had a major revelation recently about my art work.
I was constantly painting people into my pictures (and a picture had to have a person in it) because I didnt feel as if I was really in the situation I was painting. I was painting myself in the picture as reassurance, as telling myself the story over and over again who I was and who I could be.
Now this is ok, and I needed to do it, I needed to paint the possibility to show myself the way and give myself guidelines or encouragement, process whatever was going on in me at the time. But I realised suddenly a while ago I didnt need to do it anymore. That if I experience a moment fully as it happens I dont need to explain it to myself or tell myself I was there.
Thats the best I can explain it. Its a sense of freedom too, I am painting directly what is around me now instead of what could be or might be or what is inside my head.
Anyone else have any good freeing revelations about their artwork or even about themselves?
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:06 am
What an amazing epiphany! Thank you for sharing. I too had a revelation about my artwork which came about through some self directed anger and tears. I felt some of my work was drained of life and I couldn’t understand why. I realized that I wasn’t putting enough of myself into the artwork and was hiding behind what I thought was “safe”. Safe art isn’t always the best art. I was upset because I realized I was mirroring an attitude I had about myself. My “inner me” is childlike and gregarious and nerdy and funny and colourful. Yet sometimes I present myself as too serious or intellectual…I present myself always as someone safe and mundane. But I’m not mundane…I actually am funny and colourful and gregarious…so why hide it? I hope by showing the real me will translate into a more passionate form of art including both dark and light elements. (like fireworks…you can’t see the explosive wonderful sparkliness without a little night sky) Best to you always!
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
hi, cool! yes safe art doesn’t get us anywhere and to be truly original is scary. it means revealing who we really are instead of who we think we should be
and its actually more fun and easier in the end, instead of controlling everything we let it flow. It might go places where you don’t want to go for a while though.. maybe you need to get really nerdy/childish/colourful for a while!!