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03/24/2006: "The Artist, The Internet, The Essay and The Blog" by Hyacinthe Baron
I consider the blog an art communication in the form of an essay. I have used the blog to spread my words and art work images all over the globe. I have my own website on which to post my essays and so many other websites on which to post my blogs and comments. They appear on so many search engines and are read by so many more individuals than I could ever meet in a single location.
I have met new and younger people and learned so much about their thoughts and strivings and successes.
Each day I find myself in conversation with artists and collectors about my art works, stories and opinions.
I have been in contact with individuals and collectors of my works who linger in my past with the works they acquired from particular times of my life, but were unable to reach me until the Internet.
I heard from one collector who had been wanting to ask me a question for years. 'What did you mean by the expression on the mother's face in the large oil painting we bought at a gallery almost 40 years ago?'
Mother and Child, 24x36' oil on canvas by Hyacinthe Kuller, 1962When the gallery sold their painting they kept the collector's name from me out of fear that I would (steal) their valuable client.
So many of my works are out there for over 50 years, the story of my life, the records of my feelings and thoughts and desires as I painted on canvas, hanging on unknown walls in places not known to me and with people I do not know who think about me every day but do not know me. They knew what they had been told. One gallery dealer: 'Oh she married when she was very young and has had a child every year for the past 20 years, but somehow manages to create her paintings.' Or the best yet: 'Oh, the artist is really a man; that explains the strength and conviction of her brushstrokes.'
I know this because they have contacted me now through my websites on the internet. More people see my work than could ever see it in all the gallery exhibitions and newspapers and magazines or TV shows or radio appearances I ever made.
I can show my old works, no longer in my possession that remain to me only in the form of photographs. Instead of the limited pervue of the buyer's venue, the whole world can see the work. Ultimately it is still mine, the laws say I own the copyright to everything I produce, every piece of art, every word that escapes my pen.
Two Women, 23x36' oil on canvas by Hyacinthe Kuller, 1962The internet has allowed me to post a permanent art gallery on my website and others and to archive my works chronologically and in organized series to create a record for my collectors and for my family.
I always felt, when I became an artist that the thing I wanted most was to be known for my efforts, sacrifices and talents. I never sought money as compensation, but I wanted recognition.
Now I know I have it. Now I know there is a record for the world to see.
Because it occurred to me several years ago that although I have been telling my life story in my paintings it was time to write the stories as well.
It is always a thrill to put my name into a search engine and up it comes.
Also the words I have spewed in the wee hours of the morning in response to something I have read on the internet.
It is important to keep the record current until I will no longer be able to create.
Because my inspiration as an artist has kept changing as has my life.
Oddly, the collectors of my work live with me in a time warp, as I was at that time, and with the emotions with which I charged my canvasses. Hopefully these are still relevant today and surpass the moment as art tends to do for others.
I think that is what Marcel Duchamp meant when he said that the paintings in museums have lost their energy and people are responding to memories of emotions from a time when the artist felt a particular way.
Now I am able to put up my art and words and ideas as they occur and as they are completed and receive immediate 'feedback'. That was always an important element in having my own galleries.
As I have aged I dreamed of grander vistas and more elegant works. I find myself engaged in 'Labors of Love' doing only those projects that I care about and that enable me to share the creativity and inspiration that has so guided my life, that of the wonderful man who nurtured my desires and empowered me to live in my own 'Garden of Creative Delights' and to follow my dreams which he so lovingly and graciously shared.
The essays, blogs, art works past and present and future which I post on the internet are a biography for my children and grandchildren so they will know me for who I really am.
I wish to share the knowledge I have gained through a lifetime of being an artist and 'doing it my way'. Believe in your abilities, your desires, your individual forms of expression until it brings you to a level where you feel in touch with a truth you have been seeking. The universe will reward you in ways you never imagined.
Hyacinthe Kuller Baron is celebrating almost fifty years as a professional artist. Her art and films and fashion designs are available to view on her websites and links to other website galleries and exhibits.
She is curator and editor of the Art & Human Nature Collection Literary and Art Book ISBN: 0975435442 published in March 2006 from Sable Publishing for Baron Gallery to benefit the many projects of the Baron Conservancy. The printed book will be available in April 2006 for purchase from bookstores and online booksellers, barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com and more. In addition, the book is also available for anyone to view as a PDF on the CREATIVITY BANK on www.barongallery.com.
