"Things hidden in my head" Copyright 2013 © Ronald D. Isom, Sr.
This blog is a division of the CODEX ISOM a complete guide to the collected works and writings of Ronald D. Isom, art educator and artist. A study of the heart, soul and mind. Creating esoteric connections to the universe. Without symbols our lives would be as spiritually impoverished as sleep without dreams.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
"Things hidden in my head" Copyright 2013 © Ronald D. Isom, Sr.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Wind power
Monday, March 7, 2022
Hidden knowledge.
Don't count your chickens.
"People who count their chickens before they are hatched act very wisely because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately." - Oscar Wilde. |
Sunday, March 6, 2022
Organic patterns.
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Bee symbolism.
Friday, February 18, 2022
Plays at Belleville East.
I began my twenty-eight year teaching career at Belleville East High School in 1966. It was a new school and several of the campus style buildings were still unfinished and the art room was not equipped and ready for use. Art classes were held in a regular classroom without art tables or supplies. We were told that everything should be ready in a few months; t was about three months before we move to the new art building. Those three months help form my teaching philosophy at Belleville East. My mantra became manipulation of materials at hand and creative problems solving. We made projects out of building scraps and and found objects. We used copy paper and number two pencils to created our art work on typical school desks. Those early exploration into creativity continued even after all the equipment and supplies arrived.
In addition to teaching art I began to work on school plays. I was the faculty technical director for over fifty productions. My skills manipulating materials was really challenged. The beautiful new school did not have an auditorium or theater. There was a building used as a lecture hall that could be divided into three separate areas and it was used primarily for study halls and meetings. It had a few theater type seats and a raised lecture are made of concrete. The space was about twenty by thirty feet with no wing space, curtain or back stage areas. It also had to wall on each side that narrowed the space even more. This remained as the only performance are until after I retired when a new theater was built. A few plays were put on in the gym until the principle asked me if I could use the lecture space for productions. That first play was a challenge. No lights, no curtains, no dressing rooms, no tools just a bare concrete area. I purchase a portable light dimmer and had it wires to a small utility room. The dimmer had to sit in isle and was operated without a booth. We bought a few lights and the custodian attached a pipe to the ceiling and we had minimal lighting. We also bought a follow spot and positioned in the back of the room. I built flats in the hallway and made a few sandbags to support them. It was lucky that the first play was “A midsummer nights dream” and we got by with a few flats and some platforms. The student bathrooms in the hallway served as dressing rooms. I owe a lot to that first play and it taught me the value of creative problem solving. For the next thirty years I technical directed over fifty plays. Each play added more creative additions to that lecture center. The wall were removed a wood floor was added a light booth was build. I watch a small unusable space become an intimate proformance area. My only regret is that I did not get the opportunity to use a real theater.
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Painting experiment.
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
The desire for repetition and order, forms an inherent part of my psyche. My recent work considers the creative application of repetitive processes, motifs and meticulous order. I am exploring and trying to understand why I am drawn to repeated, ritualized actions and to motifs which have become increasingly more obsessive.
“The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts.”(Henry Moore)
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Acrylic marker drawings.
Monday, January 17, 2022
Natural world
My interest, at either end of this spectrum of this reality, continues to feed my imagination.
Dans l'air fermée...and innocent parody.
Plein air painting seems to be the “ art du jour”. Plein air is a term derived from the French phrase en plein air, which literally means 'in the open air'. It's a familiar concept today, but in the late 1800s when the impressionists ventured out of their studios into nature to investigate and capture the effects of sunlight and different times of days on a subject, it was quite revolutionary. However, it is not quite so revolutionary today.
My art is called “studio art” which is art produce in a studio setting. Studio art is not revolutionary today and it is a quaint reminder of an artist in his cluttered studio, lined with plaster busts and manikin models to help him in his academic studies.
I decided to describe my work as Dans l'air fermĂ©e. Dans l'air fermĂ©e is a French expression which means "in the closed air" and it is used to describe the act of painting/ drawing indoors. which is also called La peinture avec l'esprit ("painting with the mind” or what the minds’s eye actually sees”) This type of art, generally does not require a classical studio, photographs, copy devises etc. All you need is a computer, a few sharpies and the desire to draw objects, symbols and images from the subconscious mind.