Art of Don DeLeva

 Art is shouting at the universe "I believe I exist!" So "I" am going to try to affect the material world in some way. The goal for the artist is to hear the echo of the that shout. That is why an audience is important, validation that your version of the "i" exists. Notice I did not capitalize the i, mainly because the Me is just a concept.

Where honesty in art is concerned, having a day time job gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in everyone else's daily life and offers a shelter from falling victim to following trends. Lastly, it gives you the oppertunity to say "no" to any deals you might make otherwise.

Naming a painting is a really hard thing to do especially if you don't know what or why you painted it. When I started, my titles were often as nonsensical as I could make them and then I started to make them try to have something to do with the work. Then they were just dates, then lyrics and poems, honestly I think maybe I have gotten 6 title right. LOL! I feel like titles can lead people in to what you want them to think about your work, but what if you don't want to lead them? Do you just leave everything untitled?

Remember that thoughts can be similar to a limp. Once you twist your ankle.  When most of the sharpest pain was gone your body made temporary adjustments to your balance so you could walk in less pain.  As the pain diminished your leg remembered these adjustments and kept walking that way.  Over a time you had little pain when walking so now you walk with a slight limp, because your leg is to lazy to retrain your walk to the balance before the twist. If you don't like a reoccurring thought, stretch out the twist to regain good balance.   

Ed Pashky In art there can be no direction or method with or without a result. In this way art history can be both limiting and freeing.  It can be limiting in the way that it can assume accepted definitions for mediums that are used. It can be freeing to know the breadth of possibilities within those mediums. Ed Pashky  Ed Pashky Ed Pashky  

It is hard to see the reality what it actually is. What make it really difficult is when you look a little deeper then the standard definition for things. DEVO, it there any more to say?

Since my hand can not physically or mechanically paint at the speed of thought. My mind seems to hold visual thoughts in place on the panel until I can paint them. In physicality and the material world this tends to leave areas of panel unfinished. Most of the time I don't realize I am doing this mental projection. This in turn leads me to believe I am further along the painting then I really am.   It isn't until days after that I realize the painting is unfinished. This result of semi-unfinished work usually brings me to revisiting a painting that I considered  complete. Usually it ends up better then it was  

As I paint my mind seems to work before my hand. Thus my hand is always trying to catch up to what I am thinking. So for example, after about an hour of painting my hand seems to be 3 or 4 hours behind what I have actually recorded from my thoughts into paint. My mind seems to see things and then project them on the panel for me to paint. It is almost like I am taking dictation from my thoughts. Painting in progress, 2018, 24"x30"

Very often, at least 8 times a painting session, my mind tells me what to paint or it dictates a direction to take the paining. Every time I listen to it I end up sanding out the result. The nice part about this process is that it leaves tiny bits of history behind for me to find the truth in.

There is a point in every work that seems the end is no where in sight. Is there a finish? Did the abstract expressionists teach us that over working can be a finished point? Mark Tobey: Six lines of the City. 1950s

Drawing is so immediate so expressive. I started with drawing, it just seemed so natural. I remember collecting pencils and erasers. Maybe I am obsessed with painting because I am still learning how to paint,

During the process of painting there might be times where you just stare at you work for hours on end. That's okay, because if you are not enchanted by the work then maybe the work is not enchanting. Master and Servant. Acrylic on panel,  35"x 45" 2010?

As a portrait artist I have come to realize the face is just a part of the body that we tend to focus on. The mind is part of that face. We see the world through our mind, it is only natural that it should be part of the face's physical appearance .

I wouldn't really know if it is easy to do a drawing in one hour. I assume it is a matter of if the work feels like it is finished. I tend to need more time.

Finding places to show your paintings is a good thing. No matter where you so show make sure you let people know you are show there. It will bring the bar or shop more people who will spread the word your are showing there.

My art has always been a log of my life experience, a journal if you will. It has been fun keeping track of my life as a animal being that is fully engaged in the human experience no matter how crazy it seems. It is so exciting to try to live as a 3 party passenger to the human experience. Thus the journal can be more from a journalists point of view. The challenge comes when the human me does not know what to do when the animal me experiences a change to my predictable bubble pattern. I seem to respond with the animal self searching for protection and intuition as a guide to safety and acceptance of my new pattern of existence.    Construction 6 , Graphite on rag paper, 8"x 10",  2004 

The mind seems to build a bubble around everyday life. This bubble seems to offer the protection of predictability. This bubble seems to shrink with time in order to create patterns in behavior that make the everyday " more efficient ". Do I know this? Can I prove this? No, I can't. It just seems that is how my mind works. Blunt Sly,  Acrylic on Skateboard, 2015

The every day creates patterns that are easy to slip into. Maybe try remembering they are just patterns, and will at some point in time change. This might make it easier to accept the new pattern and the change in your life. A red and black pattern changing as you look at it.

As to the Floating Monk, I truly believe he floated in the air forever because I saw it with my own eyes. And from the perspective of radioactive isotopes like Oxygen-12 and Boron-9, who have a half-life shorter then 10 −18 seconds, they have proof that the monk floats forever.  That is a scientific fact.

Sometimes it is easy to believe anything is possible.  On time, I saw a Buddhist Monk float in the air, in lotus position, for what could have been forever. However, from my perspective I saw this phenomenal feat take place for 0.5 seconds. There was no special effects curtsy of  video software. In full lotus there he floated. I watched him leap up in the air about 4feet and before he came back down to earth, he achieved full Lotus posture.