Posts Tagged ‘journeys’
No Formula
“Angel” Work in progress, oil on canvas Marianne Potterton 2009
These are the two paintings that I am working on at the moment in thee studio. The one above I think is finished or very nearly, but you never know, I might do something more to it. I had an urge to put it up in the Secret Gallery yesterday, but I think I will wait till it dries!
Work in progress, “No Formula”, oil on canvas Marianne Potterton 2009
Thank goodness for spell check! I must go and spell it right in the painting now! This is a bit bolder than my usual paintings, I think. It is a sort of attempt to paint in the moment, a sort of meditation, as Alan Watts once said about meditation “Digging the present, grooving with the eternal now!”
Much art seems to be latching on to the past, artists repeating what they know they are good at, but they are not in it any longer. When I go to an exhibition and all of the work looks the same I wonder has the artist just found a formula ? Of course there are exceptions to this, where the art can look very similar but the artist was still open and aware while making it. Such as Mark Rothko, I just could not do it though; do the same sort of thing for years. I even find it hard to finish a painting without wanting to paint it differently the next time I go back to it ! This unknown territory can feel a bit uncomfortable because we have never been there before, it can be a bit hit and miss, but what can come out of these adventures have more life in them than art we make on the journeys that we have repeated with only slight deviations!
Allowing yourself to make "Bad" Art also allows Great Art to grow!
A conversation I had with James my Muse, led me to think more about how important it is to allow yourself to make “bad” art, he suggested that if you do not allow yourself to write, paint etc. badly you probably wont allow yourself to write, paint etc. some of the great stuff either. What is the use in always travelling the explored paths and terrains if you want to find something great you will probably have to go to an unsigned place and create your own map to find it, these journeys can sometimes bring about some initially, very strange and ugly art it could even be very bad art, but one day you can find it and laugh so much at what a funny looking, awful thing you created! Or it might be fantastic! This practice of laughing at the awful things we create and do I have some way to go yet, but I am a willing student and how nice it would be to lighten up in the studio, and not take myself so seriously!
“Don’t sully my play and living in the moment, by calling it Art!”
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