Artist Ken Brown in New York City has been doing several daily art projects for many years and has been recently compiling the best of them in a weekly blog post on Ken Brown's Garage d'or.
Ken Explains.. Lately, they have been mostly in the photographic realm, though anything is possible. I've been taking pictures my whole life, sometimes even somewhat seriously. Lately, like everyone else, I carry a small digital camera and have found my photographic output to have increased 1000 percent. Most of the subject matter reflects the incredibly rich visual culture of New York City.
Why did you decide to do this project? I am an artist (film, photography, cartooning, design) and I have published postcards for over 30 years, but six years ago it was becoming increasingly apparent that it was over for postcards as the internet moved in and basically gob smacked the whole industry. It was similar in a way to what was happening with musicians who had also experienced a serious diminishment of venues. But they didn't stop making music. I gave myself the assignment of producing one a day cartoons just to keep the synapses snapping. Beginning on Valentines Day 2005 I started sending out a weekly e-blast of a single image culled from the weekly output. What started with a couple dozen friends and family members is now closing in on an audience of around 1000. I still do a one a day collage/cartoon graphic and have expanded in a similar way with photography. Last year I started posting a weekly blog that uses small batches of what still beats beneath the surface, "making something every day".
How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have been lucky in that I have always produced work in one format or another, but the added catalyst of a specific discipline has definitely increased the stream and I often find a serendipitous connection between projects (ie. photos become backgrounds for collage elements). A book collection of some of this work was published a few years ago and another is on the way. I have been aware for some while that there is an almost primal need to make art and I feel a sense of peace, comfort, and accomplishment when that is achieved on a regular basis.
See Ken's latest creations HERE.
Ken Explains.. Lately, they have been mostly in the photographic realm, though anything is possible. I've been taking pictures my whole life, sometimes even somewhat seriously. Lately, like everyone else, I carry a small digital camera and have found my photographic output to have increased 1000 percent. Most of the subject matter reflects the incredibly rich visual culture of New York City.
Why did you decide to do this project? I am an artist (film, photography, cartooning, design) and I have published postcards for over 30 years, but six years ago it was becoming increasingly apparent that it was over for postcards as the internet moved in and basically gob smacked the whole industry. It was similar in a way to what was happening with musicians who had also experienced a serious diminishment of venues. But they didn't stop making music. I gave myself the assignment of producing one a day cartoons just to keep the synapses snapping. Beginning on Valentines Day 2005 I started sending out a weekly e-blast of a single image culled from the weekly output. What started with a couple dozen friends and family members is now closing in on an audience of around 1000. I still do a one a day collage/cartoon graphic and have expanded in a similar way with photography. Last year I started posting a weekly blog that uses small batches of what still beats beneath the surface, "making something every day".
How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have been lucky in that I have always produced work in one format or another, but the added catalyst of a specific discipline has definitely increased the stream and I often find a serendipitous connection between projects (ie. photos become backgrounds for collage elements). A book collection of some of this work was published a few years ago and another is on the way. I have been aware for some while that there is an almost primal need to make art and I feel a sense of peace, comfort, and accomplishment when that is achieved on a regular basis.
See Ken's latest creations HERE.
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