Art and Fear

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i have talked about this many times. i even spoke of it when i was last here in Iceland. Art and Fear, at least in my experience, seem to go together. i find it impossible to expose yourself as an artist without having some fear. we allow others to criticize us, and we allow it in order to grow. we allow our talent/skill to be evaluated, spoken of, seen, poked, prodded, and we do it willfully. knowing all the time that there are people who will love what we have to offer, and those who will never ‘get it’.

for those who claim they never feel any fear, maybe you are not exposing yourself enough in your art, maybe there is more of you we need to see.

as a photographer, there is always the comment ‘you must have a really nice camera’, or well my son/daughter/family member can take this picture with their phone. its not that big a deal”, or even better “photography is not really art if all you are doing is representing what everyone can see for themselves”.

but there is a difference. every photographer has a nuance, a style, an emotion they imbue into their work. something that – at least for those that ‘get it’ – makes them understand a bit more of the vision, they eyes, the heart, that the artist put into this image.

as a writer, there is also the ever-present “why am i reading this?”, “why does this matter to me?”.

there is a level of intimacy that is gained by the artist when they connect to those who view/read/feel their work. there is a connection that transcends the fear. the fear of the artist opening themselves up for criticism, and the audience’s fear of not understanding what is presented.

as artists we may become more and more immune to this fear, but it is, i believe, always there. to simply expose your work without wanting to create a connection is akin to painting your house. its your house and you will paint it whatever damn color you please, but art…is a house you build in the intimacy of your audience’s mind and heart, and you want them to accept you in that intimate spot.

Decompression on the way north

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today was a great day as well. i walked around Reykjavik and revisited many of the sites i had seen before as well as found new places to experience. i found a wonderful little restaurant called Fish & More in one of the busiest streets in the city. it is small but the fish indeed were very good. served with vegetables, and as it turns out one of the staff had learned spanish in Mexico. they were happy to be able to practice a bit. you can tell those that have learned in spain as they have a distinct accent. there seem to be quite a few tourist in the city which is not what i expected this time of year. three years a go when i was here it was not this crowded. no souvenir shopping this time, just enjoying the walk and meeting new people. will go out again a bit later to get another walk in before bed time. i am also not taking an enormous amount of pictures. just trying to enjoy it all. i saw a piece of the berlin wall today as well as the building where reagan and gorbachev met in 1986. i learned it used to be the british embassy and now possibly haunted. what was real was the wind. it was howling and apparently not as bad as it can be from what i was told. unfortunately it means that when you open your car door it can slam the car next to you if you are not careful. my friend’s car was hit quite hard by the car next to us and now there is some damage :(.

 

but i suddenly realized today that i dont have to check my email every ten minutes. that i dont have to expect a call from work. that i dont have to go over issues in my head and how to resolve them. it is the next step in decompression. i think it was good. just one more day before flying north.

 

i think i will visit that fish restaurant again tomorrow, along with the black cat, a small breakfast place close to where i stayed last time (Hotel 101).

 

will post some pics later of what i came across today.

 

The Gray Cat

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while in Reykjavik we stayed in at Hotel 101 in the center of the city, and nearby was a restaurant called ‘The Gray Cat’. they had awesome breakfasts. this picture was taken there by my friend April. i have used this picture just about for everything after i returned.

What will I be doing in Iceland?

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11169960_920358374683235_5716148123388815551_nA bit of background: I have published two poetry collections currently available on Amazon, and I have one book of fables currently in the design stage (designing the actual physical book) which is also being translated (it is both in Spanish and in English).

My goal is to develop more fables based on stories my grandmother told me when I was a child growing up in Mexico. I want to develop a second book of fables. I also wish to start collecting stories from the local Icelanders, and with those stories a portrait of the storyteller as well.

I always travel with a camera, but writing is the greater goal of this residency, and i look forward to taking full advantage of it.