William Oldacre Photography

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Mad Scientist

Light Signatures series, day, colour photograph, art, abstract, abstract expressionism, creative, city street, urban, downtown, cityscape, speed, blur, movement, motion, red, blue, green, orange , muted, streaks, ripples, pattern

Rippling Green Strands Beneath Blue Orange, 2013 – Light Signatures :: (click to see more)

We spent this past weekend camping among the pines in the sandy dunes of the Pinery. It was great. The first long weekend of the year, warm gentle winds, the sounds of the trees and birds and the smell of the pines and warm earth. I really needed it. I really love camping at the Pinery almost as much as Bon Echo – its the sound of wind in the pines – my favourite sound.

While sitting by the fire on Saturday night listening to the trees sigh, I got to thinking creatively and came up with a new idea for a body of work, a decision for my back catalog and a promising method for separating the Light Signatures images into translucent layers. I was stoked. Unfortunately I had to wait until today to get down and try it all out. They’re promising ideas but after experimenting with them they’re not quite what I had in mind – not just yet. It’s going to take more work to crack the code on these ones.

I prefer to work in mad scientist mode – have a crazy left brain, lateral idea and then immediately get down and try it out – working all night if I have to. Sadly, that way of working is hard to achieve right now. Too many regularly timed responsibilities – I can’t just veer off course at random for extended periods – although those can be the most exciting and productive times for me. I’ve had to formalize my exploration time and keep the ideas afloat in my mind in between, even though they can fade with time. But I still have the ideas – which is good.

I’ve begun to think differently too about what I’m doing. In retrospect it seems I was thinking this way leading up to 2002 when I was in the thick of making the Metro Motion and the Majesty series. Since then I became over focused on money and the business side of my practice. But when it comes to the business, I know now what I have to do and so I can just do it – which means I can shift the focus of my thoughts back to the artistry. Feels good.

Exciting times ahead – can’t wait to show you the fruits.