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What does it all mean

04/29/2008 21:42:36 / don't know

I was asked recently what do my paintings mean? Where do they "come" from. It reminded me of a remark made by a friend many years ago.  He was looking at my paintings.  He said he was attracted to my work because I am an "internal painter" and the paintings spoke to him.  He explained it like this:  Some artists paint their external world.  Depicting the world around them and creating it as they see it.  It's beautiful, its darkness, it's light.  Some artists he says, delve into their internal world and paint it, create it and put it out for the world to see.  They paint their emotions, feelings, thoughts, fears and so forth.  I think you paint what you are attracted to, what you as an artist identify with.  I respect and admire those artists that paint the world around them, because I never could.  All my works reverted back to depicting what I was feeling inside.  Perhaps it's how I show emotion?  Perhaps it's how I get those feelings out that live inside me and are hard for me to express in words. Either way art is what drives us, the act of creation is what gives us a reason to get up in the morning and keep going.  So internal or external, embrace what you do and celebrate it.




VIEWING 1 - 5 OUT OF 5 COMMENTS



05/04/2008 12:57:39
Leslie, I could not agree with you more.  I don't like it when people ask me what the piece means and how was I feeling when I painted it.  I prefer it if they tell me what they feel and see when they look at it.  While my emotions and experiences influence my work, they are not always it's driving force.  Thank you for your comment, I respect it a great deal. 


From: LeslieJean
05/04/2008 11:18:05

I used to take offense at discussions of what art "means"....especially because my work doesn't evolve out of any  kind of preconceived concept. So, if I make work that "just" pleases me, what does that make my work??? I have since realized that personal meaning does creep in to every piece. But, its personal to me. And while its really cool when someone can identify my thoughts within a piece, its equally satisfying - or maybe more so- to hear the different meanings that others can take away from a piece. But I still bristle at art and artists that try too hard to put Meaning (capital M) into their work.



From: flstormz
05/03/2008 16:16:42
It's rare that I ask an artist what a piece of theirs meant. If it arouses some sort of emotion and you enjoy just looking at it, then that's enough. 


05/02/2008 06:48:09
I understand exactly what you mean.  People too often search for the deep meaning in works of art and don't just enjoy the asthetic. You are absolutely right, sometimes we think too much.  Thanks for writing.


From: Laughlines
05/01/2008 19:17:27
Everything has to be sooooooooooo deeeeeeeeeeeep.  When I was goofing off in college...a fellow student told me about the misfortune of being in the class of a real nut who taught that art shouldn't be discernible in any shape or subject.  This guy was a lover of realism, but he soon found out that he was making mortal enemies with this idiot professor of crap.  So, in order to hand in a "non-objective" piece of art, he hurled a plank of wood with superglue and sprinkled with paint pigment and clay down a leaf covered embankment, and picked up the  mess to hand in as his "assignment completed."  It received an enthusiastic A.  So, what is the moral of this story?  Be still and don't think so hard!








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