The Lardner Report – Page 39 – Unleash your creative superpowers!

Kids and Color: It’s A Natural Thing

November 30, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) “Captain America” shows his “Fauvist take” on Halloween in South Central Los Angeles.

(Pic #2) “Le Bonheur de Vivre” by Henri Matisse. Classic Fauvist painting. (1905)

One of the most awe-inspiring qualities I see among my young inner-city painters is fearlessness. I love the way they slap on coats of unexpected color onto their seasonal gourds or Easter eggs.

(Pic #3) A 6-yeaar-old’s painting also in vibrant “Fauvist” colors. South Central Los Angeles art workshop. (2015)

They don’t ponder the pairings, but almost dare to bemuse adults with their carefree combos.

The young artist above (Pic #1) unknowingly made a phenomenal reference to what I saw as a “classic Fauvist” color palette: he juxtaposed complementary brights, like orange and purple in ways Henri Matisse (father of Fauvism) would have enthusiastically embraced. (Pic #2)

In the early 1900s, Matisse and André Derain formed a group of artists who painted with outrageously bold colors. This new in-your-face trend basically freaked out the art world, and the painters were dubbed “Les Fauves” which in French means “wild beasts.”

(Pic #4) “Woman with a Hat” by Henri Matisse.

In Matisse’s “Woman with a Hat” (Pic #4), the artist uses bright and unnatural colors to paint the portrait; he wasn’t worried about making the painting look exact, but rather creating an interesting arrangement of colors and shapes.

This is the perfect lesson for our young artists. I always like to encourage them to experiment, and explore form and color rather than perfectly replicating an object or scene.

Interestingly, experts say bright color aligns with a child’s energy. “Kids are drawn to it naturally, and love playful interaction with it. They play with color like they play with toys.”

While we often feel compelled to correct a child with mismatched socks, or colors that make no sense, it’s way more exciting to see his or her own creative combinations. It’s what keeps me coming back to the art table.

Fear: That Unexpected Source of Creativity

October 30, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

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(Pic #1) Weekly sketch, oil stick and acrylic on board

The benefits of artistic panic: how it can either paralyze you, or be the catalyst for something wonderful.

I meet with a group of artists once a month. We share our latest pieces, critique each other’s work and generally give each other the kind of encouragement all creative people crave. I never want to let these women down, or bring a crappy piece of art to the table. As a result, the night before we meet, I often feel the pressure starting to build when I realize “I got nothin’.”

By morning, I’ve decided I am going to cancel on the group, rather than face the shame of striking out artistically. At that point my husband usually says, “Just go, but don’t bring anything, it’s not a big deal, you’ll bring something good next time.” Before you say, “Wow, she married an idiot!” understand he does it because I am insanely competitive, and that is just the kick in the butt I need to get moving. It always works. I always come up with something, and I am always grateful, and hate him for it.

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Apparently, I’m not alone. In fact, I’m in pretty good company.

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(Pic #2) Aaron Sorkin: Oscar, Emmy, BAFTA, Golden Globe award-winning writer

Oscar winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was interviewed recently in advance of his new movie, “Steve Jobs.” Sorkin, among other things, was the creator of NBC’s critically-acclaimed hit, “The West Wing.” The interviewer asked how he came up with the idea. Sorkin explained that when he had written the movie, “The American President,” the script he turned in was more than twice as long as a normal movie script. He had written several scenes which took place between senior White House staffers, but really had nothing to do with the main point of the movie, the love story between the President and a lobbyist. Naturally, those scenes were cast aside.

Sometime after the movie came out, Sorkin agreed to a lunch meeting with some executives from Warner Bros. Sorkin thought it was a “touch base, let’s meet and say hello” lunch. To what he described as his “horror,” a few minutes into the lunch one of the executives said, “So…we understand you want to pitch us an idea for a TV series.”

Sorkin says he panicked. He had no ideas, had no pitch, but was too embarrassed to say that. Instead, grasping at whatever straws he could pull together, he remembered those wasted scenes and said, “Yeah, it’s about the inner workings of the White House; it revolves around a group of senior staffers.” The folks from Warner Bros. said, “Great — let’s do it.” Out of Aaron Sorkin’s insecurity, and fear of coming up empty, the show considered by most one of the great TV dramas ever made, was born. The moral for Sorkin at that meeting, for me on Friday nights before my group convenes, and I’ll bet for you from time to time, is this: Fear is fine; insecurity is fine. Giving in to them, is not.

Artist Lori Pond: In Black and White

September 30, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) “BEAR” – Archival Pigment Print by Lori Pond, 2014. Featured in “Menace” at Gallery 825 on La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, Cali.

(Pic #2) “CAT” – Archival pigment print by Lori Pond, 2014. On display at Gallery 825.

Hearing about Lori Pond’s life exhausts me. Just when you think she’s conquered another challenge — like learning the craft of old school tintypes, or dissecting dead bird bodies in a taxidermy class — she tells you she just bought a drone, and with it, she and plans to document the levels of drought plaguing southern California. All in a day’s work.

Her current black and white photographic series, “Menace” is chilling and profound. It’s presented with extraordinary attention to detail, and backed by uncompromising research, compassion, and wonder. Lori never seems to stop exploring –which is jolting by itself, since she already has a full time job: she is an electronic graphics artist on CONAN – the nightly television comedy show on TBS.

She is one of the most weirdly gifted artists I know. I mean that as a compliment. You might agree after you read our interview. Then, make sure to visit her solo photography show at Gallery 825 in Los Angeles. You will no doubt find it dark – and very, very deep.

Q and A with Lori Pond:

TLR: How did you end up as a photog?

LP: I started photographing because that’s what my Dad did a lot of in his spare time. I was enthralled with anything my Dad did, so naturally I took up a camera, too. He had a little darkroom in our garage and taught me the basics. I was hooked right away. He taught me to notice things that other people would walk right by. We went to Joshua Tree a lot in the springtime to capture the ephemeral beauty of the wildflowers that sprang up from that harsh land.

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(Pic #3) Lori Pond on the “mini-set” for a Conan sketch, Warner Bros. lot.

The road to getting here has been weird. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance and Spanish, and a Masters in Broadcast Journalism. I thought I wanted to be a classical musician, but when I encountered the competition, I decided I would be a music critic. When that idea seemed unappealing, I got into making documentaries. When I realized that wouldn’t pay the bills, I somehow ended up delivering lunches at a post production house and from there they put me in the hot seat with one day’s training on a Chyron. I’ve been producing text-based graphics since. At “Conan” my job is “Electronic Graphics.” Another stupid title. I prefer “Digital Overlord.” Anyway, it’s a really stressful job punctuated at times by humor. I was on the show once in a bit about Qaddafi after he died. Conan said, “She’s having a celebration in her office now that she doesn’t have to figure out how to spell his name!”

(Pic #4) “OPOSSUM” – archival pigment print by Lori Pond, 2014.

TLR: Describe your show, “Menace.”

LP: When danger flares, what do you do? Since humans first experienced the fight or flight reflex, the subconscious brain has told us what, when, and whom to fear. This remains so. When faced with peril, our bodies respond with intensified adrenaline and racing heart beats. Survival depends on our instantaneous emotional response instructing us to run or stay, a millisecond before our rational self can decide. While our brains have not changed, what we fear has.

It is rarely a carnivorous beast that triggers our instinct to run. It is pictures of burning skyscrapers, reports of schoolchildren crouching behind desks to dodge bullets, or a gathering of teens in hoodies that make us tremble. But are these threats real? I hope that “Menace” will challenge us to question what we know.

(Pic #5) “COYOTE” – archival pigment print by Lori Pond, 2014.

The series ventolin confronts us with frightening, darkened, wild animals that trigger the ancient instinct, while our rational mind knows we are in a safe, civilized space. We look longer, closer, and realize the threat was never there: these are preserved, “stuffed” animals, their images captured in bright sunlit shops, manipulated later by an artist to ferocity. They frighten, but are impotent.

TLR: Tell us about the animals in this series. How do you feel when you see their faces?

(Pic #6) “THE BIRD” – archival pigment print by Lori Pond, 2014.

LP: Most of the animals in the series I found at a local taxidermy shop that rents out the animals for TV and movie productions. In fact, the buffalo at this place was used on “Conan” quite often as our faux Ted Turner’s “ride.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with these creatures. I was just generally curious about taxidermy and thought to go over there. For the most part, I feel incredibly sad when I see these animals. Taking a taxidermy class did help with that, believe it or not. Taxidermy can be a real art.

TLR: Describe the taxidermy lesson experience? Morbid?

LP: In my class, we got to work on frozen European starlings that were killed as part of an urban pest abatement task. They are really beautiful birds, with opalescent black feathers. We had to rip them apart, take all their guts, eyes, sinews, etc. out. That was the first half of the first day of the workshop. When we were done with that, the teacher broke us for lunch. Strangely, I had no appetite.

(Pic #7) “BABOON” – archival pigment print by Lori Pond, 2014.

I ended up really bonding with my bird, which I thought I had ruined with my ineptness, but he came out really well. I made my teacher give me bigger glass eyes than were normal, ruffled his feathers, and made his beak permanently open wide. I named him “Angry Bird.” I took him on a road trip with me to Santa Fe one summer–not sure why I did that, but it happened. A while ago, I found a wet, long feathery mass in my hallway. I soon put two and two together and figured out Kellie my dog had consumed my precious work of art.

TLR: What motivates you to constantly LEARN new techniques?

(Pic #8) “BUFFALO” – archival pigment print by Lori Pond, 2014.

LP: I remember a classmate of mine in junior high gave me some really good advice: She said to take every opportunity that comes along. That could go very badly in some cases, but I’ve tried to be somewhat selective about taking opportunities. Out of that advice I developed my own mantra, “I’ll try anything once.” And, I certainly have a curiosity about the world around me and the people and other sentient beings who inhabit it. I’m an omnivore when it comes to devouring new ideas, art, almost anything. Mainly, because I get bored so easily.

TLR: Are you willing to do anything for your art?

LP: I WILL do anything for my art. I constantly put myself in precarious situations to “get the shot” and will spend any amount of money and time to perfect my work.

TLR: What do you hope visitors take away from your exhibit?
LP: I hope viewers will get the sense that to be an artist of any kind only takes a keen sense of observing the world around you and be curious about it. Living in the moment is also a sure-fire way of beginning a path toward becoming a more interested person. There are plenty of “interesting” people in the world, but a rare few who are “interested.” Those are the people who become artists, thinkers, inventors.

For more on Lori’s work, check out her web site here: www.loripond.com.

“Menace” will run at the Los Angeles Art Association’s Gallery 825 from October 17 — November 20. Reception: Saturday, October 17th, 6p to 9p.