Love is just as important as air, food and water. You can't live without it, whether it's self love or love by another.
I never thought of being an artist; I just was. As a kid, I use to hand letter names on bicycles for the neighborhood children. My payment was the leftover model paint. One of my many jobs during my high school years was making hand lettered signs for a supermarket. This position developed my graphic art skills.
Fast forward a few years, I was extremely fortunate to find my dream job. I taught high school industrial arts in Connecticut. During that time, I discovered screenprinting and fell in love with the process. Because I taught sheet metal and welding, I was able to make all the equipment necessary to start a screenprinting business. That was the beginning of a new life. The pull of this art form was so strong that I left teaching, moved to the resort community of Southampton, New York and started a silkscreen printing and embroidery business. I found it extremely satisfying to get paid for my artistic skills, use my creative talents to design and produce a product. Decades later, I sold the apparel printing business.
Looking back, I've been a graphic artist my entire life. I still am a graphic artist, only now, I'm working in 3 dimensions. I call this new art genre-
3 Dimensional Graphic Art. I will be the first to admit that my art concepts or ideas are not new but the execution is. My art ideas come to me like a lightning bolt, it strikes and is unrelenting. I make a maquette (model) to get it out of my head and no longer in my imagination. It's real now. This is the time I can study it from all sides. It tells me how to construct it and the scale. Many obstacles present themselves in this phase; even the decision to move forward or not. Each piece will only come to life if I breathe life into it. Many sculptors will use a metal fabricators to make their pieces, I choose not to do this.
This exciting phase of my artistic life expresses the affirmation that love has dynamic power. Throughout history, art has been used to convey a social message. My message is Love. It is my hope that these new and unique art pieces speak to people's minds and touch their hearts. I am grateful that the sculptures from the Inspired by Love series have been embraced by the community. I am grateful for all the love and support. Thank you.
James Ding Artist