over the break i had the opportunity to return to mackinac island with my family to celebrate thanksgiving. besides eating copious amounts of turkey and riding my snowmobile around on the fresh inch or two of snow we received, i was able to meet with photographer kate levy (one of whose artist statements i have previously posted) to discuss her project "the locals" as well as some ideas and struggles with regards to my project.
both of our projects share a lot of similarities, as far as subject matter we are basically looking at the same thing, but while she is more focused on presenting the underbelly of mackinac's year-round residents, i am interested in creating a more all-encompassing glimpse into a side of the island that few see. her asthetic is a little more edgy then mine, she mostly does her photographic work in detroit and it's surrounding areas, and because of this, i feel that some of her images present mackinac and it's residents in a somewhat unflattering light, which is not my intention.
i think that what i took away most from our discussion was the realization that, perhaps, what sean has been saying this whole time may have been true. i need to be more prolific, and i need to narrow the focus of my project. i have so many ideas and so much that i want to portray with this project that it has grown to a proportion far beyond my capacity for realistic completion. i don't have to say it all with this one project, and i think that by focusing on mackinac and it's people in the off-season as i see them, i will be able to begin to present some of my ideas in a more cohesive and complete way than i could by trying to say a little bit about everything.
i need to get back to doing what i actually enjoy, which is painting and metal working, and that is what i intend to do. and i need to do it NOW instead of waiting for something perfect to fall into my lap.
here are a few images i took while up there that i plan to incorporate into my paintings...
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