art - Carricocreations Artwork and Dream

Eye-catching “Artistic Infection” why I had to create this piece.

By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • March 27, 2015 What's going on and things I'm thinking about

Months ago while trying to define, refine, and align my “creating art process” I realized that I needed to surrender to it. There is this unsettling energy that seems to come over me when I want to start the day off creating something. I’ll sit down and try to paint, draw, work with leather, film, or something of this nature and this weird energy will come over me and not want to go away. I almost feel guilty working on art instead of doing something around the house or doing something else in general.

After spending so many years working for someone, it’s like it feels wrong to simply work on something I’m creating. It’s a struggle to “give myself permission” to calm down and create what’s inside me, for a while I was reading books, blogs, and whatever else I could to try and solve this.

Finally one day I realized that I just needed to fix something around the house, do a couple chores or something and then I could relax enough to get started creating. I have a very strong stubborn streak and I think it’s more with myself than anything else. So finally surrendering to the idea of “getting a few other things done first” took me more time than it probably should have.

“Artistic Infection” being an artist is an exercise in not fighting the infection we have, but learning how to use that -artistic infection- we have running through us in order to bring fresh air and new ideas to revitalize the mind and soul, in order to bring strength to the heart.

As a result of that struggle, I started working on this piece “Artistic Infection.” All the time I was trying to “find my process” this image was in my mind. It’s an example of a childlike imagination and infection combined. That’s the type of mindset I think all artists have inside them. They may not think of it like this, but deep down they have an ability to tap into that child-likeness and Art is more of an infection than anything else. When creating Art gets into your DNA, you can’t do very many things to stop it. It’s a good infection, one that can drive you to almost madness and yet lift you up in just a moment. Having an infection to create art is a gift, just learning how to embrace it has been the challenge. If you have that infection inside you, don’t fight it. Learn what your “process” is and “hold on tight!!!!” Do what you have to do in order to make it happen. Figuring out how isn’t easy, but afterwards you’ll have the knowledge to go continue forward.

I very much hope you’ve enjoyed this post
Please feel free and encouraged to share any thoughts or comments.
Thank you so much for your time. Sincerely, Rosco “Carrico” Crooke

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“The tree of doubt” painting!

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By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • March 20, 2015 What's going on and things I'm thinking about

Months ago I could feel doubt trying to creep into my thoughts about my passion for art. Doubt is usually this little voice squeaking in your head that tells you why something isn’t going to work. It has an amazing way of giving you every reason that something is a “bad idea” or “isn’t safe or usually done that way.” It’s with this small quiet voice that doubt has so much power. Finally I knew I needed to create a piece to visualize doubt and be able to move past it. I have always had to visualize things a certain way before I could move on. Now that I’ve embraced painting, it’s allowing me to put that vision into a solid form to be remembered and studied. So I went to work on creating,”The Tree of Doubt.” The East Oregonian Newspaper mentioned this painting recently. Here’s a link to the article

The Tree of Doubt painting Rosco "Carrico" Crooke

Living with doubt is not an option if you want to move forward with anything.

Everything you see in the painting is done for a specific reason. The colors ans shapes I picked for very particular reasons and the shape of the tree is very particular of course to explain the shape do doubt. I don’t like to explain away my pieces by filling in all the blanks and laying out all the info like a technical manual. What I will do is give some information about it and leave the rest to the viewer. Notice that the branches on the tree all aim down and in slightly. That’s because doubt doesn’t let you grow up or out, only down and in to make a person collapse upon themselves. Notice that the base is very small and the roots are hardly there. That’s because doubt keeps you from growing roots as well. You’ll also notice that the tree is tilted slightly as well, almost like the tree is going to fall over. “That’s where doubt always keeps you!!!” Doubt is what leads people to “Exist” and not LIVE! It is merciless in the way it takes a hold of a person and it never wants to surrender. So remember that you can’t make doubt surrender, instead you have to “KILL” doubt! You must resolve yourself to never listening to it and being a destroyer of any doubt that enters your life and the lives of those immediately around you. If you don’t take this approach, a small seed of doubt will start to grow and enter into the Kingdom of your heart and mind again. Doubt, fear, and everything like them are more powerful than we realize. Once I finished this piece I could feel the life in doubt fading away and no longer remaining. I hope that is how anyone that looks at this piece feels and acts after looking at this piece. It might take time to conquer doubt, but it is totally necessary to move forward in life.

tree-of-doubt-painting-black-light-Rosco-Carrico-Crooke

I love making paintings that glow in the dark and that take on a new life under black light.

Thank you all so much for your time
Any questions or comments please feel free and encouraged to send them.
Thanks again, Rosco “Carrico” Crooke

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What does Art do for anyone?

By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • January 22, 2015 Art and creativity

Painting Abstractula freezing over by Rosco Crooke

I ask myself this question more and more all the time now in different ways “What does art do for anyone?” Great news is that I have my answer to that now and more clearly than ever.

“Abstractula freezing over” this piece has so much going on in it. I don’t want to explain it away, it’s something you’ll find for yourself.

Art breaks up the routine of our lives in a great way!!! I cannot stress this point enough, but I will certainly try.

The daily routine most of us get into can become robotic and set our minds on cruise control. Wake up, shower, eat, say hello to family, go to work, come home, visit a little, eat, visit, and then do some evening ritual before bed.

Sometimes that repetition can lead us to ignore that which we were are around the most and forget we even have it. A loss of appreciation for the simplest of things and for what’s really going on.

I believe Art in many various forms stimulates the mind and opens us up to thinking and more importantly “feeling” again. It might even be because you hate the art and can’t stand it with every ounce of who you are, but at least there is a feeling. I believe good art makes you,”Appreciate what you see, makes you think, and makes you feel.” When all of those things come together it can be inspiring. If it’s only one or two of those things, at least there is some -outside daily life routine stimuli- going on and it’s needed more than ever. If people think that I’m wrong about this, take a look around at how many people suffer from depression, melancholy, lethargy and all the other stuff like it. It’s been shown that people with issues like this respond to art in a very positive way. While others may not exactly have issues like this. They can be elevated in thought and emotion by the experience of Art.

“Melancholy Me” if you’ve ever felt Melancholy you’ll understand this piece very well.

I think more people really like Art and they don’t even realize it. You see it all the time if you really think about what Art is. It may be that just the word “Art” itself triggers something in people to think of the Rich Snobby people eating wine and cheese while laughing at horrible jokes. That’s not what “Art” is and when people see the work itself and not the hoity-toity people around it. I think they truly do appreciate it, even if they won’t admit it.

To summarize this is one shot.
Art breaks up daily routine and breathes life back into. It makes us think, feel, and challenge what we’re doing. It helps us appreciate what we have and what we want. It opens us up!

I hope you enjoyed the post Love to hear any thoughts, comments, shares, or whatever is on your mind. God Bless, Rosco “Carrico” Crooke

Carricocreations facebook page
Where to buy Rosco “Carrico” Crooke paintings
Rosco “Carrico” Crooke’s website

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Freeing up your time by getting things done!

By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • October 23, 2013 Art and creativity

This is a picture of creating “The Creative Workshop” sign.

The more I work on finishing a huge “to do list” I created months ago, the more free I now feel to just create. While creating is always the major goal in mind, it’s often put on the back burner with worrying one way or another about other things getting done. Without certain things out of the way it almost seems impossible to “give myself permission” to simply CREATE! I’m thinking now that everything that’s been going on with my “to do list” and working on creative art projects has been exactly what I needed. Everyone has a different “creative process” on how they get things done. For some people it might be much easier and maybe they don’t need lists to help remind them of what they need to do. What I’m learning is that I do and that’s alright, now I embrace it and it’s helping me with now working on video, making some tie dye, and finishing a few paintings. I also seem to like to make things in three or four it seems. It’s like I need something very serious to work on, very colorful, very spiritual, and then a inner random piece that I don’t really know how to explain. This helps me relax on each piece and helps me not feel a need to incorporate all those things into a single piece, but separate pieces and keep them honest. The more I make and the more I think about “the process” in itself, the more I am learning about myself and how much more work I need on me,lol. Everyone is a work in progress though and that’s why God doesn’t give up on us. He is always bending and shaping us into something useful for His Glory and that is a great thing to lean on. Hopefully in the next few days I’ll be able to share a handful of my new creations and you can see what comes out of all this random and structured thinking. Thank you for reading, you’ve just learned something about me Rosco “Carrico” Crooke and Carricocreations. What are your thoughts on freeing up time to get things done? What holds you back and what helps you move forward? Love to hear what’s going on in your head and life. God Bless “Carrico”

Picture of some tie dye shirts and feel great about being able to use so many colors.

Made some tie dye shirts and feel great about being able to use so many colors.

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Art and creative projects aren’t easy to make simple.

By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • October 8, 2013 Art and creativity

The more art or creative projects I do. Example:tie dyes, paintings, videos etc..I’m realizing more and more how creating with so many options is alot of work. Throwing everything in something or not holding anything back is the easy part. That’s not really being creative though, if you throw everything you’re thinking onto something you end up with a mess. It’s the restraint that makes something special, holding back small things to get a bigger picture across. Many times when I’m painting I just want to go crazy with colors, but I realize that if I don’t hold something back I’ll lose the “idea” of what I’m making. That’s so important to hold onto and run with.

The Carricocreations studio, The Creative Workshop sign

Made the sign for Carricocreations studio,”The Creative Workshop” lots of fun playing with the carpet and dyes to make it just right. I really like crossing the “I’

I am going to use less restraint in a couple new acrylic paintings I’m working on and with a couple new pairs of tie dye jeans I’m going to make, but those are exceptions. Using restraint and being creative work for and against each other all the time. It’s such a weird mindset to work from when you think about it. You want to be creative, but if you go too far you have a mess. Sometimes a mess on a piece of canvas is considered to be great art and if it reflects what the artist wants to say, then it can be. Most of the time for me I’m moved by creations where I can “see” the thought that was behind or at least feel like I see it.

Creating a tie dye shirt is lots of fun. Try it a few times and you’ll be hooked.

Even in so called “randomness” there is order of some kind. Many would argue that, but the human mind works to find order in everything. That’s why restraint in creativity can be so important, doing enough to make the piece and leaving room for personal interpretation by others. That’s the winning recipe I think. You just learned more about Carricocreations and me Rosco “Carrico” Crooke a.k.a. “Carrico” Chase down your dreams! God Bless!

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Original paintings come from somewhere deep inside.

By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • September 16, 2013 What's going on and things I'm thinking about

Original abstract painting titled Warrior wounded by love by artist Rosco "Carrico" Crooke

If you have pain or joy inside you, share it in a painting.

There is nothing so free as putting paint on a brush and letting it out on a canvas to share. To be able to use color, shape, design, texture, the expectation of light in low to heavy amounts is a great thing. When I can finally relax enough to “just paint” it’s so energizing and emptying all at once. It’s like getting out something that’s horrible and deep inside you. Then when it’s all over, you feel like a weight is off your chest and you can breathe so much better and see things much more clearly again. Then there are times when you have something of great joy inside you that you just want to share with people and express it in a way they can simply feel and or take in. I don’t think anyone can usually really “fully understand” what most paintings are about.

That might sound really silly to some, but even a landscape that looks really simple to some might have a totally different inspiration and meaning to the person that created it. An artist can share thoughts on how and why they created it, but often listening to them you can feel like they are holding something back. Maybe they are painting a nice calm landscape “because they’ve never lived in that kind of setting” or it’s a place that holds a good or bad memory for them. The great thing is when the paint starts to flow a part of you flows right along with it. It’s a release of something that needed out and needed to be put into form.

Warrior wounded by love

Art is a heavily debated topic by many and taste comes into play most of the time. People may not use the term “taste,” but that’s exactly what it really is. For me I have started to feel like I’m letting down walls and letting go of fears. The last several years I had become very “conditioned” over time by places I had worked at and or influences in my circle or even just media in all it’s forms. Finding some resources that brought me out of the fog I was in changed everything. God got a hold of me and brought some certain people into my circle. Then He brought a handful of books my way and released many of my fears away. Now that I’m painting abstract and surreal paintings, I’m able to let out and expand who I really am. I said all that so you would know more about me and maybe feel inspired to do some painting yourself. If you sit down and let something come to you that’s deep inside, you can’t go wrong!!! It will be a piece of you shared with anyone you want to share it with. Sometimes sharing is the one thing a person is really missing out on. The more I share the more I grow and the better things are. My name is Rosco “Carrico” Crooke and you’ve just learned more about me and how I think and feel. God Bless

Rosco “Carrico” Crooke’s webiste
Where to buy Rosco “Carrico” Crooke paintings

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Happy to be free to paint and create!!!!

By Rosco "Carrico" Crooke • September 11, 2013 What's going on and things I'm thinking about

The moment I took a real step towards freedom.

This year I quit my job in order to pursue the making of Art and Film. Freedom is something I have taken so for granted over the years and finally now I am learning to appreciate it. Years I spent in a pool of doubt,fear,bitterness, madness, confusion, and depression. Now I’m being cleaned up and molded into something useful for others. Praise be to God for all He has done for me!