Digital. Embrace It. Its Here to Stay. Manipulate baby, Manipulate!

So, I am pleased to say 'Freed from the Depths of Hell' (formerly Satans Ride) is now a stunning print on Acrylic, (some might know the material as high-spec perspex) . As you may have guessed, he is also residing in my house (nice wallpaper, thanks). Also residing are Reflective, Soul Sisters, Elements, Volcanic, Ghost and one other (the name escapes me can you believe!). Its fair to say, I have WAY too much art in my home! It all needs to be seen by the public, but, how does one break through the millions of amazing artists all aiming for the same goal, to make a living doing something they love, or better still, to be seen by an art collector, and to get it out in the public domain where it will be appreciated?

24th February 2018 was the day that my eyes were opened to the possibility that I, little Miss GG Barrett (Joanne for those who don't use my 'stage' name) could be seen as someone, who 13 years ago, had an idea, to create art digitally and print on what was then, a pretty unknown medium, could be a successful artist with print.

Print, and digital art is still deemed with much snobbery in the art world, but something I saw today helped me move forwards and bring confidence that my vision, could actually become a reality.

My vision, then and now, was to create bold, big and contemporary art for those who are looking for a centre piece in their interiors.. my vision has been pushed along by my business partner and Independent Consultant, whom both see great things within my art.

Sushma, loves my work because of how it makes her feel, Simon, loves it on a deeper level- which he explains more here . I do feel grateful that I have two visionaries behind me, because often, as many artists do, I doubt my work, Im highly critical of it. For example, Freed from the Depths of Hell, when he was mounted, instilled a smidgen of doubt in my mind. Had I chosen right? Is the piece really that good? Simon and Sushma both walked in and used the words WOW! When we look at our work as often as we do, its easy to become disdainful and fresh eyes are what we need to bring perspective back that actually, its a great piece!

So, why was today a day where my viewpoint was changed. Why do I now believe digital print has value within the art world.

Because I saw this

And this beauty was in the Bury Art Museum. It was indeed a digital print mounted on Acrylic by Pat Flynn . My revelation was not because another was a digital, print on acrylic artist, but because it was in Bury Art Museum, a museum that was housing a painting by Turner which Simon estimated was worth about £15million. It gave me hope that indeed, an art museum was recognising the new era of digital and print art as something of value.

Now, dont get me wrong. Im not saying here for one minute that I was the one who invented the idea of digitally created art to be printed on acrylic, that would be ludicrous.. (but I was ;)- no really, I'm just kidding)- the bigger picture here is, I'm not that visionary. But in my little world, I was the visionary, as I had had zero influence from external sources (or no influence on a conscious level- but that's a whole other topic!). The piece 'Untitled (Floor) by Pat Flynn was created in 2007 and bought by the museum in 2009.. so, calculators out.. thats 11 years ago, around the time I started to fiddle with digital art. I do sense a bit of synchronicity here (meaningful coincidences (Carl Jung). In that, I didn't want to go to the museum as I needed to get back to tend to my horse, but, I was persuaded by my two comrades, Sushma & Simon. Mulling around the art, I appreciated what was on display, but, it wasn't my kind of thing (I am a contemporary art lover I'm afraid, and renaissance or impressionist art really doesn't excite me. It was an era my step dad used to deal in, and i wasn't overly excited about it back then either, Im more of a Picasso/ Dali kinda gal. And more recently Banksy and a few others). Anyhow, we walked into the room housing 'Floor' and I instantly gravitated towards it in awe. I loved it. Its magnificent size and its magnificent contemporary look!

It was my vision, there staring straight at me. Who was this Pat Flynn.. I needed to know more. He stole my idea (again, I really am kidding). Pat is a Manchester born (1972) visionary who creates work that makes sense of the world around us, drawing from popular culture, art history and his experience of growing up in Greater Manchester, the starting point for his digital imagery (Read more here- Manchester Art Gallery)

"Today we better understand how photography represents our desire to fix temporary objects in a permanent image. Our personal systems of belief, in which we trust that someone exists or that something is true, lie at the heart of Pat’s photography and films."

Exhibition curator Kate Jesson reflects on Flynn’s work at Cultue24.

Photography is already being considered fine art, and photo-manipulation is fast catching on with some amazing work out there with imaginations that run wild! The world really is your oyster with this new digital age. So, embrace the change, appreciate that a computer can work wonders for your art career, and understand that just because it has been created using artificial intelligence, the actual intelligence comes from a great and creative mind.

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