In terms of myself mostly yes. I think naturally there are some inherent messages in using these sorts of materials. It depends how you do it. I’ve been very cautious to use materials in a way that for me is honest. My intention is to make something beautiful out of these objects. My intention is not to be out there waving my finger at people. The message is there. I am wanting to make something beautiful using a difficult medium. Especially with beach plastic, which waves an environmental red flag, because someone had to throw it there or it’s washing ashore. It raises many questions and I think when people see this work they will say, “okay, why is this happening?” I think that’s a good thing. It’s not chastising people, its just bringing awareness. Even if they were just walking along the Continued…
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Tagged with art help, artist, artist help, artist integrity, artist tips, Environmental Art, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 16/09/2011
I believe we are at a point in time where we are about to take a quantum leap in consciousness. It is essential. The way that things are on the planet can’t continue like this and I feel that if each of us begins at home with ourselves with our own transformation we may have a chance of bringing this much-needed sense of oneness to our planet once again. In many ways we have no choice, it’s either a case of extinction or cooperation, not only amongst ourselves as human beings, but also between human beings and all other beings including animals birds and fish and the over all well-being of our beautiful planet. I, like everyone in our global community, am aware of the worsening calamities happening daily on our planet. Man can certainly change his behaviour and attitudes which will help, Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 12/09/2011
The initial collection of these found objects consisted of approximately 80 jumbo garden bags full of beach-found litter. When I first piled this collection up in my studio, I had friends drop by asking if I was okay! However I knew that an unseen intelligence was at work and soon realized the potential of a giant palate. Then I began the selections of yellow coloured plastics to make up its own pile in the studio, then the red, then the blues, the rope & strings, the plastic coke bottles, the thongs etc. Soon the floor of the studio did resemble a giant painter’s palate. Seeing all this develop had the effect of sewing the seed, for I later had the notion of making assemblages of each of these objects once they were all sorted. This occurred to me as a natural extension of Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 08/09/2011
My work exemplifies my commitment as an artist to express contemporary social and environmental concerns. At the same time, I'm sharing a positive message about beauty and the aesthetic experience. I am also offering examples of detritus re-cycle and re-use. I hope that this work encourages those who experience it to look at the environment in creative ways. These things are definitely driving forces behind my work and things, which underpin my whole creative process. People have expressed to me an awareness that manifests after seeing my found object artwork. When they walk the beach they feel awakened by possibilities. I am touched when people marvel at the creative way I present the recycling theme in my various bodies of work. I entrust the final alchemy of my work to the viewer with the possibility that they may experience deep perceptual shifts and Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 04/09/2011
It is important to be open to surprises, and they always keep coming. Teaching others about the importance of the environment through delivering more lectures about my art in public speaking engagements does interest myself, particularly as you can see from my web site that I have been a very prolific artist over the years, and I have lots to share in my lectures where I show many visuals of my work. I think this will go hand in hand with creating new work, as I’m also really enjoying the possibilities I see in my re-entry into painting and making sculptures. These all excite me to no end at the moment. As I mentioned, I remember saying in interviews with the media during the late 90’s, that I hoped that one day I would see less and less litter washing up on our Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 31/08/2011
It’s important to me as an artist to continue exploring the fullest range of expression so that I never feel limited by my creative output. I want to avoid categorization and confinement, by myself or by others. So in that sense, due to my prolific output and the variation in my art making, I have probably been fairly elusive in finding a common denominator, to the extent that a more generalized curiosity has developed amongst my audience. There are some standouts of course; especially with the larger public art pieces such as the “Guardian” located in Brisbane and also the commission from Absolut called “Absolut Dahlsen”. Also the “Thong Totems” which won the Wynne prize at the Art Gallery of NSW, are well known. Feedback which I receive generally covers most of the areas of my Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 27/08/2011
In my own creativity it would not have been possible for me to create a body of work like I have done, had it not been for the rampant consumerism that we now face on the planet. I’m not saying that I’m grateful for it, like I said in the media in the late 90s, I would also looking forward to a time when there would be no beach plastics washing up on our shores, as then I would simply move on to another medium which would express other contemporary concerns. In many ways because there is much less plastics on the beaches around where I live these days, I have also naturally moved on. I began working with recycled plastic bags, painting seascapes of the beaches I walked so many years collecting rubbish off and lately, working with recycled dead trees. Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 23/08/2011
My art school days were exciting right from the start. I met many amazing people, both students and lecturers. I created deep friendships and as fate would have it, I ended up in a five-year tumultuous relationship with the very same young woman that I met in the cafe the year before. Her name was Barbara and she was beautiful. Just what a young man fresh out of the confines of a four-year stint at an all boys boarding school needed. It was also a time of much experimentation both artistically and personally for myself and for many of my contemporaries. In some ways I probably missed the full benefits of studying at this institution because of my desire to experiment in my personal life, but I was young and I think it was important to me to get all of that out Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 19/08/2011
The journey of self-discovery is really the greatest journey to be hard during the time we each have on the planet. It seems to me that many of us miss this opportunity to truly discover the essential nature of ourselves. I have always used my art for that purpose and at the same time am aware of any shortcomings in the creative process to achieving that end, if you can call it an end. This has led me also to exploring many Eastern traditions of religion in my quest to bring meditation into my life and a fulfilling sense of my own self-discovery, which is as your question suggests a long journey. I think it's a great journey and I’ve been immensely nourished and continue to be nourished through my own practice as a meditator and one who is involved Continued...
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Tagged with art help, art success, Art tips, artist help, artist integrity, artist tips, Environmental Art, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 11/08/2011
Working as an Environmental Artist eventuated for myself as described in the following story. As a family unit, we used to go to our childhood holiday home in a very remote part of South Eastern Australia, which is on the border of New South Wales and Victoria. It was here that my father took us on long walks along four-wheel drive only tracks, to visit untouched beaches, which always filled me with awe. Many years later, I was to visit these beaches with my wife, and collect copious amounts of driftwood, washed up plastics, buoys, ropes and other variables. It was during the years at art school in Australia, at the end of the seventies that I first began collecting driftwood to make into furniture; and it was this experience that 20 years later I remembered and returned to the very same coastline Continued...
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Tagged with art help, art success, Art tips, artist help, artist integrity, artist tips, environment, Environmental Art, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 07/08/2011
I believe that when we are in a survival mode only, the necessity for art is diminished. I think our early ancestors were probably more fixated on providing the next meal as opposed to creating beautiful pictures with whatever materials they could find. This came later of course, as we see in rock art from the indigenous people in Australia for example. But the very early cavemen probably were more preoccupied with survival. This also has correlation with mankind today on some levels, as we see that those people who live reasonably affluent lives, are generally more inclined to appreciate art and are more likely the kind of people who do not wish to live without art. It seems all through history it has been like this, with the more wealthy elements in our society appreciating and fostering artistic endeavours. Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 03/08/2011
Planning is an opportunity to think systematically about opportunities. An action plan establishes a timeline of activities that need to be accomplished on the way to achieving your goal. It is an integrated series of small steps – a roadmap guiding you from A to B. Being an artist, who works with action plans, is no different from being any other professional in their chosen field who simply wishes to approach their work in an organized way. Many artists may find that thinking in a systematic way is against the flow of being an artist, but this is a myth especially when it comes to creating business opportunities, or any professional opportunities that are going to bring career success. Your work in the studio is something completely different. The success that you have with Continued...
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Tagged with Art Business, art help, art success, Art tips, artist help, artist tips, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 30/07/2011
Develop your sense of determination and persistence, especially when things don’t go as planned. Sometimes it seems that all of your artist friends, are experiencing the fame and financial success that you seek. This feeling of defeat is the very moment to take stock and to really take control. You can take control by keeping in contact with your clients and collector base. Do everything that you can to remain positive. This will include having the right amount of exercise and eating the right food. You must remember that everything in life happens in cycles. You will have highs and lows in your career. Successful individuals are the ones who persevere and don’t get swallowed up by any negativity that the lows can bring. This is a really good thing to remember. It's very possible that at some stage reasonably Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 26/07/2011
My unequivocal advice on this is don’t do it. With the relaxing of credit laws over the past 30 years it has made it ridiculously easy for people including artists to get credit. Banks and companies are pushing their products at an ever-growing rate and it is very easy to get caught into the trap of credit card debt. I can tell you many stories of my own experience with this, having also gone into the cycle of using one credit card to prop up repayments on another one, etc. etc. It’s very easy to get caught up in this kind of behaviour, especially when credit is so easy to attain and if you are going through a lean period with sales. My advice is steer clear of credit card debt as much as possible. Personally I Continued...
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Tagged with Art Business, art help, art success, Art tips, artist help, artist integrity, artist tips, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 22/07/2011
With public speaking it's important that speakers know their topic thoroughly. Speakers need to be able to entertain. As I have said previously, there is nothing worse than being in the audience of a boring speaker. Avoid this at all costs. Avoid being in the audience where there is a boring speaker and most importantly avoid being a boring speaker. Speakers need to be able to sell what it is they're speaking about. This can range from information about modern art, or about sculpture for example. You need to understand that when you are standing in front of an audience delivering a lecture, making a public speaking engagement, you are selling whatever it is you're speaking about. You don't want people to get up and walk out after five minutes, so bearing that in mind, you want Continued...
Posted in Art Seminars, Artist Help & Tips, Artist Success.
Tagged with art help, Art Seminars, art success, Art tips, artist help, public speaking, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 18/07/2011
As a public speaker, it is important to define the topics that you speak about by following simple practical steps. You will find as an artist, there will be many times that you will be approached to speak publicly, it may be at first just to say a few words at your own opening. This is pretty much how it happened for me. At first I was asked to say a few words at my exhibition openings. Following this, once people saw that I had a certain talent for it, I was asked to speak at other people's openings and before you knew it I was being asked to open exhibitions left right and centre. I became pretty good at giving these talks and soon began to branch out and let people know that I was available for giving public lectures. One of Continued...
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By John Dahlsen
– 14/07/2011
Defining your topic as a public speaker. One. What is your topic? Two. Who is your market? Three. Can they afford to buy whatever it is that you're selling? Four. What are the triggers that will make them by? Five. Supply proof in your lecture. Six. Put marketing programs in place. Five most common ways to get your topic. One. It is assigned to you. Someone gives it to you and you talk about it. Two. It is your passion. Three. It is based on your knowledge. Do the research. This is important. Four. It is based on your skill. Five. It is based on your desire to learn more about a topic. When Continued...
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Tagged with art help, Art Seminars, art success, Art tips, artist help, public speaking.
By John Dahlsen
– 10/07/2011
You can use a number of methods in your public speaking engagements. I have one called the "Fast track highway to success" for example, which I articulate through a series of diagrams, how easy it is to get sidetracked when you're doing a project and get lost, only to eventually find yourself back on the super-highway way behind your competition. You can find your own metaphors, which serve your speaking engagement best. Once you have these in place you can weave the stories into a few as an introduction. This is called stacking. It's a very effective way of bringing messages home and engaging your audience right from the outset. I might begin a lecture for example, using the metaphor about the “X” factor, followed on shortly afterwards via the “Fast track highway to success”, just to really strengthen the message that I'm Continued...
Posted in Art Seminars, Artist Help & Tips, Artist Success.
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By John Dahlsen
– 06/07/2011
As an artist giving a public presentation such as public speaking engagement, I have been aware from the onset that it wouldn't impress anyone if I had arrived on the stage looking slouchy. So rather than turning up in my paint-splattered overalls just to make a point, I do quite the opposite. I once made a purchase of a very expensive suit approximately 10 years ago, after I had been asked to do a number of public speaking engagements. I saw that this was probably something that I would be doing more of it and it was something that I did want to do more of. I could see that most of the people in attendance to these lecturers were addressed well, if not impeccably. This was one of the best purchases I could have made. I have met many Continued...
Posted in Art Seminars, Artist Help & Tips, Artist Success, FAQ.
Tagged with art help, Art Seminars, art success, Art tips, public speaking, success in art.
By John Dahlsen
– 02/07/2011
What makes speakers boring? One. A monotone voice. Two. A lack of clear focus. Three. Poor facial expressions. For example, there are tests being done that show, when it comes to influencing people, 50% of that influence happens through physicality and 35% happens through the voice. Four. No passion. Five. The topic nobody cares about. Six. The slouchy appearance. Seven. Slow speech patterns. Eight. Reading instead of speaking. Nine. Insufficient eye contact. Ten. Annoying physical habits. What do you think is boring? On the other hand, success is when: One. You talk about a topic people love. Two. Your voice draws them in. Three. Your personalities are similar. Four. Continued...
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Tagged with Art Seminars, art success, Art tips, public speaking.
By John Dahlsen
– 28/06/2011
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