Matt Foley

"The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder."
― Oliver Burkeman: author and journalist

frenetic productivity by a guru of alchemy

50 Shades of Greytitude by Matt Foley YouTube video by Matt Foley

“Black and white pictures create a surreal magic!”
― Avijeet Das: poet

“When the prophet, a complacent fat man,
Arrived at the mountain-top
He cried: 'Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands-
But the scene is grey.'"
― Stephen Crane: poet

Case of Mental Origami

I've always been an instigator.
Poetry readings and live music in conjunction with art exhibits, I started that - long ago.
Now, commonplace.
The Phantom Art Gallery concept used by major cities, an idea which has helped thousands of artists across the world: that was also mine.
I am true influence.

An original Influencer
When I first started doing social-networking, this was my banner - now, almost two decades ago.
In 1996, I used something similar on my early website, when that sort of thing was new.
These days it is commonplace for museums and galleries to post pics of people looking at art.

Art
"Although aesthetic experiences are frequent in modern life, there is as of yet no scientifically comprehensive theory that explains what psychologically constitutes such experiences (but) are particularly interesting because of...the possibility to provide self-rewarding cognitive operations."

Today: Criminal justice teacher charged with felony theft; Bill targets emotional, sometimes dangerous interactions between people and artificial intelligence; Man critically injured after unattended cooking leads to apartment fire.
People are idiots.
I'm playing my harmonica, while paint is drying.

Communicating with aliens, AI systems, other earth-bound life forms, all just a matter of display and access, seems a reasonable reason to make the art I do.
Who dictates that only humans are the ones privy and privileged to aesthetic exposure and experiences of my #art?
No discriminating is better.

Matt Foley: "When the creative human is subjected to oppressive times, barbaric customs and the whims of tyrants, escape by any means arises as a method of self preservation. Art works well as a method to assuage the grieving soul and troubled mind; to mend the roiling, broken, and shattered heart."

Indeed.
“Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The #artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul.”
― Wassily Kandinsky: painter and Art theorist

#colors

Indeed
“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways. ”
― Oscar Wilde: poet and playwright

“Let me, O let me bathe my soul in colours; let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow.”
― Khalil Gibran: artist, poet, and writer

“We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.”
― Henry James

Madness may be considered the porridge of food for thought. Malnourished? Not at all. Never junk food. The world has plenty already.

Creating in art for art’s sake while spiriting a viewer away from humdrum realities of the everyday tediums is a fulfilling endeavor.
Art is an existential exploration of the essence of what it means to be a conceptually capable being.
Imagination, creativity, interpretation.
Ars longa. Vita brevis.

Think of it as a big party. A New Years Eve party!
All the cool are there: Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Kandinsky, Leger.
It was rumored among the assembled party warriors that Banksy had been there.
In disguise. Of course.
Dali sent his regrets.
His aardvark had the sniffles.

#MattFoley #BeHappy

Maybe
“What art offers is space – a certain breathing room for the spirit.”
― John Updike
“Everyone tries to make his life a work of art. Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. Any authentic creation is a gift to the future.”
― Albert Camus

The majesty of imagination is thought to only be relegated to humans.
Perhaps that is so.
Even if not so, human imagination is a fascinating manifestation worthy of considerable contemplation.
Too often, that can be blunted by the pursuit of other fleeting rewards; fame, money, and assorted trifles.

Inattention has reached "epidemic" levels says Adam Brown, of the Center for Attention, Learning, and Memory at St. Bonaventure University in New York. "People have shorter attention spans, it’s the phones. Your brain wants to wander and look for that new thing."

New thing. Only for larger screens.

Matt Foley: Food for hungry eyes that emanates from places between mind and soul in which a richness of visual flavors foster a serene sense of calm in a sometimes savage wilderness of emotional discord, surrendering to teasing archetypes as nuanced mysteries of past, present and remembered futures.

“Credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasums, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly.”
― Teddy Roosevelt

“The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set-up by the non-dreamers”
― William S. Burroughs

"Dreams were time limitless, and dreams were space without measure.”
― Kahlil Gibran

There are some splendored and variegated dreams from which I never want to wake.

180,000 years ago, or so, I used the walls of caves as surfaces with which to express elements of what my unfettered mind was filled with.
Modern humans may marvel and puzzle over these creations, but any sort of explanation remains as mysterious and elusive as ever.
Lost in time gone by.
#MattFoley

When you can barely pay your rent, face having your utilities shut off, and are regularly hungry living with a growling stomach, there is little you can afford in the way of luxuries.
Yet, one "luxury" is afforded you.
The ability to indulge yourself in my artistic creations remains free.
#MattFoley

Matt Foley: in one area of my visual art are evocations derived from mental states that are not present to the senses, nor considered to be real but can create sensations, feelings and thoughts having the ability to become manifest in a variety of media: an alchemy of ephemeral existential suchness.

"Complex" refers to something that is made up of many interconnected parts, making it a challenge to analyze or understand.
It may also describe a psychological condition involving anxiety or preoccupation with a particular issue.

This is thoughtfully complex, but in what capacity?

#MattFoley #art

Happy #Halloween!
Commonly known as Dead Man's Fingers, Xylaria Polymorpha, of the phylum known as Ascomycetes (division Mycota), is a cosmopolitan saprobic fungus characterized by elongated upright, clavate, or strap-like stromata poking up through the ground, looking a lot like dead human fingers.

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.”
― Harlan Ellison

#Art confounds many of limited perception.

Everyone knows the internet was made for posting #cat pictures.
It seems furry felines have been a staple for such a long time.
Even days are dedicated to the custom.

Well, now I am posting one.
This is a watercolor I did when I was around 7 years old.
Thanks, mom, for saving it.
#MattFoley #artist

Art plays a profound role in human life, serving as a mirror to human experiences, a catalyst for intellectual growth, and a bridge between individuals and societies.
It's not just decoration or entertainment—it's essential for emotional, mental, and broader cultural development.
Art's our suchness.

The old vaquero had found a cool cave and set up his kind of housekeeping. The sum of a man's life, plus knife and rifle, bedroll and bowl, odds and ends.
Was he poor?
Not in his estimation.
He had his freedom, one of the finest treasures of all.

"Southwest Sombrero" - mixed media
― Matt Foley
#art

#Art receptions are one of the few opportunities for humans to indulge in a sense of sophistication and glamour.
Dress fine. Sip a bit of wine. Nibble some cheese.
A time to look your best and be your smartest.
Few other events rival one.
Unlike most all else usually free to attend, too.

#MattFoley

The first "moving pictures" were created by cave dwellers - long before cameras were invented.
They painted on the walls, deep in darkened holes, and those images appeared to move in the flickering firelight.
It must have been a very mystical experience when those pictures seemed to come alive.
#art