The Work

Untitled for now gouache on paper 15”x11”

Having been a visual artist for so long, I know what distinguishes an artist is the very act of making the art. An artist can’t make progress without putting in the long hours of practice. It really is not some divine gift or a brilliant new idea. It is the work. It is a practice of making intentioned responses to stimuli. Internal or external. Again and again. 

Many times however, the specific motivation to make a piece gets lost in the composing. It transforms. Becomes its own entity. With its own intentions. When this process happens; when we are having a conversation with what we are making, that’s the moment that needs the most engaged attention. The zone. We all know what I am talking about. That space when your mind finally stops trying so hard to produce something. When we can get out of our own way. The tedious work of making art is the enormous percentage of time spent to get those few moments of lucidity. 

So, I often ask myself why I should exhaustively explain my approach to a body of art I am developing. Why intention is so important if the majority of my practice is simply producing visual art. And why these private moments of clarity have to do with anything other than my own personal growth as an artist. I struggle with the conundrum of making objects when the object itself isn’t even the most important aspect. Or that these objects have any significance once they are out in the world.  

For the most part, I have a healthy relationship with failure in my work as a visual artist. I can remain in the uncomfortableness of a piece that is not working and wait for clarity. I can accept the times when I don’t reach what I had so distinctly envisioned. I am pretty clear when it is time to put something aside or abandon it altogether. Accepting defeat is a necessary ingredient to finding success. Understanding intention opens pathways to critical thinking. Critical thinking is absolutely necessary to making good art. And, finally, good art helps strengthen our common humanity. 

When I can imagine that going in the studio everyday and practicing these skills of thinking/not thinking, making/not making are striving to make good art for the world, then I finally have some purpose. I can decidedly make steps. 

For now though, I better get back to work.