Iterations

A couple days ago I finished the last—at least for now—of a series of paintings I’ve been calling Cell Damage. I’ve posted a few of them on Instagram and over the past several days I’ve been doing an informal post mortem and really looking at them as a body of work to try to determine what worked, what didn’t, and why in each piece. I tend to think of my work in series, rather than as individual paintings, so when I finish a series—or at least get to a point that I want to take a break—I like to look at the whole thing and try to pick out a theme or a narrative or maybe just a technique that I’d like to take in a different direction. In that way, I think that all of my work is connected, though it may not be obvious at first.

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Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com

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Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris

“Sometimes disengaging is the best way to engage.” That’s a quote from Rick Rubin’s new book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, which I can’t recommend highly enough. Before I actually sat down and started reading it as a book, I would flip to a random page and read just what was on that page—and I actually think that with this particular book, that’s a perfectly acceptable way to approach it. First of all, the chapters are short—some are only a page or two—and between them are little one or two line quotes like the one I just shared and honestly, there have been a ton of these little thoughts and ideas that have sent me down rabbit holes or connected the dots between things that I have already been thinking about.

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Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris

This Iteration is a little different. Earlier in the week, I went into DC to visit a friend at the National Gallery and I took a few notes before and after—just a few thoughts that were in my head on the train ride in and out of the city. I love DC and whenever I go into town, regardless of why I’m there, I always come away recharged and inspired and just generally happier. Adrianne says that I should start doing it once a week. Maybe she’s right.

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Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com

Twitter: @jefferysaddoris

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Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris

In this episode, I'm joined by Jon Wilkening who, after a disappointing trip out West,  walked away from the creative side of his life to refocus on his family. Now, three years later, the itch to create has started to come back, though he’s not exactly sure what that might look like.

CONNECT WITH JON
Twitter: @jonwilkening
Instagram: @jonwilkening 

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Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com 
Twitter: @jefferysaddoris 
Instagram: @jefferysaddoris

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MUSIC
High Line by Duffmusiq

"Art used to be in charge of us. You used to buy a whole album not even knowing what songs would be on it. Now, we have everything on demand. At your fingertips. In pieces. You think half the people that are posting quotes from Oscar Wilde have ever read one of his plays? Or posting photos of Audrey Hepburn have actually seen the film that it’s from? Not a chance."

That was an excerpt from a monologue—and it’s just one of several really terrific monologues—from a movie that Adrianne and I watched the other day called Vengeance. I don’t want to give away too much of the movie, but I will say that each of us had some expectations going into it and we couldn’t have been more surprised at how much we ended up enjoying it. In fact, it’s the first movie in quite a while that we’ve talked about multiple times after watching it. The other thing we’ve been talking about is The Last of Us on HBO, but I’ll save that for another time.

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Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com

Twitter: @jefferysaddoris

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MUSIC

Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris

This month has been incredibly productive for me, both in terms of the painting I’ve been doing in the studio and in the amount of writing I’ve been doing. I’ve got multiple paintings in the works and I’ve started sketching out the framework for an entirely new body of work, which, if I can pull it off, will be different than anything I’ve done before. I feel like I’m still riding the wave of momentum that started building over the last couple months of 2022, after coming to some pretty terrific—and in some cases pretty profound—realizations around my work and where I see myself going over the next year. Looking forward is not something I’ve historically been very good at. Looking back, on the other hand, is something I do really well—often to pick at the scabs of some imagined shortcomings where I think I’ve failed myself or others. I just can’t think about 3 or 5 or 10 years out like some people do, especially since I’ve spent so much of my life not being able to see a 10 day plan, let alone 10 years.

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Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com

Twitter: @jefferysaddoris

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Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris

In this episode, Sean and I are talking about balance—specifically the balance between work and happiness and doing the work you love versus doing the work that pays the bills. Plus, we talk about stepping outside of our respective comfort zones to produce work that’s just as challenging for us as it may be to an audience. 

LINKS
Parable (Print): Physical Magazine: PARABLE Window Light (vol.1) — Sean Tucker Photography
Parable (PDF + Audio): Digital Magazine: PARABLE Window Light (PDF + Audio) — Sean Tucker Photography

CONNECT WITH SEAN
Website: http://seantucker.photography 
Twitter: @seantuck 
Instagram: @seantuck 
YouTube: @seantuck

CONNECT WITH JEFFERY
Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com 
Twitter: @jefferysaddoris 
Instagram: @jefferysaddoris
YouTube: @jefferysaddoris

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MUSIC
High Line by Duffmusiq

Before we get started, I’d like to ask you a few questions. There are no wrong answers here, I’d just like to get you thinking about them because they’re part of what has inspired this particular Iteration.

• Do you believe that you should ever compromise when making your art?
• Are you the only audience that matters when it comes to your art?
• Is there a difference between art and product? If so, should the approach to making those two different things be different?

While you’re thinking about the answers for yourself, I’ll share my answers to each of the questions. And keep in mind, these answers are just for me and your mileage may vary. I’m actually going to answer these in reverse, and I think by the end you’ll understand why.

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Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com

Twitter: @jefferysaddoris

Instagram: @jefferysaddoris

MUSIC

Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris

In this episode, Maarten Rots joins me from a village in the south of Spain where he’s been working on photos for the next issue of his magazine March & Rock. He’s also been reflecting on a decade as a photographer and we talk about some of the changes in how he approaches his work and what he gets out of it. 

LINKS
https://www.andalucia.org/en/genalguacil
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_Nuevo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbella
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Towns_of_Andalusia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estepona
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Júzcar
https://www.andalucia.org/en/genalguacil-cultural-tourism-museo-de-arte-contemporaneo-fernando-centeno

CONNECT WITH MAARTEN
Website: https://www.maartenrots.nl
Instagram: @maartenrots
March & Rock magazine: March & Rock magazine

CONNECT WITH JEFFERY
Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com 
Twitter: @jefferysaddoris 
Instagram: @jefferysaddoris

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Subscribe to Jeffery Saddoris: Almost Everything in your favorite podcast app to get Deep Natter, Iterations, and the upcoming reboot of Process Driven all in one feed.

MUSIC
High Line by Duffmusiq

One of the first books I remember reading was The Outsiders by SE Hinton. Just to be clear — The Outsiders wasn’t the first book I ever read; not by a long shot. Even as a child, I had a pretty good sized library, which included classics from Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and Margaret and H.A. Rey. But The Outsiders was different. It was the first book I can remember that really resonated with me and made me think about language. In fact, it may be the book that began my love affair with the written word.

CONNECT WITH ME

Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com

Twitter: @jefferysaddoris

Instagram: @jefferysaddoris

MUSIC

Music For Workplaces by Jeffery Saddoris