Creating Art in the Deep South

in #surreal7 years ago (edited)

I'm originally from Maine, but have basically lived in Mississippi since I was about 11 years old. Ever since I was a youngster, I have done various forms of art ranging from realistic depictions of nature to cosmic, trippy adventures into my subconscious. And really, the latter is my true love.

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I call my art style "Subconscious Meandering" because I basically let my mind wander when I create, with little thought to subject matter or composition. During the course of creating a piece of "art", various ideas begin to coalesce and take shape before my eyes. I definitely enjoy this process, and even though I do many things in a similar style, every single thing I do is an unexpected adventure.

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Living in the Deep South of the United States can be challenging for a creative person because many residents are conservative in their ideologies, and they often don't understand or even like things that are different. Ironically, I draw lots of inspiration from those same people and their viewpoints on life.

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For me, being non religious in nature, I find it extremely interesting that so many people believe in fantastical gods and that they believe magical creatures control their lives. That those same people find my art to be bizarre is particularly interesting to me! This region is chock full of creative individuals, which I attribute to the history of the region.

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Despite the fact that many people in this region think of my art as weird, I have had great success in selling my art here and have had lots of support from people for both my own art, and the art created by my 21 year old son Joseph H. MacGown. Over the last few years, we have been spreading our art and the art of others around our region in any way we can by showing art in galleries, in competitions, in small group shows, at university campuses, in pop up shows, festivals, art walks, even live painting at bars! Despite the plethora of creative folks here, there has been a vacuum for artistic opportunity. We have silos of food, but are starving. This presents a unique opportunity in which we can almost do whatever we want!

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Awesome work! Very intense and detailed.

What medium is it? What are you using to create and onto what surface/size?

All of these, except the first one, are done on birch plywood using colored India inks from bottles and then detail added with technical pen filled with black India ink. The first one, called Convergence, is watercolor on cold press illustration board with details done with pen. They range in size from 24 x 24 inches to 24 x 48 inches.

The detail makes them seem larger than they are. I like the watercolor one a lot, but they're all great!

Your visions are just incredible. I too live in the Southern United States, and agree that it can be difficult to be an "outside of the box" kind of person at times. People here are pretty rigid and afraid to wander too far outside of their comfort zones. If I wasn't so inclined to stay near family, I would have already ran off to somewhere more forward thinking. Love seeing your work and looking forward to all the meanderings you share!

Yep, the South is an interesting place! But, things are changing here for the better.

joe joe,
if you would like to meet other artists at steem, please join our discord: https://discord.gg/ENN8KCb

we can help you navigate and find your way around as well :D

Thanks! I don't know anything about Steemit really. Peter Gric said it was the way to go, so I am checking it out :)

Woah... this should be in a gallery, not even kidding. Anyone who thinks your art is weird, in my opinion, is just blind to the amazingness that is the abstraction of life. Everything is "weird" if you look deep enough. I hope you find a great following on here, I will follow you for sure! You've got a very unique style and it's really fascinating to zone in and absorb what you've created. We'd love you to join our Steem Artist group if you're interested. We are a group that inspires each other to grow and connect with other artists. Check out the link below if you're interested :)

Thanks for the kind words and info! I will definitely join the artist group.

Hi Joe! Glad to have you here with your amazing art! :)

I like your paintings. It's great.

What an amazing talent... very unique! You should add a link to your online store :D

Such a beauty!! Your pieces are really interesting! I love your style! Welcome on steemit ^_^

Thanks much Silvia!

Wow the details are beautifullllllllllllllll
It gave me chill tbh!

Ha, yes, I do enjoy some details! Thanks

Beautiful work. Very happy to have you here on steem. I'll be following you and support you the best I can. I have a feeling you will do well here!

Thanks much!