Moments Of Truth

Fresh Fish Heads

El Particular — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 03:04:00 +0000

Moments Of Truth ~ What’s your main form of creative expression? Yoskay Yamamoto ~ As in medium? Like mainly, well. . . I don’t know. I like playing around with a lot of stuff. Mainly it’s paintings but I do sculptures on the side, like installations. And I do freelance graphic design. MOT ~ How do you float between them? Do you have to change the way you work or anything? YY ~ There’s definitely a similar aspect that I can apply to each. Like while doing some computer graphics I’ll come up with an idea I can apply to painting. Same thing with painting to another medium. Lately I’ve been taking pictures of a background or abstract images and bring that into Photoshop or Illustrator and mess around with it. So it works vice versa, even sculptures. . . well it’s good to have different outlets because I can get bored easily. I might paint for three months straight and come to a point where I have to sculpt something. It’s nice to have that option. My main medium or focus is probably painting though. I think that’s my strongest skill. MOT ~ What is it that always draws you back to painting? YY ~ I think I just enjoy colors a lot. That’s a good question. I’m a big manga geek. MOT ~ What, like ‘otaku?’

Ground Up In LA

El Particular — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:25:04 +0000

~ INTRO ~

On a daily basis, you encounter countless creatures doing what it takes to survive. Is survival simply getting enough to eat and protection from the elements, or does it go deeper? According to the commonly accepted breakdown, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it evolves to a certain level. More levels could yet be uncovered. Winding down the classic Highway 1 into Southern California and dodging raging wildfire mayhem, Moments Of Truth has arrived in Los Angeles. As we’re all too well aware, this rotating hunk called earth is in a state of constant flux. Winds that hurl flames in any and all directions is current proof of that. Some of us may fuel the fantasy of bodies frozen in stasis while the mind establishes believable illusions of a life. Though that doesn’t provide an answer, questions abound about life, from youth until adulthood, as a person seeks to comprehend their purpose on earth. Maybe it’s a lot simpler than we want to believe. One factor that seems to remain constant, no matter how much oatmeal you consume, is that certain geographic locations are attributed a particular status. A person who survives and achieves success in New York, Paris, London, or Los Angeles has. . . well, ‘made it.’ The rest of us, well. . . I guess we’re still trying to figure ‘it’ out. In a cozy Venice Beach one bedroom apartment Frank Rozasy lives, breathes, and dreams among the materials he develops into expressions of his passions. Is your purpose survival, and survival as simple as following your passions?

~ BACKGROUND ~

Moments Of Truth ~ Hello Frank, thanks for taking the time to share with us. To start off, please describe the creative medium(s) you focus on. Frank Rozasy ~ I’m a painter, a photographer, computer graphics artist and I do installations. MOT ~ Has this changed or evolved over time? FR ~ Oh yea, absolutely! It’s always been figurative, but it’s evolved especially with the computer. Once you start working with the computer, it’s like a pencil or anything else, it opens up infinite different venues and creative ideas. MOT ~ Is there one you really enjoy focusing on? I see you have a lot of nice wood, do you use that for your paintings? FR ~ Well, yea, if you’ll walk up with me I’ll show you. . . (Frank takes the opportunity to introduce me to his studio space. I love getting into workshops, I don’t know if it’s because of growing up with my dad as a carpenter and his woodshop being a place to explore with adult equipment and ideas or what.) I’ve been working with my friend and model, her name is Doe, doing art of her for the last 25 years. That’s her, that’s Doe. I don’t know if you went to my website but I have hundreds of pieces of fantasy art and it’s all her. I’ve taken probably tens of thousands of pictures with Doe and make a lot of fantasy art. Also, I do nostalgic stuff which is – my father was a photographer - I take the old family photographs and do a whole bunch of different crap to it and then paint those.

Determined To Nature

El Particular — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:32:08 +0000

Douglas Greer ~ Well, it’s watercolors, in one word.

MOT ~ Has this changed or evolved over time?

DG ~ Yes, actually when I first started when I was pretty young, I tended to work more in other mediums. Say, for example, in college I worked more in oils. But then, when I quit to become a regular person and raise a family, I didn’t paint at all. I didn’t start painting again until I went to Ireland in 1989. The medium that I happened to pick up at that time was watercolors, and have since stuck with it.

Bridging Dichotomies

El Particular — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:14:10 +0000

~ INTRO ~

A friend of a friend led to the interview opportunity with mixed media creative Taiko Fujimura. The following quote lays out what she works to express in her creations. “The concepts she explores include quietude, peacefulness, harmony, unity, and universality. Her work is strongly influenced by Japanese wabi-sabi, an aesthetic system she strongly believes to be "beautiful" art and Japanese calligraphy, which she has studied since age six.” Hmm, I just noticed, that like my previous interview, Taiko started studying Japanese calligraphy at the age of six. Maybe that’s the age when young Japanese women traditionally begin to learn this. Could the inclusion of the study of this medium in Japanese culture spark a sense of creative expression? I caught up with her at a group show at the Market Street Gallery during San Francisco’s city-wide month of open studios.

Cultivation Of A Polished Rune

El Particular — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:57:35 +0000

Aoi & Her Work

The Japanese form is really unique, based on traditional culture. I use special brushes and papers. Like if I was just to draw the alphabet, it’s very simple lines, while there’s a lot of curves and three different styles of characters [in Japan], hiragana, katakana and kanji. Kanji is the most complicated one and consists of bunch of strokes. It’s really hard to write, but that’s what really makes me want to do it and learn it because it’s hard. If it’s easy, I can be more creative, it takes time to learn it but we need patience to develop the skill.

“Rage Your Dream”

El Particular — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:12:09 +0000

I use eigoMANGA as my vehicle for my creative energies. If I just wanted to create a comic book store, I would have done that. My desire was to develop a business in the entertainment segment. I love music, television, doing concerts, events, and try to bring these creative aspects slash initiatives into my business. I see my company as my opportunity to project that, and it’s very effective for me to do it that way.

A Blue Note: Sketched In The Raw

El Particular — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:11:32 +0000

Daisuke Maki ~ Graphic design. It starts from sketching with pens and paper. Then after making rough sketches, I’ll go on the computer and execute my idea. I used to be a fine artist before. . . or at least I wanted to be a fine artist before. After studying fine art for two years, I spent the majority of my life wanting to become a painter - since I was little even - until I meet a guy in Japan who did graphic design. He showed me his stuff and it clicked, “oh shit, this can be my job!” I didn’t know how successful a focus on fine arts would be, so that’s the time I switched to graphic design.

Brokering A Shutter

El Particular — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:46:08 +0000

Specimen Friday afternoon, before he has to take off for work, Mathew Scott took a moment away from watching his new born daughter to set us straight on what his photography is all about. We’re at his new apartment where he’s working on editing and uploading some photos from a shoot with Hiero Jeans for [...]

Furnished Reverberation

El Particular — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:52:22 +0000

MOT ~ Any idea why you tend to return to painting? What is it about expressing yourself this way?

NL ~ Well, I think it’s just that I feel really comfortable there and I don’t think I’ve explored it to the extent that I want to. I also feel like I can do really beautiful things with that medium. My work is non-objective giving me a place to really breath, while my other work isn’t, it is more taking on issues. Not as free I guess.

Stacked & Finished?

El Particular — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:02:45 +0000

MOT ~ What do you think it is that draws you toward painting?

JH ~ It’s hard to say, I’ve been painting for a long time, it becomes somewhat habitual. It’s a little weird that way, so I find it hard to think about it, why do I do it. Why can’t I stop doing it might be a better question.

“Blue Angel”

El Particular — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:47:50 +0000

Cocktails and Interviews A city like Portland has all kinds of hidden neighborhood gems where someone can go and fade away into the din. The Basement Pub on SE 12th Ave is just one of those kinds of locations. Andrew Warnecke suggested we meet up at one of his preferred happy hour locals, they have [...]

Knarlly Rebar

El Particular — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:30:09 +0000

After only being on the road, with a two man pup tent, sleeping bag, and basic gear strapped via various bungees to the motorcycle is not quite as exotic as stories and films tend to make it out to be. Camping using only the regular spots, which it seems is what the park services want people to do, is not like what I remember as a kid. It probably doesn't help that the majority of campsites seem to be situated for RV or giant camper ease of access.