Dear readers and fellow-painter(s),
Today I worked on one of the big paintings (100/100 cm). I added a layer of green and some black and white. It is fun to see the painting develop.
My dear artfriend Dotty Seiter (whom you might know from the ongoing discussions below my posts, today sent me a beautiful comment of Jane Davies (a wonderful artists, with a beauatiful website where you can find all sorts of instructional video’s and other inspiration). Here it is:
The unresolved question: Why Am I Making Art? I ask myself that. I do occasionally show, and occasionally sell, my work, but if that were the motivation for making it, I would (A) starve and (B) get bored very VERY quickly. Sometimes I think: I should just teach all the time and stop struggling to MAKE TIME TO MAKE ART. But then, of course, the teaching would get stale and I would feel hollow. Â
Making art feels meaningful. It is our nature to MAKE stuff, create imagery or objects. I speculate that the knee-jerk move from Making to Selling is a recent phenomenon in our history as humans. Connecting the Making to Something “Useful” or “Profitable” may actually de-value it. I think it is the making that is important. Whether you consciously use it as therapy or not, making art is therapeutic. It is a practice, like yoga or meditation, that allows you to be who you are and examine who you are. I think that is worthwhile in itself. there’s more, but I’ll leave it here.
I can do nothing but agree so much with her! So if you would not be making art yet, just start today. It can be as simple as drawing with a pencil on the back of a businesscard. And doing that everyday can grow to something magnificent. But even if you just draw everyday with a pencil of the back of a businesscard – that is still worth so much!
So: enough preaching for today!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog,
See you,
Simone
ps: I post three photo’s: one of an earlier fase, one of the beginning of this painting session, one of the end of today. (It’s still in progress).
Simone, so glad Jane’s comments resonated with you [sidenote: I wish you could have seen what it took to relocate that commentary of hers in the VAST territory of our class blog once I had the thought of sending it to you—crazy!].
I think it is largely through following your blog and your art life that I have come to understand that a key factor in what determine’s whether or not I am captivated by a painting is how much I can SEE the history of choices and decisions the artist has made in its making—let me know if you understand what I’m saying here. I think in the past I mostly responded to colors and/or the image/design itself; now I want to see the ARTIST in the brushstrokes and layers.
And so, I love your art!
Thanks for going through all those data for me! I even used her comment in another blog of mine – since I thought it was not only useful for artists, but also for all people who wish to create in another way.
I am not completely sure what you mean. I guess you don’t mean that an artist has to show the whole progression of the painting (like I do with the photo’s…)… Could you elaborate on that?