Faces, places, traces of time. Man, sometimes I can get so spun up in my own head. Only way to clean up bursting file cabinets and scattered documents encompassing my mental archives is to get it fucking out! Shutting your eyes and letting your unconscious ride it out can be the answer. Or writing. Perhaps painting. Sculpting or sketching! For me, even a solid run and listen to some lyrically educational music, that's another solution. So many options to get the fuck out of your head!
It's all a balancing act. The more I get out organic content, the more it reveals the multiple faces and people in my head. The Cool People, or just figments of my persona teaching me how grow.
And it's okay too when you're stuck in your own stress to ask for help. There is such power in knowing you need people to have your back. But if there aren't people in reality to support, remember you yourself have the power to be your own hero. Relying on others is pivotal to being human, but trusting that you are strong to lead your own shit is a biggie!!! Life is a flux always, and we can always use a little help from our friends.
The Cool Faces
A variation of The Cool People is The Cool Faces. Another way to purge what's going on in my head and dissect all the varied personalities bumping into each other. When I'm stuck in my head, best way to get 'em out is a two-hand-jam paint sesh. Basically its a throw down of expressions with no rhyme or reason. The faces are created just like the people with the ambidextrous method. Right hand gives structure, left hand throws down emotion. They blend into each other, share details of the face, and merge into an unified pattern.
The Cool Faces eventually spread from loose canvas and clothing to cover a black wall and full ceiling at Storm Ritter Studio. A 3am work night had me feverishly painting the ceiling. One face in particular hit a divine note for me, and ended up on textiles and my finger. Oh, and the section of the ceiling was cut out before I moved out. Can't leave a man behind, ya know?
The faces give insight into my unconscious and something bring a little light upon feelings of uncertainty. They do have a spooky, air of mystery about it. Sometimes, we don't know.
I'm most definitely powered by music, and I have to say one of the most unconventional song that fuels The Cool Faces vibe or just what I imagine when I freelance fast-paint faces is Bobby Pickett's unbelievably expressive face singing Monster Mash. Just watch him throw down these moods to see why it's absurdly burned in my brain.