PAINTING THE FUTURE

What am I saying here? I am unsure, except that I want to talk of creativity and creating. What is clear is that there is nothing new under the sun, as the author of The Book of Ecclesiastes put it. The original voice becomes rarer with each passing year, and when one does appear, it can be quickly drowned in a sea of imitators, muddying the waters of integrity.

What is the solution, if any, for the artist? The only one that I know of, is to go with what you know and feel is right for you. Work that appeals to that personal inner sensibility of good work. The result will always be - at least in my experience, and I know of others who have expressed the same view - a sense of having missed the vision that propelled you to begin. This is the thing that should encourage you to try another piece of work. Even the greatest of artists will say that a work of art never quite works out exactly as imagined; with hard work, it will exceed the vision.

How will I know if the work is any good? Quite possibly you will not know — at least not definitively. All art is subject to individual opinion and sensibility. I know that this is all a bit fuzzy, but that is often the way of it. I have found on many occasions, that someone has loved a piece of work that I deemed inferior, and equally, dismissed a piece that I had thought captured something special. Some of my best work remained unsold for a long time; some sells very quickly, and some I am unable to part with. I believe that every piece has its buyer. The problem is that often, the person for whom the work is ideal never gets to see it.

What is an artist anyway? We are 'creatives' now, if you go with current terminology, part of the continual redefinition of what 'art' means. I daresay this revision is to be 'inclusive' - everyone is creative in some form or another. 'Artist' is exclusive, conferring an exceptional perception of talent; genius even.

The joy is in the trying; in the adventure of pressing on the upward way. Only then can ‘painting the future’ be realised for you. But what do I know?

"I am always doing things I can't do, that is how I get to do them. "
PABLO PICASSO