here http://unamedradio.com . I will be live on the air every saturday night (6-10 pm Central US GMT -5) playing mostly cool old-school punk rock and old-school rap and if you hear Poison or Warrant it’s only because one of the listeners requested it!

 

Now go create something, listen to some music and make something from your heart instead of just being a spectator.

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