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Touchstone
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Taos, New Mexico |
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Artist's Statement
On My Work
I have no preconceived notion of the outcome of a painting in the beginning. I start with a feeling and try to paint without thinking -- just putting the paint where it wants to go and letting it grow, guiding it, letting it speak -- not forcing it to happen. It's like making love, that same kind of letting go. I just let whatever it is inside me -- that creative force -- escape in its own burst of power.
I want to go as far as I can go, and beyond; there is always up. I am searching for the difference -- what is unique, rather than what is the same. I can't say that more recent work is better than earlier work, only that it is different. One must change in order to grow, otherwise death occurs. Life is a spiral; so is painting and being creative, unless you are playing it safe -- then it becomes a straight line: boring, predictable, dull, mundane, same, same, same.
On Teaching
I feel a responsibility to play an active role in the growth and aesthetic development of my community and country, and to promote understanding among nations through art and aesthetic appeal. In teaching my goal is to enhance and develop a student's self esteem through art and aesthetic awareness so that he may be better prepared to make the right choices in life. I believe that helping a student to develop a good self-image is the most important role of the art teacher. In searching for the 'difference', my students learn that they each have something unique and special to express and that they have a responsibility to themselves to always accept the greater challenge, to give their best, no matter what age the student.
On Judging
I believe that each artist should be in competition with himself only -- to do a better painting, to never be satisfied with the status quo, but always extending himself to a higher plateau. Though we may call ourselves professionals, I believe that we are all amateurs working on different levels, and it is that artist who is willing to take a chance, who is willing to work on the edge of disaster -- it is that artist who is not satisfied with playing it safe who will create the most unique paintings and reach the highest levels of esteem.
Click on image (shown at right) to enlarge, 83k
China Lady,
60" x 44", watercolor
Artist's Statement on Judging continued...
As a personal statement, I don't list awards I've won, because I feel that each work should be accepted on its own merits and enjoyed for what is there by each viewer. You do not need someone to tell you what to like. It comes from the heart. I believe that the act of creative expression is what makes us human and this humanity should never be discouraged, but this happens especially to young art when someone sits in judgement. I do not believe anyone is capable of saying this painting is better than that one without having personal taste enter into play.
If the artist is conscientious in meeting the following criteria as he finishes each painting, and all the paintings we are viewing in a show meet these criteria, then we have apples and oranges, and who can say which is best?
Concept -- Is the interpretation unique? Has the artist said what his concept implies?
Life -- Does the painting have life? Has the artist left mystery in his painting allowing the viewer to make his own interpretation, or has he told all, and in telling all sacrificed the life of the painting?
Design Quality -- Is the composition working? Does the painting entertain us at all distances -- from 200 feet to 2 inches? Does the painting hold its space?
Technical Proficiency -- Has the artist skillfully used his medium?
Presentation -- Is the painting framed in a manner that is unobtrusive to the painting? Has the frame or matt been used as a crutch to enhance the painting, or can the painting stand on its own merits?
This is what I believe and yet there are times when it becomes necessary to sit in judgement as when space dictates limiting the numbers of paintings that can be presented. In this case, the above criteria must be used with elimination of personal taste as far as possible, but awards as to whether one painting is better than another, in my opinion, are meaningless. And yes, I have acted as professional judge. Part of being professional about your work is to realize that a rejection does not qualify the merits of a painting, sculpture, whatever... remember Van Gogh?
Click on image to enlarge, 83k
The Glass Wall, 16" x 20", serigraph
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