Page 16 - the NOISE December 2012

16 • DECEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
contInueD from 15
Aspen Rise by Rob Dutton is among the photographer’s best at Brandy’s Restaurant this December.
BECOMINg THE rOLE
I first met Flagstaff photographer and musi- cian Rob Dutton when I found myself at the other end of his camera at a Flagstaff Yoga Fes- tival. I internally hoped that he wouldn’t cap- ture me in an unflattering asana, but I needn’t have worried. Since then, I’ve had the oppor- tunity to spend time with Mr. Dutton at yoga retreats; practicing yoga, playing music and hiking out in some of the most beautiful places. He has a way of capturing a yogi in the midst of a vigorous practice, sweaty and tired, and mak- ing them look serene and bathed in flattering light. Somehow he knows when the forest is going to look especially breathtaking. He tells me a bit about himself, his photography and the driving force behind his creative endeavors.
“My creative process is less of a process and more of a state of mind and state of awareness,” Mr. Dutton tells me. “I am at my creative best when I am totally present, listening to the in- spiration and allowing it to enthuse me as its representative. I suspect this is common to any/all fully-blossomed artistic endeavor. The moment I start trying to cognitively force the creation separate from the inspiration itself, the magic disappears. This is true whether I am taking photographs, writing poetry, play- ing music, or pursuing any form of artistic ex- pression. Although the cognitive process and the practical knowledge and skills are essential aspects of being able to have a fair chance at communicating the inspiration, they do not, and cannot, be the inspiration. I further analo- gize it as being the difference between playing a role and becoming the role – a difference that always shows.”
“Inspiration is energy that is fueled with en- thusiastic feeling,” he says. “So the next step, I suppose, is seeking that which invokes the feelings that inspire you, energize you. I of- ten find this in nature, and this incidentally, is fundamentally why I live on acreage facing the mountain. I located and created my home with inspiration being my number one motive. I also find inspiration anywhere people are ex-
uding creative, open or otherwise beautiful en- ergy – the yoga studio, the music festival and so on.”
“I loved capturing images since I first looked through a camera’s viewfinder at about age eight,” Mr. Dutton continues. “However, I essen- tially remained a point-and-shoot hobbyist at best until relatively recent years when I began to re-kindle my deeper creative spirit that had long been plowed asunder in the many years of living asleep, busily painting in the numbers of the picture of my life’s particular, superim- posed programming and domestication. Now I love to play with all the capabilities of a DSLR to render that which is offered. I am becoming especially intrigued with time-exposure since it offers a virtual (actually, actual) infinite uni- verse of possibilities.”
“As alluded to above, the journey didn’t really embark and leave the inner harbor until recent years,” he says. “I was never trained in youth as a photographer, artist or musician despite the inner longings that were always there. I expect many can relate to this. It reminds me of the study that revealed that first graders, when asked if they are artists, will unanimously raise their hands, but when asked only a few years later, the proportion typically dwindles to 1/5th or less and even more thereafter. We are all artists, no matter our vocations, though our mediums of expression can vary widely. It is all made of the same, intrinsic fabric and each re- minds me of the requirement to ‘listen.’”
The photography of Rob Dutton is on Dis- play this January at Brandy’s Restaurant, 1500 E. Cedar Avenue, along with other Z House art- ists. RobDutton.com
arT aND waX
The encaustic — hot wax paintings of Ja- neece Henes are featured at Gallery One13 this December. I’ve talked to Ms. Henes about her talented students in the past, and now have the opportunity to hear about her own works of art.
“My imagery is usually referencing nature in