“Ørestaden” is a newly built part of Copenhagen that used to be a desolate field on the island of Amager. That was before they built the Bridge of Øresund connecting Denmark and Sweden. At the time the idea behind Ørestaden was to create a huge area of urban dwellings for the growing population of the combined Copenhagen/Malmö region.
And so they built. Each new housing project more ambitious than the next. Each architect had his own idea of a magnificent building. Every square meter of allowed retailspace was jammed together in “Fields” – The largest shopping mall in Scandinavia. No cafes, no restaurants, no cosy little places to hang out. No-one thought about the urban area as a whole and what it takes to create what James Kunstler calls a place worth caring about.

Sadly Ørestaden now looks to become yet another ghetto. It’s simply not a place that anyone want’s to visit because it doesn’t speak to us. It’s bleak and inaccessible. From an architectural standpoint many of the buildings in Ørestaden are succesful. VM bjerget – “Mountain Dwellings” is an example of this, having won 4 international awards. Blame it on the recession, but apartments in VM -bjerget are now being offered for rent at reduced prices.

Art has many of the same characteristics as architecture, Not coincidentally the Danish School of Architecture is housed in the Royal Academy of Arts. So what makes some art more popular than other? Technical prowess, Depth, Originality, Visual aesthetics? Art may possess all these qualities yet still not hit home with the audience.

Whether we like it or not, the brand of the artist as well as the accessibility of his work is a deciding factor.
I feel comfortable owning a piece by an artist whose story and background I know, whose reputation is well known in general, whose art appeals to me and is easily accessible.
Does accessible mean that the art is shallow and has no depth? Ask David Hockney

The value of art has historically been closely linked to the story of the artist.
The new paradigm of art is really not new at all – The artist is responsible for maintaining and increasing the value of his art. Though storytelling, through promotion and any other means possible.

I am committed to this task, blogging is just one tool.
Enjoy todays Mirror Mirror (top).
Buy it here:
[wp_eStore_fancy2 id=10]

The next piece in the Mirror Mirror series. Acrylic paint and watercolor on A3 sized Hahnemühle torchon paper.

You can buy the piece here:
[wp_eStore_fancy2 id=8]
Enjoy!

In between teaching, I have been working on improving the blog with image galleries and an e-Store facility. The work is still not complete, but I can’t wait to have it up and running.
I am alone in running every aspect of my career as an artist, and so some of the “non-creative” work entails setting up email campaigns, writing, designing and operating the blog, learning CSS coding, arranging my own exhibitions, etc. etc..
It’s actually liberating at times to have some meaningful work when I’m not painting, but right now I’m beginning to feel distracted from my art.

The days when I create are the best. Nothing beats having produced a new piece and being able to show it here on the blog. I feel proud to wear my title as artist those days. Vanity is a strong motivation for action, and painting is my mirror. So today I thought I’d draw from that source of inspiration.

TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday)

I am pleased with the result, the colors are rich and deep, the paper soft like velvet.
Holding the print I am filled with a sense of joy and pride. I’m guessing many authors and artists have felt the same way when holding the first copy of their work. Somehow it get’s more real when I see it in real life. – I made this.

The print series will be limited, all signed and numbered. Stay tuned in the coming days to get the details on availability and pricing.

I have been working on the upcoming limited edition prints today, setting up my favourite paintings in the studio, first photographing and then later retouching them in Photoshop.

I am comfortable taking photos and will often bring my precious Canon 7D whenever I’m out on a trip or just feel like seeing life through a lens.
I have chosen to shoot solely with prime lenses since these give me the highest sharpness and speed for the buck. At some point I hope to get my hands on Canons revered L series Zoom lenses, but for now my primes do fine. I have two primes: a 35mm and a 50 mm which in most instances works fine as long as I can sneaker zoom.

To get superb sharpness and avoid shaking I mount the 7D on a Gitzo GT3541L tripod with an Arca Swiss Monoball Z1 head. There’s just nothing that will make this combination fail it’s job.
The Gitzo lets me level the camera at just about any height and angle while the Arca has a smooth grip as tight as a vise.
Shooting with a tiny Canon shutter release remote means I can avoid even the tiniest vibrations from my hand.
I love the feel of quality equipment.

Retouching and preparing photos for prints is another matter though.
My skills in Lightroom and Photoshop are still feeble and even simple tasks take ages for me to complete. Of course none of it would be possible unless I had consulted hours of tutorials on youtube and elsewhere. Thanks to all you teen wizkids!

Still it’s frustrating and I feel like I am wasting time. Nothing pisses me off like wasting time – as it’s the only truly finite resource that I have.
I hate myself on days when, instead of painting or drawing, I spend more time trying to work out how some widget or miserable little function works in photoshop.
Today was one such day. Made me want to break free from the bonds of my Mac.
Made me want to go back to basics – and paint.

So your boss gives you an assignment –
1. “I need something, on my desk, whenever you feel like it”
2. “I need a presentation, on my desk, whenever you feel like it”
3. “I need a 5 slide presentation, on my desk, whenever you feel like it”
4 ” I need a 5 slide text-free presentation selling our product, on my desk, whenever you feel like it”
5. “I need a 5 slide text-free presentation selling our product, on my desk, in 1 hour”

Which assignment is more likely to ignite your creative spark?
Which is more likely to make you get it done anytime soon?
Which is more likely to focus your attention on the assignment?

Freedom is great, it’s the very reason why I don’t do 9-5 very well.
Too much freedom though, can kill the creative spark, make you apathetic, and make you less likely to focus your attention.

Cure? – Create rules, constraints and time limits on your work. and stick to them – well at least try to.
Afterall you’re the Boss, no?

This little watercolour above sums it up nicely.
For those receiving the post in your email inbox, remember to enable pictures or click the blue bolded header in the top of the mail.
Enjoy!

Why?” asks the host.

“Well, if I told you, you could just go home and copy my work” he replies.

Sure, there’s a craft in CREATING art, but chalking the value of your art up to some industrial secret seems sad.

Sure, anyone who wanted to spend their life praticing their craft so that they could be copying your work could do so, but to them I say – “Enjoy your life!”

So whats the secret about the value of art? The secret is that there is no secret. No one can copy your creative spark. A copy of Van Goghs sunflowers is well – a copy.

I got the feeling this artist was scared his art might lose its value if he told everyone how he made it.

Corporations often use so called Non Disclosure Agreements NDA’s to ensure that industrial secrets shared with business partners are not divulged to third parties. This makes sense since the value of a company rests on knowhow, patents etc.

Take The Coca Cola Company which fiercely protects the recipe for Coca Cola because this recipe is what makes Coce taste the way it does. What would happen if another company could claim that they make the exact same product?

Well obviously there is also the matter of branding, shaping the bottle etc., but clearly the value of the The Coca Cola Company would deteriorate.

What about artists then?

What happens when someone copies your method?

I hope you copy mine is all I’m sayin’

Enjoy this beauty as she emerges in 8x speed! Music by Bon Iver because his music is great. Go buy his album everyone. Seriously!

From Artworks by Carl Frederik Waage Beck

Hi friends,

I should be writing a lot of thoughtful stuff here on why I decided to paint this naked woman and how she relates to modern society and blah blah blah.

But the real reason for painting her, TADAAH, is that I just felt like painting a naked woman, and I just love the thought of couples arguing on whether to hang paintings like this one in their diningroom.

SO, for the next couple of months I AM GOING TO PAINT NAKED PEOPLE — true shocker, isn’t it? :o)

I know I’m having fun doing it, and hopefully you folks will enjoy it too.

Afterall, there is hardly anything more beautiful than the naked human body.

Enjoy!

Best regards, Carl