For me the risk does not come in making art, the risk is in compromise.
Don’t want to spend all my energy on sortof creative profession like teaching, for me that would be a kind of failure. I’ve done it before. My dilemma is to be unable to sacrifice the integrity of what I do. Selfish or maybe self -indulgent, isn’t it, to just want to create and live off the system.
‘The great mass of human beings are not acutely selfish. After the age of about 30 they abandon individual ambition – in many cases, indeed, they almost abandon the sense of being individuals at all – and live chiefly for others, or are simply smothered under drudgery. But there is also the minority of gifted, wilful people who are determined to live their own lives to the end…’ Orwell
Sometimes it would be nice to write without having to censor. The thing about painting/ drawing is that it is total self -effacement, it is in and of yourself but not in a vain, fixed way. Writing about your self is much less satisfactory. Words are so strong and linear and I don’t necessarily think like that.
2 comments:
Oh, good you fixed that strange hijacking of your comment box. Never seen that before - weird! Phoebe has taken lots of flower photos too. I've suggested to phoebe she should run a photo blog. Or join an online photo gallery. LM failed painter has a link to one on her site. Nice photos Nina, is this the new digital camera? Did you get two camera's, or are you sharing one? George Orwell is a very clear and precise writer. As for integrity, it operates in context. I still feel I have integrity with my art work, but have maintained integrity as a provider, father and husband. But the path has to be slower that way, especially if you still have a mortgage. The hardware takes up a lot of my time. Hopefully, one day I can propel myself into a new paradigm. Also I think to be an artist you need to be stubborn and work through the self apathy and frustrations. But, maybe that's where the commitment eventually brings the gold, if only we don't give up. Giving up ones ideals and substituting them with the common and middle ideal is like giving up life. This doesn't mean we can't alter them a little as we go. With age should come experience and insight so that we don't keep on making the same mistakes.
Just looking at your narrative 2 painting, I think it works fairly well. The sharpness and colour are more defined and confident. The painting seems more resolved than the others. My feeling is that, you need to progress down that road a bit more. The nude stuff coming in is good too. The background has not been filled in, in the usual way, and has created a bit of depth. Also the colours are lifting out of pastel a bit more than the others. The decorative bits on the side seem to accentuate the central object a bit more. They lend support and play a submissive role.
The black and white drawings, have a direction in them as well. I think you should transcend the abstract and merge a little bit more with the figurative. As in archway and mountain. But taking this back into your larger works as well.
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