Category: snapshots

dead palo verde

finn2 Comments
colorado desert, california | 8.15.25

I have to be honest with myself. Color bores me, at least my color does. Sure it can look nice, but still…

Color can show what things look like out here in the desert, which is fine, but it doesn’t dig in to what it feels like. When I’m out in the desert as the sun starts to climb it feels like someone jabbed a sharp stick in my eye and then punched me in the gut. I can feel the roar of the sun as it climbs higher in the sky. That’s the feeling I try to get across, and I can at least hint at it with black and white. Color softens the blow too much.

Color can be a good change pace now and then. It’s fine for some things, and I’ll use it once in a while, but when it comes to evoking the true and fierce heart of the desert it simply doesn’t cut it for me.

rediscovering color

finn2 Comments
colorado desert, california | 8.5.25

My subject matter doesn’t change much. I work with what’s around me, the open desert. Mostly within about a 2-3 mile radius from my door.

I’ve been working almost exclusively with black and white for several years now. I attempt some color occasionally but always abandon it. I’m not comfortable with it. Black and white has become the language I speak.

For me color, good color, is a real challenge. One I need now to expand on what I do. I’ve gotten too comfortable with black and white, which I won’t abandon of course. I’ve gotten to feel like a bit of a one-trick pony so I’ll work with color more. I can speak black and white pretty fluently. I want to learn to speak color too.

a brief thought

finnLeave a comment

Art doesn’t have to be pretty or decorative. It can be – there’s nothing wrong with that – but it doesn’t have to be.

It can be disturbing. It can be contentious. It can be provoking. It can make you squirm. It can actually (gasp!) make you think. It can open new ways of seeing your world.

Speaking for myself, I find such art far more interesting and compelling than most pretty, decorative work that’s intended to be pleasing and made to look good with your new furniture. But maybe that’s just me.