Last night at my opening, someone asked me about the "artist's talk" I was going to give. There were about 10 or so people, a few had come and gone, and I was pleased with the turnout, but there really weren't enough people to do a formal talk, so I said, well I guess this is it, what would you like me to talk about? We had talked about the places we've been and compared notes, as the recognizable scenes are always good conversations especially if both people know the places. And I went on and said something about the river of paint that flows from one painting to the next and how one painting simply flows to the next painting and yes it's a continuous practice, and he was pleased. I had somehow in the free flow of self babble, revealed enough of the way I think.
The conversation got me thinking about how and what to talk about in my work. What does any artist talk about? How it's conceived, made, sold? How I'd pick a subject, how I'd paint the subject? Would I talk about paint handling, color, value, design? Would I talk about beauty and the sublime; sentiment and historical precedent? Any one of these could be hours of endless babble, and yes they are conversations I have in my head about what it is that I do for the best part of most days. But just try to put that in an elevator pitch, sound bite or tweet! What would that sound like: "Yeah, I roll in the paint like a dog" or "Yeah, I swim in the paint" or "yeah I put paint up my nose" this is one reason I don't tweet, I'm afraid I'd be committed, (not in the good way).
At the end of the day the painting has to do the talking, the paint has to speak. Like a poem or song, words, sounds, paint. The message is in all of these things, and the whole is more than the parts. And paint is just paint.
Yesterday on my way to North Creek:
#942 Hudson River, Warrensburg, NY. 2-10-17 12x16
I appreciate you dear reader, for reading my blog, thanks!
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