Artists statement? Maybe artists, like children, “should be seen and not heard.”
What can one say?
As children we all start out artists. By adolescence most have closed that chapter and moved on. Those that remain find that the game has changed: what was once pure fun has taken on an unforeseen seriousness with undreamed of complexities.
Alternately mesmerized by the magnificent and the trivial, the artist attempts to capture the essence and spirit of things, an endlessly frustrating chore, occasionally achieving something remarkable and real.
People ask me “are you enjoying painting again?”, I answer “no, its a hard struggle, I’m agonizing my way through it.” When I say almost every painting is a disappointment most are surprised, uncomprehending. Seems only artists will understand what I’m saying: the struggle toward a perfection, by definition, unreachable. I take the frustrations for granted and push on. I find the painting process exciting, energizing, mysterious, and downright terrifying. Exhausting and frustrating, but exhilarating.
The painting “jumbie”, when it gets hold of you, is loathe to let go, makes great demands and can become very intimidating. I had to quit painting for 40 years before I found my way back to it just 2 years ago. For decades I told myself I’d return to it “when I’m old”. Well I must be old. I’ve found my way back to a once familiar path I had abandoned for no comprehensible cause. Seems to fit me like an old glove. Now I can’t stop.
Well, there’s my “statement.” What did I tell you? As an artist I should remain silent and just paint. When an artist talks, it tends to result in verbose nonsense.
