What Is Art

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This is a question that has always been relevant and will continuely be re-answered. So, thought I would just offer my humble opinion - cause that's where I'm coming from. Got my first job in junior high school as a reference page(part time) at the James V. Brown Library in Williamsport, PA. What a wonderful job, surrounded by all those books and magazines. My job was to retreive matterial for patrons as requested and then to put those items back in stock. And by constantly handeling all this information and knowlege; well, it was like a kid in a candy shop . . . Around that time I became enamored with Picasso, et al, and read what I could (at my level of understanding) about them and Modern Art. It seemed that there must be some special "thing" that made these particular paintings "Art", (asside from the text) and why they were presented in this hallowed way in the history books. A formula started to emerge. It doesn't matter what materials you use, nor the colors, style, content or subject matter. It's that inner balance when suddenly everything works together like a good math formula. Somehow the painting becomes equal to itself and there's nothing more for it to say, it's complete and balanced internally. For me, that explains what makes a painting, Art instead of just paint on canvas. In the ensuing years, and especially now, by being able to research on the internet, I've come to understand more of the "why" that makes things "Art". What makes certain works"important". And of course, that's all very true. But for me, my formula still works. Without a formal art education, it was hard for me to break away from realism and find my own voice. Well, actually it was quite fun - understanding it or knowing how to go about it and trust myself was(and is) the hard part. I don't pretent to be an important artist or that I make great art ( well, actually I DO pretend, but I'm sane enough to know my place) - but it's just plain wonderful to have an idea and be able to turn that idea into an object that can be admired, enjoyed and appreciated. It feels great to be an Artist and make Art.
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Who Is An Artist

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It was the last week of high school and it seemed that everyone had plans but me. What did I want to be when I grew up. Being an artist, that would be neat. Had always enjoyed drawing and painting and always thought of myself as some sort of artist. So after some researching I decided to check out the Maryland Institute College of Art - even went down there and drove around the campus. But at that point just didn't have enough of a goal or gumption to enroll.. At some later date I was again revisiting the idea of a career as a great painter like Picasso and I had a dream. In this dream there was some kind of house/tent/studio (some vivid yellow curtains billowing in the breeze) and standing there, surrounded by my paintings, it just seemed like a lonely experience. Of course it didn't have to be that way, but the thought was that maybe it'd be better to go out into the work world and experience life with "regular" jobs around "normal" people. And I'm happy I did even though I also regret not pursuing a career as an artist.
At this point in my life, I feel that I'm an artist because I AM. And whenever the mood has struck me - I paint. And from what I've seen out there, there are lots of painters, etc, who are not artists - so conversely, there are artists who are not painters. Who is an artist? Someone who makes art. Sometimes the art they make is not always the recognizable objects that we think of as art - it's more about what they DO instead of what they make. Maybe we're surrounded by a lot of undercover artists - and that's what makes so many things in life, special.
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Snowy Saturdays

Nothing like a snowy saturday to work on a painting. So this is my latest effort; and layers and layers later . . . Now it's time to enjoy what I've got and ruminate about where to take this thing . . . As always, there's paint and lots of glazing; pencil and pastel, fix it, glaze and repeat.

It's Always Good

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to exhibit; to see your work in a different environment. Somehow the change lets us see our work as others do.
These are some older paintings that weren't so successful that I wanted to study; see if there was a new direction I could take them. There are famous stories about artists who threw out or even burned years worth of work because they were depressed or, more often, because they felt it was sub par and holding them back. This exercise for me was to find some common elements that are present in my paintings and find the point where I didn't follow through.
The Exhibit was at the Steele Memorial Library in Elmira, NY and it's as close to a gallery experience as you're going to get in this 3 horse town.
I like to recycle my paintings by using them for collage or painting new layers over them if they have no merit otherwise and this was an opportunity to reevaluate and reconsider some older work.
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