Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by James Stanford

Quote by James Stanford

“When I first started showing the “Indra’s Jewels” work, I had people coming out of the woodwork saying “Who is this guy? What is he doing? Who does he think he is doing this stuff?” and the more they’d find out they’d go “Oh, he was a painter? He taught for more than decade on the university level? He knows what he’s talking about? Oh, well let’s look at it a little closer.”

Quote by James Stanford

Book:Indra's Jewels
Create image

Work

Indra's Jewels

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

James Stanford

Browse famous quotes and profile details for James Stanford. more

You May Also Like

“The main criticism was really “he just presses a filter and gets these images.” But then they’d realize that I had learned how to paint and how to draw—that I had paid my dues, and I’d also been a graphic artist and a technical illustrator. And so I was able to show that I could draw with technical pens—and do anything that anyone else could do—and yet still was fascinated by this, and that sort of opened people up a little bit more. The more they knew about me, the more open they were to my explorations in the digital field.”

ArtistPaintingLas VegasContemporary ArtArtist QuotesArtistic VisionDigital ArtJames StanfordShimmering ZenIndra S Jewels
Author:James Stanford
Create image

“Sometimes knowing what to shoot is a big relief. Other times, being extemporaneous is the way to go. I love to go out and see what the universe is presenting to me on any given day. Learning to be sensitive to what is out there with no preconceived idea is a wonderful way to discover new subject matter. But only looking for the shot that presents itself in the moment seldom creates new technical skills. In order to master the camera, I give myself special assignments. Giving yourself an assignment helps you to learn about photography and your equipment. By knowing what you want to achieve, you can plan things out. This way you can slow things down. Shoot and confirm. Take notes. Concentrate on getting the shot just right! You will learn to master Aperture Priority, shutter speed, ISO, manual settings, and more. Digital Camera, 2018”

ArtistPaintingPhotographyLas VegasContemporary ArtArtist QuotesArtistic VisionDigital ArtJames StanfordShimmering Zen
Author:James Stanford
Create image

“The Mojave Desert is a harsh, but very spiritual, place. It’s as much a matrix as anything else in my life has been. Growing up in the desert has a different gestalt than growing up in a temperate zone, with its humidity and rainfall. As children growing up in the Mojave, we chased lizards and snakes, instead of frogs and squirrels. There is an arid openness about it, and a true feeling of being alone, that you don’t get in any other type of environment.”

ArtistPaintingPhotographyLas VegasContemporary ArtArtist QuotesDigital ArtJames StanfordShimmering ZenMojave Desert
Book:Shimmering Zen
Create image

“After graduation, I dealt blackjack in Las Vegas to make ends meet. When I wasn’t working, to straighten out my head, I would go out into the desert – up to Red Rock and Pine Creek. I would hike those creek beds and find a comfortable red-sandstone boulder, where I could sit and draw. In those days before cell phones, I could spend hours undisturbed, drawing or painting”

ArtistPaintingPhotographyLas VegasArtist QuotesDigital ArtJames StanfordShimmering ZenMojave DesertRed Rocks
Author:James Stanford
Create image

“The temptation is always to think of Las Vegas as a gambling mecca, the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’. Well, it’s that. But, it’s a lot more than that as well. There are beautiful natural rock formations, rare plants and animals, and even pseudo-alpine regions. Just because you can see for a hundred miles doesn’t mean that there’s nothing there to see, and open desert allows you to see things in a different way. There is nothing to block your view, and nothing to hide behind.”

ArtistPaintingPhotographyLas VegasContemporary ArtArtist QuotesArtistic VisionDigital ArtJames StanfordShimmering Zen
Author:James Stanford
Create image

“I developed a thirst for great art, but it wasn’t until I was 20 that I finally visited my first museum, the Prado in Madrid. There, in 1968, my interest was caught by the paintings of Luis de Morales, a 16th-century artist from the harsh Extremadura region of Spain. Morales was a Mannerist, like El Greco or Parmigianino, who painted very graceful figures with long necks and limbs. He did a magnificently smooth sfumato modelling. But the effect that impressed me the most was a fine line that he applied around all of his figures. He didn’t need those illustrative lines, but they really made his figures ‘pop’ off the background.”

PaintingPhotographyLas VegasContemporary ArtArtists LifeArtist QuotesJames StanfordShimmering ZenMojave DesertLuis De Morales
Author:James Stanford
Create image

“Living in the desert makes a lot of things very clear. It really gives you an unobstructed view. The severity of the landscape opens people up to their inner selves. St. Anthony went into the wilderness and was tormented by demons. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert. In an unexpected way, the Mojave is a very spiritual place.”

ArtistPaintingPhotographyLas VegasContemporary ArtArtist QuotesArtistic VisionDigital ArtJames StanfordShimmering Zen
Author:James Stanford
Create image

“The gestalt of living in the desert, surrounded by the desert, was a big influence in my life and in the lives of other artists in this community. There are many artists and musicians who grew up as lonely kids in the desert with nothing to do, and who chose to channel their focus inward. In the Mojave Desert, numinous, mystical experiences are not as rare as one might think. The numinous is a part of the whole artistic experience for the desert artist.”

InspirationArtistPaintingPhotographyLas VegasContemporary ArtArtist QuotesJames StanfordShimmering ZenMojave Desert
Author:James Stanford
Create image