My Stuff.

The Artist’s Statement

 by Tim Ruane June 3 2012

I do not aspire to match or better the masters of photography, although I would not mind bettering them all. I want to carry on in the tradition of modern painting: Matisse, van Gogh, the Fauves, the Post-Impressionists, Dada, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Andre Durain, Pierre Bonnard, Modigliani, Klee, Johns, Louise Nevelson, Warhol and others—these are my inspirations. There are many, many excellent traditional photographers throughout the world. I, however, do not wish to be like them. I wish to take photography some place it has never been.
I work with a free online photo editing application: Pixlr—free because I have no money and Pixlr because Google, for reasons unknown to me, disbanded an application which used to be called Picnik, an old and true friend of mine.

I edit (manipulate) my photographs heavily, changing contrast, brightness and hue without hesitation and, more often than not, inverting, desaturizing, pixelating, posterizing, solarizing and maybe a couple other things, too.

I photograph anything my camera can find. I am inclined to value pictures that are hard to take more than easier ones—action shots more than stills, for example. For technical reasons, I have a hard time making good portraits. I am drawn to the unconventional and the abstract.

As the philosopher is interested in truth, I am interested in beauty.  Good art can do many things, but it cannot bore.

As an artist, no more a sophisticate than the caveman drawing on his caveman walls, I wish to be unique, but this is impossible.  Each human is unique, but each artist is not.  Each artist is a thief, pilfering from masters who have gone before him.  Post-Impressionists stole from Impressionists. Cezanne stole from Monet.  Cubists stole from Fauvists. Braque stole from Matisse.  And so on.

My methods and my madnesses are preceded and described.  Brian Aldiss nailed mine like a master carpenter.  He wrote sometime in the last century: “That’s the artist’s role—to strike out always for something new, to break away, to defy, to . . . grapple with the unfamiliar.” These words I reluctantly admit fit me and my work like Cinderella’s little glass slipper.  Brian Aldiss—sometimes Brian W. Aldiss, an English author who wrote both general fiction and science fiction, author of “Super Toys Last All Summer Long”—won the Hugo Award twice and the Nebula Award once.  I do not know what these awards are, but they sound impressive.

I work with digital photography.

Timothy A. Ruane
P.O. Box 433
Garrett Park, MD, USA 20896
703-504-8821; ruanetimothy430@gmail.com
timruane.wordpress.com

62 thoughts on “My Stuff.”

      • One of my favorite things that Matisse wrote about his work (and I paraphrase just a bit here) “…I wish my art to be something like a good arm chair in which to rest after a hard days work…” I like that because Matisse lived and worked through two world wars yet there seems to be some optimism there. I’m not a big fan of long protracted artists’ statements either but I feel like they’re a necessary evil that can sometime help someone understand your process a bit better and therefore have a deeper appreciation for it…as long as it’s not too long winded!

      • Hey, thanks for the info on Matisse. I don’t know why I cry about artists’ statements. It is probably because I am afraid I couldn’t come up with a good one myself. Also, I am sure I act indignant in my About just so I can appear to be different and sound impressive–uh, oh, that does sound too good, does it? Who knows? Salvador Dali was wacko too. Then again, I don’t care much for Dali. Hmm. Better stop here. I am getting all caught up in contradictions. I enjoy your paintings and can see Matisse and the Fauves in them. Bye for now. :):) –Tim Ruane

  5. Just a quick thought. How about adding catagories to your blog posts. People can then search easily for “poems” or “photographs” or “words” and “pictures”. It might make the site a bit more user friendly rather than having everything uncatagorised. You may want to add other catagories which might be more important as the content gets more weighty! Just a thought….

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    • Hey Postcard Cafe —
      Thanks for your replies.
      I will check out the link on the artists bios and am really interested in this categories stuff.
      How do I add categories to my work?
      Is there a simple way you could explain it to me?
      Is it the same as adding tags?
      Call if you like.
      Thanks again.
      Tim Ruane
      703-504-8821

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  6. Hi Tim, when you are adding content in the “new post” page there is a box on the right hand side where you add tags. Above this is a section called Catagories. You can add any catogories by any name you wish. On Postcard Cafe blog take a look and you’ll see I’ve added a search widget and also a widget that has a drop down featuring all the different catagories so viewers can just click on a particular area of interest. I’m not sure if different themes have access to different widgets. If you look at my other daily photo blog the catagories are listed as a menu on the left side under a title that I have called “Choose a flavour”. Basically it’s a list of the catagories under which I have put various images. You can add more than one catagory to each post. So on the steelcitystatic blog I have posted pictures under the catagories of both post code and type of image so one image will appear in both catagories. If some clicks on S1 they will see an image that may also appear under hearts. It means that people can refine how they look at stuff. If they are just interested in hearts then thats where they will look. If they live in S1 they may be interested to see what’s in their area. It’s worth thinking about catagories early on before you have lots of content so you don’t have to go back through stacks of posts and add catagories to them.
    Steelcitystatic is at:
    http://steelcitystatic.wordpress.com/ should you want to take a look and make sense of this.
    Hope this gives you a few pointers.
    I’m sure there are different schools of thought on how best to structure your blog but this is what I do. Some people will add different pages but I still think it’s useful to think about how you use tags and catagories.
    Good luck…
    Best wishes
    Postcard Cafe

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  7. Hi Tim! Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

    I really like your photos and poetry. My favorite from my first breeze through was “The Milkshake Would Not Be Dead”. Great imagery! It put me right back in a diner in New Jersey where, fresh off the train from New York, after seeing a concert at Madison Square Garden, my friends and I would sober up before heading home as the sun rose.

    That said, I must confess that, by pure chance, I was actually listening to the Grateful Dead when I read your About page, and after having read some of your poetry and your declaration that “love is a dead word”, I have to say that it makes me sad.

    No, it’s not that you don’t like the Grateful Dead. I can understand that, it’s not for everyone, and I occasionally take long breaks from their music in order to discover newer music, often heading toward the conclusion that the newer music is SO much better, or that much older music, like Miles Davis or Beethoven, is SO much better, and then all it takes is involuntarily hearing one Dead song and I’m flung back in…yes…LOVE with them.

    But this “love is a dead word” thing, sorry, I just can’t abide. Has it been co-opted and cheapened? Hell yes! But love, true love, not Valentine’s Day Sale love, is not only alive and well, but it’s never been more important. We need SO much more love, unconditional love for each other and for the planet.

    Anyway, I’m still happy to have discovered your blog and look forward to stopping by when I can.

    Cheers!

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    • Thanks for your response.
      I write about love as a dead word, but i’m sure I would like to be in love.
      I think I have a problem with the words “I love you.”
      Probably my hangup from childhood, etc.
      You’re right: we do meed more love.
      By the way, I say “Love you” to family members all the time.
      Thanks again for responding.
      See ya.

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  8. Tim,
    Awe, I chuckled when I read that you do not like the Grateful Dead… I use to live just down the hillside from one of Jerry Garcia’s Compounds. There were some seriously different people combing around that place! Hehe!

    About the Artist Statements. Yes they are hard to write as you have to sell yourself, but as someone who has been a Gallery Director, I have to say they are necessary. We use them for all kinds of things, but a lot of what I used them for was promoting the Artist themselves. Besides it is like getting a job, you have to have one for that too, and they take practice writing, but they are something you just have to do.

    Peace and Harmony,
    Sallyjane

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    • Hey Sallyjane —
      Thanks for the chat.
      I’m really not all opposed to artistic statements.
      I was just bein’ cheaky.
      As for the Dead:
      I do like one of their sons but I can’t remember what it is.
      Hope to talk with you again.
      Tim Ruane

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  11. I love your work. I am looking forward to getting to know you through your art & blog! Thank you so much for following me, it’s always nice to see new faces on my blog. And your about me is so much better then everyone else’s boloney. Cheers!

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  14. Every time I pass by the art you post in the “Art” tab I can most definitely tell it’s yours. Your work is so distinct that it stands out from the rest of everybody elses (is elses a word?). Anyway, keep up the good work my friend!
    _StNeishus

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    • Dear StNeisha:
      You are an extremely cool, gifted and talented person. Thank you so much for your flattering comments. The word I believe is “else’s.” I am supposed to know that shit, since I worked for a newspaper for 20 years, but don’t trust me. I will continue to work if you will. I have been bopping around a bit with video, believing that I will best Robert Altman and Woody Allen some day, and I do dream. See ya, Tim Ruane

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      • Tim:
        1st… thanks for visiting Under aThe LobsterScope
        2. As to editing the About Page:
        GO TO THE DASHBOARD
        SCROLL DOWN TO PAGES
        SELECT “ALL PAGES”
        SELECT THE ABOUT PAGE
        SELECT EDIT AND MAKE YOUR CHANGES.

  16. “Perhaps what we call perfection in art… is no more than the sense of wanting or finding in a human work that certainty of execution, that inner necessity, that indissoluble, reciprocal union between design and matter, which I find in the humblest seashell.”
    — Painter Henri Matisse

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    • Wow. Wonderful. Such educated and eloquent words. See. I am the dunce. PS I have tried to change my About about 6 times now, but haven’t figured out how to do it. I would write a letter to Mr. WordPress, but I cannot find his address, and I did Google Matisse to see if I could find a statement, looks like I failed. Most excellent and kind response. You could have really jabbed the dagger in. Thanks.

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  17. Tim I take it you are a little past 24, even if you were an extremely precocious kid I doubt they hired a four year old. But that’s okay, at least you worked for the Washington Post. Score! And Points!!

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    • Hi Shez —
      I am confused, but that is normal. I am older than 4. I tell all the girls I am 40, but (honestly) I just turned 59.
      I wrote something–didn’t I?–to cause all this confusion? Maybe I should edit.
      :):)
      Tim Ruane

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      • Just your user name: timrane24

        But hey, anything, well mostly anything, that gets a response is good, right? Otherwise maybe everyone is just passing by.

  20. Well! This has made my day. Your About really takes the cake. In fact it is the most fun I have had on blogs for a while! The poetry feels loose and light and sort of thrown together, AND (not but) some really lovely quirky images in the tangle. Not sure about the photos as my eyesight is failing. Thanks also for your visit – so glad to land here!

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    • Woah — talk about making someone’s day. Thank you so much for your response. I am thrilled to know that someone got a kick out of my About. You must, like me, be a fan of the Three Stooges. Keep making your paintings. They are wonderful. :):) — Tim Ruane

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      • Yes 3 stooges in the afternoon when we went around to our cousin’s house. they had a tv! unbelievable what that show was like. Were you at WPost when IT happened? were you in or near the carpark??? etc etc I am old enough to remember the first *gate. There have been so many since.

      • As I recall, we used to watch the Stooges when I was in grade school with a TV which had two knobs–one to turn on an doff, one to change to the four channels. No Comcast incompetence, no $90 bills to watch the tube. I was particularly fond of Clutch Cargo.

  22. Thanks for stopping by and for the “like” & “follow”. Great way to meet folks with similar minds, huh? Anyway, I was browsing around, and man!, I love your style, especially the writing! Looking forward to more!

    Mike

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  23. tim, i want to give you the “Liebster Award” – do you have less than 200 followers? that’s one of the requirements.
    – mary

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  24. Hi! Firstly, thanks a lot for your visit to my humble blog, hope you had fun. Secondly, I’ve just started to read your manifesto and I love it. I’d like to hit you with suggestion and debate but I’m not ready by the moment. Hope we keep in contact!

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  25. Many thanks for following my blog. I know what you mean about having a big ‘concept’ to explain why you painted/took a photo whatever. I briefly did an art course where in seemed necessary to have an explanation for everything, blast, I just painted a picture I liked, isn’t that enough?! To a certain extent I do like to explore stuff in my artwork but I think things bet a bit over-intellectualised…

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    • Ah, such good honest words.
      I am applying to an art contest whcih requires an artist’s statement. i wrote one. it is full of how I am influnced by monet and manet and klee and so on and quotes some genius fiction writer i had never heard of until i went trolling for impressive-sounding quotes on Gogle. i am surprised. i like thestatement which i came up with. i swear: it came out of nowhere like the lone ranger or batman or zoro. tee-he. thankyou so much for your response. good luck with your art. keep producing. it is, after all, what we do.

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I love hearing compliments, but please hit me with your suggestions and criticisms, too--too weird, incomprehensible, nonsense, etc. Thanks.

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