Jala Pfaff: Hyderabad

Showing posts with label Hyderabad. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Untitled 38 (oil)

Oil on linen, 30" x 40".

Art purchase inquiries: please email me: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com].

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"Just call me Ichabod."

Lazy orange animolecules.
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Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Art purchase inquiries: please email me: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com].

I'm having way too much fun with this style. Someone better come arrest me or something. :) Using up a lot of paint, though (and at this rate, will be using up all my big canvases, too. Have to get on DickBlick very soon.

One thing I like about how these come out is their jewel-like quality, kind of like stained glass. Or at least that's how they look to me. A lot of you liked the first one, the one in the previous post. Somehow I have the feeling this style will be more commercially desirable. What do you think?

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Fennec when a bit younger, provoking Lynxie into wrestling.

The ears of annoyance, demonstrated by Gadjo.

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Charminar in Hyderabad, India.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Untitled 200

Pastel on UArt, approx. 3" x 5".

No sales at Trident Cafe yet so far either. The other day I went there to hang out (not because my work is there right now, but because it's my favorite cafe in Boulder) and it felt strange to be surrounded by my own works. It felt weirdly familiar, as if I were still at home, or in my own studio, where I am always surrounded by the same works. As I sat there, I worried I might overhear patrons talking derogatorily (I'm sensitive, yes) about my art on the walls. I needn't have worried--sadly, in two hours, I didn't see a single person out of perhaps 100 people even glance at the art on the walls. Sigh.

In my experience at least, it is hard to sell art. Especially abstract art. (Although Open Studios has been successful for me. I'm guessing that's because many people that go to Open Studios are going with the intent of actually buying something for their homes, and also many of them decide ahead of time to go see, e.g., only abstract artists during those two weekends in October.)

In museums, in cafes, in shows, I have often overheard attendees deriding abstract art, laughing about how their "four-year-old kid could do that;" "why would I pay money for just scribbles and blobs of color;" "I could do that myself without even trying;" etc. (They're partly right--kid art can be fantastic, thanks to the combination of lack of self-criticism, absence of self-consciousness, spontaneity, purity of intention, lack of preconceptions, etc. See Loriann Signori's utterly delightful recent post about teaching kids!)

It's hard to hear those things--whether heard about my own work or overheard in front of a Twombly at MOMA--though it seems to be a common sentiment. I've had people even at my Open Studios see my realism work and exclaim that they can't believe I'd wanted to stop doing that and instead do what I am doing (and passionate about) now.

I always wish, when I overhear these types of comments, I were able to take those people right at that moment, sit them at a table with some art supplies, and say, "Fine, go for it, let's see if you can indeed produce a simple abstract painting that's interesting, compelling, emotional, lovely, exciting, 'without even trying.'"

It's hard to stay true to what one cares most about, art-wise. I myself have had plenty of times when I wondered if I were going down the wrong artistic path. I suppose in terms of selling art, I have. Other than on a million-dollar (Rothko, Diebenkorn, de Kooning, Frank Stella, Joan Mitchell, Frankenthaler, Brice Marden, Josef Albers, etc.) scale in the investment art world--other than on that scale of famousness, well, realism and even semi-abstract always outsell abstract by a huge margin (i.e., in local shows, non-famous-NY-artists shows).

I've found it's often even hard to get an abstract work juried into a show. One of my art teachers at the classical art school told me she thinks it's because many people, including some other artists and art jurors, don't understand how they're "supposed to" react to, or judge, or "understand" abstract art. And so out of fear of seeming ignorant, they simply reject it automatically and move on to art they're more comfortable with. For me (as long as something is competently executed in terms of, say, materials), it's just a pure matter of instinctual response to any given abstract painting. I might love it, hate it, or just shrug out of boredom. I think many people think they are supposed to "figure out" what an abstract painting "means." They think there is some kind of hidden message and they're worried they'll be exposed as not intelligent if they don't "get" it. There may be some abstract paintings like that out there, but frankly, I think those paintings are a minority. Mostly I want to just assure people that any reaction they have is appropriate. Gut reactions are the best reactions. You don't want to think about it. (In my perhaps crazy opinion, the best abstract paintings are the ones that stop your conscious thoughts. You should emerge from viewing them feeling slightly dazed in a pleasant way, as the chatter of your left brain was finally silenced even if just for a few moments.)

It is true that sometimes abstract paintings can be better appreciated by learning about the context [social, technique, materials, etc.] in which they were created--but I maintain the perhaps radical opinion that what matters is just your own gut reaction to a piece. Does it fascinate/repel/surprise/compel/bore you? How long do you spend staring at it? How much of that time spent staring at it is just feeling, as opposed to thinking analytically about how and why the artist made it?

The way I finally figured out what I really wanted to do in art (for the moment--this of course can and will naturally morph!) was by asking myself two questions: 1) when I'm in a museum or a show or looking at art books, what am I most drawn to and feel most excited about looking at? and 2) if I knew I only had a year to live, would I choose to paint realism or abstract? ...and suddenly the answer is perfectly clear to me. I don't know why gazing upon, say, two blocks of color in a rectangle should give me goosebumps, but when it is well done, it simply does.

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I love my skeptical Moji. He'd tell those art critics a thing or two.

From the archives: baby Gadjo!

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In Hyderabad, India.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Untitled 199

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4" x 5".

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I like Gadjo's perturbed look here, as Fennec decides to take up more space.

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Found abstract. At the weavers', Hyderabad, India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Untitled 187

Pastel on UArt, approx. 5" x 5.5".

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Head cold status: Day 3 same as Day 2. Day 4 same as Day 3.

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Miss Lemon is a very clean girl.

It's that little smile--it kills me. Every. Single. Time.

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In Hyderabad, India. I was going to crop this but I think it's fascinating to see just how much is going on.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Friday, November 25, 2011

Untitled 186

Pastel on UArt, approx. 5" x 5.5".

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Day 3 of a nasty head cold. Am wiped out.

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Boyz 'n the papasan.

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American dance troupe at Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Untitled 171 ... and de-lurkage!

Pastel on UArt, approx. 5.5" x 6".

I never tire of color. Sometimes bold, other times subtle, as here. Pastels are such an ideal medium when one is as obsessed with color as I am--they're so pure and so immediate.

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I've decided it's time for a de-lurkage! It's been quite a while since we last had one here. Like spring cleaning, it's time to reveal the dust bunnies (aka lurking readers). (After de-lurking, all you lurkers are then allowed to go right back to being lurkers again, no problem.)

This is merely for my own amusement and a little ego boost. I've not been getting many comments lately (or managing to respond consistently to them when I do), and so much difficult stuff is going on in my life that it's the perfect time for me to know that in fact people are out there and looking at my art and reading and checking in on my animolecules.

So, if you are a lurker and feel brave, please temporarily de-lurk, if only for this single post and solely for my amusement! Cheers.

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It's a difficult life, being a kitten in this household.

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In Hyderabad, India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Untitled 168

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4" x 5".

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Look how big Fennec's gotten (pic below)! I think he probably outweighs Gadjo now. Gadjo is now one year old and Fennec is...I don't remember...6 or 7 months, maybe, and is definitely going to be a big boy.

Gadjo has turned out to be one of those long, lean, lithe (but overall not very big) Siamese I've seen before (but never had one). When I pick him up he feels almost weightless, like he's build from little bird bones. He likes to be held balanced along one of my forearms/hand, and folds his long slim legs up in a complicated origami, which always makes me laugh.

What beautiful, amazing creatures they are. Not a day goes by without me being utterly in love with cats.

By the way, it's been a while since I mentioned the possibility of Gadjo having FHS (Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome). For a few months there, it seemed he was symptom-free and I had stopped holding my breath and thought perhaps he had escaped the disorder after all. But out of the blue, he had some bad episodes a few weeks ago. Just as I was about to give up and try some meds on him, his episodes began diminishing again and now they are almost nil. He does seem to be a high-strung cat, certainly the most nervous and hyperaware one I've ever had--traits of many Oriental breeds, apparently. In a way, FHS is kind of a magnification of those traits.

My guess right now is that he does have the disease, but if we are very lucky perhaps he won't have a severe case. If it ever gets bad enough, I will try him on meds, but it would be great if we didn't have to. What worries me most is it usually doesn't develop until a cat is one or two years old or more, and little Gadjo showed symptoms before even turning a year, which makes me fear an especially severe case. My poor darling. I'm just happy when I see he's having a day with no or few symptoms.

Fennec, on the other hand, is your classic laid-back big orange guy. My vet says there is a real tendency for male orange cats to be especially mellow and sweet and easygoing. Fennec certainly seems to be headed to fulfill that destiny.

I'd only ever had two male orange cats before, two brothers that were not at all laid-back or mellow, but I suspect they were somewhat feral when we got them, and we ended up not keeping them, giving them to a friend (of course we had too many cats anyway [!]), as they were very alpha and had been causing problems with the rest of our cats as they grew up. I had named them Uno and Dos, and unfortunately Uno disappeared from my friend's one night, but Dos is still there and very much cherished.

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At the weavers' cooperative, Hyderabad, India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Untitled 165

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4" x 6".

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The bath...

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At the weavers' cooperative, Hyderabad, India.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Untitled 156

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4.5" x 5".

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Thank you so much, everyone, for the outpouring of love, sympathy, and empathy. We miss Jazzy every minute and always will, but are trying to keep at the forefront of our minds how lucky we are to have had him in our lives, and for so many years.