9 Moments Of Ecstasy

I recently added a collection to my website titled 9 Moments Of Ecstasy. As I find myself questioning artwork that I look at, it felt like an idle time to say a few things about my development process behind the set of images it contains.

I'm inspired a great deal by music. Sometimes, it's not really about the sounds but the titles themselves that suggest images to me. I like "play on words" and phrases that make you stop for a second and give a moments thought about what you just read. Sadly, I can't relay the sounds I enjoy along with the images that I create. So, I can only do my best to convey those emotions through these pictures.

At first, it seemed a lot of 'spiritual' qualities were going to go into 9 Moments Of Ecstasy. I had a few designs involving the winged main character and the non-winged figure together in various poses. The ones that stood out the most showed a tender emotional side and something beyond mere carnal pleasure. Those were the ideas that set the tone for the rest of the collection. So, as the following pieces came about I wanted more contemplative and ambiguous scenes.

At that moment, I asked myself what ecstasy really could be for a person. Does it only have to be a pivotal or climatic moment? Or, could it be something that conveys a sense of memory bordering on timelessness and longing. I spend occasional time sitting back and remembering 'good times' from youth and more recent days, and that's what I tried to capture with the collection.

Whether it's a day at the beach, two men playing cowboys, a son loved by his dads, a fantasy setting on some far away world, a personal love of the spirit, or an individual alone remembering his heart's desire: it's all ecstasy. It's about degree, I discovered. It's about those singular moments that are embedded in each of our minds and give us a sense of pleasure as we recall them.

So, I hope that's what gets conveyed with the images. For these people, 9 Moments Of Ecstasy goes beyond a simple definition of any word or cliched suggestion.

Peace, and enjoy.

Mark