Friends: The Power of Alignment
Matt Mahurin
It was 1979 and the assignment given by the teacher in my Art Center College of Design illustration class was to create a black and white drawing of a mysterious meeting using two point perspective. All the students accomplished the assignment with varying degrees of success using images such as lovers meeting in a spooky park, people lurking behind doors, or shadowy figures jumping out from around a corner. Every solution used two point perspective correctly, except one. This image showed one point perspective of two blind men walking straight toward each other. The punch line for this piece was the focus on their walking canes tapping mid-stride. The teacher criticized the piece harshly because, "Where was the perspective!?" I knew this art was the best in the class by far, with two point perspective or not. The power in this image was its conceptual perspective which made a unique, intriguing story, and invited the viewer to think!
MYSTERIOUS MEETING-MAHURIN
This was the first moment I met Matt Mahurin. I recognized a rebel, a genius, a heartfelt and kindred soul who embodied the art spirit completely. We became fast friends and I am truly blessed to say that even though we live on opposite coasts (he lives in New York) we are still the best of buddies. I learned much from Matt over the years, and still do! He is an accomplished award winning illustrator, photographer, music video director, and film maker. His most recent film, FEEL can be seen on the Sundance Channel. Check out his awesome work here- http://www.mattmahurin.com/I just returned from an evening in Santa Monica with Matt reminiscing over our careers and the new artful visions that harken to us now. It reminded me how friendships and alliances sustain us in our personal and professional lives. When the going gets rough, friends can ease that journey. They can also challenge us and give a wake up call when we are slacking off as well as offer honest criticism. Mostly, friends and team players remain steadfast allies to our dream potential pumping up the support and inspiration.Whether working in film or music with other highly respected artists I found it always engendered greater creativity. Matt and I have not had an opportunity to work on a project together yet, but I surmise when it happens something really special will come of it. In the meantime Matt and I have been on a similar wavelength concerning artist empowerment. We have taken stock of our careers and all that has gone into making them and are giving back to the world some hard won knowledge. I encourage all of you to check out Matt's grand opus to the art spirit: The Imagemaker's HandbookIt will answer many questions you may have about pursuing your dreams as an artist.Peace and Empowerment,Greg