Artistic Suicide battles Creativity

There is a Light (12x24) oil on panel (sold)

Artistic suicide is considered switching your game – in the middle of your game or when you’re on the top of your game. As an artist, I find it difficult to limit myself...in so many ways so in my mind, artistic suicide means not indulging in one’s personal creative callings. Creative process, in and of itself, means being open to things that strike the heart of the artist. I believe that is true for any creative outlet.

Without that yearn to learn, I might not have attempted the above painting using only a credit card :).

If one is to learn, one must take chances and to take chances one must do something beyond what is currently working or comfortable. Stretch is probably the adequate word here. If I feel content and easy at the easel (in the studio or outdoors) I pretty much figure I need to work harder and get out of my comfort zone.

Another piece that took me out of my comfort zone required me to use both hands (to paint) at the same time. Yikes. (Don't worry, I still have half a brain left).

I find making good art is a struggle. I don’t want to walk up to my easel every day and say, “Gosh, what a cinch, I can do this in a heartbeat.” Where’s the learning in that? I have been in this classroom long enough to know that an attitude such as that does not create fulfilling work. Predictable maybe, but not fulfilling.

I LOVE to paint large. I also love to work with small studies as a way to stretch and try new approaches without committing weeks (or months) to a larger piece. Sometimes, the studies end up being better than the larger pieces that are produced from the studies. Go figure.

It is a wonderful gift to be able to produce images on a blank canvas and I hope I will always reach for the struggle to improve. 

(Often, my studies can be found on my eBay and/or Daily Paint Works accounts.)