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I am a man on a mission of recovery...recovery from pain, from false beliefs, and the negatives ways in which I have dealt with these. I am a better person for my efforts. So here I am in a hotel room with a "stranger" (less so now) attending a workshop over the weekend to become healthier. I once believed that the pain drove my creativity. For some artists it seems to be that way. Now I believe that it will only free me up to create more, be more. So here I am.....just enough time to write this. Good Night.

Now that I'm re-focuing my artistic energy toward building not only an expanded portfolio, but also the business side of my art (something that I haven't done until now), I'm wondering where I fit into the artworld and who am I as an artist. This envolves a lot of self-reflection I know. Years ago, I started with a love of art, but little experience creating art, let alone the technical aspects of Photoshop. My start was as a "hobbyist" creating truly wonderful "crafts" :) that family and friends enjoyed with an "oh, how nice" At some point, something changed. I got in touch with my artistic heritage (father was a pretty good copy artist and musician..thanks Dad!). What was a "hobby" became more serious art. I created some very good pieces, and some "fleshy out" pieces. I worked at it, learning more about Photoshop, what it could do, and what I could do. I started looking at the world differently, noticing the art around me...and infusing that into my work.

My art has changed as my life as changed (a death of a spouse, divorce of another, now a new love..career changes, and a whole lot of personal emotional healing. Wonderful!). So with all this change, I wonder who I am as an artist? I read other artists blogs and articles, and I don't feel connected with them, except the passion to create. I don't seem to have the same sense they do with the need to communicate some message, either political, social, spiritual, etc. I suppose I am communicating out of my existance since that is where I believe creativity comes from. I am expressing myself, after all. But what am I expressing? Perhaps, that is for others to interpret? It is kinda simple for me...I love to create, be it a song, a story, or something with pixels...I need to create. Period. I've read articles relating the artist's description of how they came to create thier masterpiece, and I don't relate to the forethought invovled. Does that make me less of an artist? Is the pleasant happenstance not as respectible? I don't have a lot of knowledge of the history of art, something I would like to know.

I look at some other artists here on FAA and I can look at their work and with the little knowledge I do have, I can identify them as an abstract artist, or surrealist, impressionist, etc. Frankly, I don't know all the differences between the differently periods, styles....I guess I would classified myself as an abstract artist? I wonder if not knowing diminishes me in some way?

When all is done I want to be seen and heard. I don't need to be famous, but I want to be respected. I want my name out there as a means to an end-to have my work shown and appreciated. I want to be immortal :) with my work somewhere, everywhere, going on and on...being enjoyed, talked about, and, yes, wanted. And sure, I want to make some money in the process as I can only eat Mac N Cheese so much...a nice steak from Ruth's Chris Steakhouse would be nice every once in awhile!

So, I will continue to work on my craft, build relationships here on FAA, and hopefully, find my place in the art world.

Since picking up my mouse again, I've experience a new creative path, and a new vigor to build my portfolio, and experiment. As I mentioned earlier, I've really enjoyed what is essentially a new artistic tool for me: The Cut-Out.


"Mondays in the Park with Vivian" was my first piece using the magic wand tool in Photoshop. It was more accidental. And it worked. Each time I used it, I found the possibilities endless. Mostly, still, I was using it to express some form and build that into a theme I could work with, such as "Break".



Two of my earlier attempts "I Am Here"
and "Totem" were more abstract in nature, but I felt (especially Totem which I felt was kind of an afterthought on my part) they lacked creativity, or at least didn't have the amount of expression I had hoped for.

I think I got lucky with "Color Me Dexter".



Coming back, my first stab at The Cut-out was "Spy"



"Spy" was more involved than others in the past, still it possessed an identifiable theme, which is ok, but I wanted to experiment more.

"Supernatural" was the first piece that I felt I was on to something. Simple and more pure abstract. Above all, it forced me into more "in-the-moment-pure-creativity". I just let it take control, wondering where I would end up. And when I felt that voice that says, "I'm done"...did I have something that I felt connected to, but also had to discover myself the meaning behind it. I guess an artist is supposed to have some "message" designed from the beginning, but for me I enjoy the mystery. I want each artwork to create itself. "Supernatural" definitely did that. And when I was done, I sat there and stared at it. "What shall I call you, huh?" Silence. So I waited for it to come to me. I had been watching a lot of "Supernatural" episodes with my daughter and that's what did it. If I had to pick three colors that were the theme of the show, it would be White, Black, and Red. Done.

What's fun is learning more about the piece, what I think it means, what others think it means.

I'll be exploring more using this technique. Wonder what will happen next?

If you're reading this, WELCOME! If you've followed me for some time, you've probably noticed several absences over the past few years. Life has it's share of ups and downs, and I've refocused my life several times to face the challenges and grow-both as an artist but also as a person. This year marks a year of my new love Jess, a better relationship with my daughter Deanna, emotional healing with Immersion, and new inspiration.

When I last laid down my mouse, I was getting into my technique using the selection tool to "cut out" portions of a scene with some unique outcomes. Returning, I found that my enjoyment of this technique has increased, but with what I feel is a more matured result. What I think I love most about it all is that the process is about learning, discovering, and listening to the creative spirit which has always guided me. If you're an artist, you can relate to the feeling that something takes control. Sometimes I see more of the final piece, most times I have no idea what is to come. With anything abstract, each eye sees something different, and I'm constantly amazed at what connection others have to my work.

Take some time to look at the work, and feel free to send me a message. I'd love to hear what you see!

Ken Walker 2014

For many years, I've been uncomfortable with being "me". Somehow that just wasn't good enough. I don't think I thought that my name could be synonymous with any type of success, until now. Being on FAA, I've met some wonderfully talented artists who have used my name to signify one of the best in my genre. Perhaps it's time to no longer hide behind a pen name, but come out of the "closet" and sign my art using my real name...the real me. Well, I'm still searching for the me I will become, but I think I am at peace with Ken Walker.

So, let me introduce myself....

Lately I have been in an artist's funk-lack of inspiration. I felt like I've lost my muse. I can attribute most of this to my personal life that I've been spending more time on-trying to keep my family together, not to mention some personal work. With my wife away at the Highland Games this weekend, I've had some extra time to tend to my creative flow, or lack thereof:)

I've started collaborating with a local photographer. He sent me some of his work, so I thought this would be a good place to start working again. Unfortunately, I spend hours on his photo, an nothing seemed to work. I think part of the problem is that I haven't been a "photo manipulator" for some time, and that is what I was doing. This brought me no energy. My passion has been to really create something out of nothing. I removed all traces of his photo to start over again when something caught my eye....

"Lemmings" is my first piece in some time that has inspired me to keep creating. I really connected with the painting. Like most of my better work, there came a moment when something in the wreckage of my current project spoke to me and a clear vision emerged. The black figure was something that needed to take center stage. I wanted to multiply the image. I put in more hours to get the texture and colors right.

I chose the name because the figures were identical and following each other blindly, without any thought. I found that the more I stare at them I see other things. What are they? Even I don't know. Perhaps the man who spends his time staring up at them (bottom right corner) knows:)

Of the artwork I've done, "The Burning Man" has been perhaps one of the most interesting journeys I've taken in some time. It's one of those pieces that I'm amazed I ended up where I have AND pleased with the final outcome.

I started with the idea of playing around with all these texture elements I had collected over the past few months and re-use them to create something totally different. Sounded simple enough. The last abstract I did "Sheol" I thought came out nicely. I decided to go with a more relaxing color: Green. I spent an hour and in the end was quite bored with what I was doing. It just was, well, blah. I thought that I could maybe take what I've done so far and incorporate it into something later. Perhaps the FAA contest page had an idea.

I found what I was looking for: Create a painting inspired by a dry desert scene as directed in this weeks FAA contest. Admittedly I've been getting a few of my ideas from the contest page (I like the challenge). The textures of the "blah" painting could be used for a desert scene.

I started working with the concept of this wide dry desert with just one (or two) elements...perhaps just a rock and a shadow. In doing research I came across some pictures of "The Burning Man Event". Interesting, I thought. I added that into the background and quickly realized that there was something to this, something primeval. I chucked the aforementioned desert idea for this new burning stick figure.

I worked for another few hours, but found that although the new idea was definitely the right direction, it was now too dark and to stiff. There was no movement. Something was still missing.

I decided to do some research on the Burning Man Event to see what it was really all about. Although judging from a lot of the picture, there was still a hedonistic quality to the event, I did find that the idea of the event seemed to be, originally that is, about artistic freedom of expression. This I like. It seemed that this is what I was missing. The painting had to reflect freedom, joy, and yes, perhaps some hedonistic abandonment as well.

After working on the Burning Man for another hour or so, I've ended with what you see here: A dance of light across the desert floor. There is something savage about it now, and yet I find it to also be peaceful. I take no credit to this. Once again, the art has found its own life and just took me along for the ride.

One final comment: For any of you who have actually been to a Burning Man Event, I do not claim to fully understand what it is all about. I simply did some research and came away with some inspiration.

I've just finished my new work "The Dreaming Tree" inspired by the Dave Mathews Band song with the same title. I've recently become a "fan" of their music after seeing a live concert from Atlanta on TV where they played an 11 minute version of this song. I was instantly hooked by the journeys this live version took me. I've had this song in my head for weeks at a time.

This painting is another example of having one idea in my head and the painting itself guiding me towards another outcome. Halfway through, the song popped into my head and I had this vision of a ghostly figure of a woman standing in front of her Dreaming Tree...recalling her dreams that have faded.

If you've followed my art over the years, you'll notice a few pieces that are quite the departure from my norm. I've always been a "nerd" of sorts: I still love vampires, werewolves, ghosts, aliens, etc. I've been listening to the Twilight series (yes, I know...) on audio as I drive to and from work. I wanted to do something different. I'm also a Zagg Skin artist so I'm thinking of some fun things to create that would look good on a laptop. Bottom line is that I'm doing this more for the fun of it.

I've been doing more "rational" art for some time and feel the need to really do some quirky things.

I was so inspired by my previous work, "Past Life" that I've decided to continue using trees as a thematic element in my new paintings. This one, "Moss On Tree" really was a lot of work to get the look and feel I wanted. I literally re-worked this several times, finally arriving at the final product.

I've found myself at another crossroad. Well, to be perfectly honest, I've been right here for some time staring down at my shoes. These shoes seem to be stuck in mud. Not a pleasant situation, but one of my own making. Not to be too hard on myself, I've made some attempts to remove a shoe from time to time and make a step towards somewhere different.

In looking behind me, I can see a few steps I have taken that seem to bring me joy. Some say you can never really know where you are going until you know where you've been. Well, I'm not sure I want to dwell on where I've been, but rather decided where I want to be-who I want to be. I'm taking stock of what parts of myself I want to keep, and what parts of myself are to be considered just imprints in the road I once followed. I'm not suprised to find that music and art are such a part of me that can't be left behind. There has always been something so fullfilling in starting out with a white canvas and only moments later gazing at something that "IS" that wasn't-asking myself, "Did you really create this?"

And so here I am.

Hello to you all.

Welcome to my new start!

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Art has been one of these journeys I've enjoyed. I'm looking forward to opening myself up to new creations.

"Old One" is my fourth installment in my series on trees. I wanted to create something more dark, something more akin to a classic horror film. I knew that I wanted to use a old tree with a large exposed root system to add to the "creepy" factor. In the process, I started to form a face, a dry withered face-sad, perhaps even haunting. The challenge was to not make the painting look like a photo overlay. Thanks to my daughter who, when I thought I was done, said it looked like a photo on top of a painting of a tree. Great to have a live-in critic, eh? I stared at "Old One" only to realize that I had indeed missed the mark. Something was missing. I spent another few hours working to add more texture and shadow.

I'm happy to say, this is better......I guess kids are useful after all :)

"Sakura" is Japanese for the cherry blossom. You may have noticed that I added the kanji symbol for sakura "桜" above my signature. I discovered that kanji, the Japanese written language, is a way of explaining the "meaning behind" a word, not the sound of a word. 桜 describes the cherry blossom as a beautiful woman wearing a hair ornament. 木 is the symbol for "tree" and 女 the symbol for woman, and finally ッwhich refers to the ornament on her head that makes her very pretty. I found this to be a romantic way of describing a tree's blossoms.

About the process-the final product-I was leaning towards bold colors but something just wasn't right. I tried to tone down colors. It was when I started to experiment with no color at all then pulling some color back into the piece that I felt I was headed in the right direction. This, as all my artwork, is very different than what I had thought it would be-I'm glad that the work itself has a mind of its own:)

I was browsing some recently sold artwork when I stumbled upon a painting entitled "Deep Red" by Deborah Hudd. I really enjoyed her artwork. In fact, all the paintings of some Jazz legends inspired me to create this new piece, "Brew". For those who know Miles Davis, you should recognize the title from his fusion work, "Bitches Brew". This experience is, once again, an example of starting in one direction and ending up somewhere completely different.

I started out by re-working an earlier piece, "Blow". I felt that is never had really come together the way I wanted. I liked the texture of the piece, but didn't much care for the center figure. Honestly, it looked like I had just slapped the image on top of another painting. And that is what I did-which goes against how I do my paintings.

As I took apart the piece, I decided to use Miles Davis as my main thematic element-being recently inspired by Deborah's paintings (see above). It wasn't until I deconstructed "Blow" that it became apparent I was working on a completely new work. I worked a great deal in getting the texture and colors right. Looking over the piece to "put a name to my work" I realized that the painting had a raw elemental quality to it-things under the earth. The red reminded me of volcanic activity, hot lava, and heat. Then "Brew" popped into my head.

So there ya go....

I was thrilled that someone purchased "24" Someone in Texas loves NASCAR!

You might have noticed that my header has changed. Several years ago I decided to create a company identity from which to produce my artwork and music. I came up with the name "Joesimple". As a child, I was really into the peanuts, and later in life-Joecool, Snoopy's alter-ego. I didn't see myself as "cool", but average. Just a regular joe. That said, it seemed like a good name. It certainly got people asking questions.

Years later, and in a different season of my life, I'm shedding parts of myself that no longer work-this includes the old name and logo. I decided this time around to just use my name. Keep it truly "simple". So why the "JS"? Much of my old work was signed "joe" or "JS". I am still signing my work this way (now more my own personal inside joke). I've included a part of the old logo to bring some connection to the new logo. My wife thinks it looks like a dollar sign....oh well :)

I've created my first piece of artwork in so many years, "Past Life". The main thematic element is a tree. I've found my life to be accidental, and although I strive to change this, perhaps I shouldn't be all to quick to do so. (Well, not entirely anyway). I chose the tree because of a contest I saw on FAA-but what I didn't notice was the contest had been over for several months. I've created my first new painting as I try to make a new start-all from a mistake. I'm grateful for the irony.