The Working Artist Decoded

Updated: Jun 19, 2021

This is from a discussion with artist yesterday on my working method. It will give you an idea as to who I am and the work that I create.

I have always believed that one has to know as much technique as possible when developing a career. Your technique should be as efficient in as many disciplines as possible, the subconscious then is free to create in any direction that it deems necessary. There is no distractions or misdirection created by trying to figure out how to create a certain green.

I rarely do sketches. I allow what I see, what I feel, or what outside forces that touches me during the course of my day to influence me. I am a man who has always embraced the freedom of his emotional response to things. I generally start my compositions from a little voice in the back of my head that brings attention to something that affects me emotionally. The ideal usually sits there and my conscience and subconscious have a running conversation that keeps developing the idea.

Once the idea become demanding, I start to think about and look for the central focus of the idea. I think of creating like outlining a book. Every topic can be subdivided in to a number of subtopics. That is why I generally work in series; hoodies, 4 women by Nina, etc. So I build a composition. Therefore, I very rarely have a finished idea where the piece is headed. I am flying with that little voice and feeling that has been bugging me for days.

The series thing started from an interview with John Coltrane when asked why "These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things" is sometimes played 5 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes or more, he simply state that he plays it until he gets it all out.

Although I suspect that I have always worked this way (with the subconscious), Yusef Lateef in a conversation when we were both working in Nigeria made me aware of it and the possibilities that it presented. I think that is how he works. Think about it. Do you think that the great jazz musicians could play at all without allowing the subconscious to be the dominant force?

I doubt if I have explained this well or fully but maybe it gives you an idea about my creative process. Oh, one demand I have is a very serious contempt for overly creating and recreating the same things over and over again. The series helps me to get around that and basically get one idea out of my system and move on. I will probably expand on this a little later.