Friday, April 18, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
The Giants are coming
Back in 2011, a client from Canada commissioned me to
do a drawing for his collection. A few days later, while walking through the
woods, an idea presented itself, so during the lunch break I did a few rough
sketches in my sketchbook.
I remember getting quite excited by the idea that
gradually crystallized itself in my mind while walking through nature. The
emotion that grew out of this picture was quite powerful. Recognizing a
well-known pattern of picture and emotion simultaneously growing out of the
same source, a process that often resulted in a good piece of art;
I could not wait to come home to start working on the drawing.
Back home, and as soon as I started to draw, quite
spontaneously a story all together with the title (The Giants are Coming),
“came out” of the scene that was evolving in front of me. I then quickly wrote
down the story, not knowing that this would mark the beginning of my writing a
whole series of stories which would eventually make up the foundation of my
new book, the book of giants.
Before that, I was already reading about mythology and
folklore. However something strange happened in me that day, something like a
subtle switch, that made the inner mythology, or my personal myth, come to the
surface. Writing that short story was a very special moment for me. It made me
delve even deeper into the realms of mythology, as well as psychology. The next
few years, I spent much of my time reading about it, writing stories, and doing
drawings and paintings inspired by the myth, epics and legends.
Then, about a year after the drawing was finished, a
collector from the US commissioned me to do a painting. Because I was quite
sure I wanted to do a painting of the recently finished drawing, I presented
this idea to him. Fortunately he was excited about my proposal, so I soon set
on another adventure with the giants.
The creation of the painting was not as easy as I
hoped. Many different things, some having nothing to do with painting
whatsoever, interfered with the work on this piece. Finally, after a long
struggle that included many short and long breaks, the painting was finished
and delivered. And with that, this little journey which started spontaneously
about 3 years ago whit a glimpse of a future painting I saw in my mind while
walking in the woods, came to its end. However not without leaving a
significant trace behind. In one or another way, a few important thing came out
of all this: my new book inspired by mythology and based on discovery of my
personal myth; rediscovery of the work of C.G. Jung and psychology, and the new
elan and inspiration that proved to be so important for a further development
of my work.
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| The Giants
are Coming, oil on canvas, 70X100 cm |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Spectrum 21 Award Nominees
And the Spectrum 21 Award Nominees are…
Please click on the link to see all the nominated works.
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| Nicolas Delort |
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| Bill Carman |
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| Ed Binkley |
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| Jean-Baptiste Monge |
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| Justin Sweet |
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| Kirsti Wakelin |
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| Mark A. Nelson |
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| Petar Meseldzija |
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| Shaun Tan |
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Essay 2 - On Inspiration
Last week, John Fleskes from FleskPublications and I have
decided that my book on giants will be released in the spring of 2015, with
Kickstarter campaign starting in August this year.
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| Ogre-Shaman, from The Book of Giants |
This book is a major project for me not only because
of the scope of its pictorial content (it will include about 120 drawings, as
well as a number of paintings), but also
because of its general concept. As far
as I am concerned, the book’s textual part is almost as important as its visual
components, which is, I have to admit, a big challenge for me because I am not
a writer. The “problem” is that I have all those ideas, and nobody can look
into my head better than myself. Fortunately there is one thing that is helping
me – the inspiration! Yes, that wonderfully illusive word that has become
somewhat unpopular nowadays, to the point that it is considered a taboo in the
certain circuits. Well, this certainly
does not apply to me. Moreover, I am thankful
(to whom I don’t know, but I am genuinely thankful) for being able to be
in contact with my Muse. I can’t, and will not, speak about HER nature, for I
am afraid that my explanation would soon turn into a subjective
speculation, while objectivity is
required here. On the other hand, how to talk objectively about something that
is so obviously subjective in nature? Tricky!
Anyway, if you asked me whether this inspiration is
coming from deep within me, out of the obscure, vast storage of experience,
knowledge, information, suppressed
emotions, etc., in short the unconscious; or whether I think it could be
attributed to an “external” source, (un)popularly called the “divine”; and
under the presumption that these two are considered as separate “entities”
(which, in a way, I don’t believe they are), my answer must be – I don’t know!
Although most of the time my inspiration can be traced back to the things which
were/are on my mind, however sometimes I
really don’t know where all these ideas and concepts are coming from. The only
thing I know is that they appear on the surface of my mind, often abruptly, .
No, don’t even think about it – I am not talking here about the spiritual
visions of any kind (when it comes to that, I am as empty and as talentless as
a chimney). Forget “automatic writing” as well. I am simply talking about
inspiration, something all of us experience from time to time.
Back to my book - there are moments when stories and
ideas just keep on popping up, seemingly from nowhere, so quickly that I have
troubles writing them down. I must admit that I am somewhat delighted by this,
but at the same time a little sad as well. I can’t remember that I ever
experienced such a strong flow of
inspiration in connection to my paintings. Or perhaps it is another type of
inspiration, a milder one that stretches itself over a longer period of time,
contrary to the latter that often happens in bursts and lasts not very long. In
general, painting is for me a bit of inspiration (mostly external) + much of
hard work. With writing it is exactly the other way around, the biggest part of
it goes to inspiration, or to be more precise – it flows out of inspiration.
Because I am not an experienced writer, I have troubles writing without inspiration.
It is frustrating, really! Besides, I write in English, and my English is not
perfect; yet I dare write in English. A perfect recipe for making a fool of
oneself, you might think. And you might be right. But somehow, when inspiration
strikes, I am able to write. That is not to say that my writings can be
compared to those of the real writers…oh, no, not at all! My writings are very
humble and basic. My ideas and the simplicity of expression are the only
weapons from the writer’s arsenal which I have at my disposal. You might think,
and not without reason, what is to become of such a book then? Has Petar
finally lost his mind? …To be honest, I don’t know. YOU will have to tell me
later when the book is published! I only know that I have to take that risk.
It is as if a genie, or a demon, has taken possession
of me, and the only thing I can do is to obey him. That is inspiration for me.
Is it internal or external? I don’t know. It does not matter to me! The results
of this endeavor is what matters, and the impact of it on our development, on
becoming more complete as a being, and live a fuller life. The question is not
whether the things we believe in are objectively true or not (define Truth!),
but instead how much they feed and support the psychic foundation of our lives.
After all, life is an incomprehensible mystery, a
miracle, and we are just a tiny particle, a speck of dust in its entirety.
Neglecting, or suppressing that what spontaneously arises from the vastness of
the unconscious, the psyche, is not the wisest thing to do. In fact it is the
road to psychosis. Open-minded and bravely encountering and dealing with it as
best as we can, however scary, painful and tricky it might be, is the way of
the hero in us. One and the same hero who, after having 1000 different faces,
is still eager to have yours, and mine, as well.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
New painting
Here are a few rough sketches and the final preliminary drawing for the
new painting titled “Giant Velles Protecting the Holy Oak-Tree”. This is a
private commission, but once it's finished, it will be included in my upcoming
book on Giants. There is a nice story, although a little sad, that goes with
the painting.
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