› Uniqueness
August 8, 2000
Dear Artist,Something I've learned
from the sending and receiving of letters
is the defiant individuality and
uniqueness of creative people. Beginners
and seasoned professionals--each and
every one of us are sovereign units.
Intuitively, we tend to guard against
unwanted influences and yet we are
curious about others in the sisterhood
and brotherhood. I flatter myself to
think this is why this letter has found
its niche. It gives, I think, a glimmer
of insight and yet preserves anonymity
and the privacy of each of our chosen
paths.
This morning I
was conscious again of doing something
wrong, something that my better judgment
has told me before not to do. It had to
do with going into the higher tones early
in the rendering of a face--but that's
not the point. "A poor thing, but my
own," I said to myself. When I
looked at it on the secondary easel it
began to have a resonance that I liked.
"Damn it," I said, "It
looks okay, and it looks like it's
mine."
I claimed that
methodology for myself. I even gave it a
secret name. Academically it was off the
mark. Inconsequential as it all might
seem to an outsider, this is the sort of
epiphany I think we are all looking for.
It's what makes us happy. It sets us
apart. It gives us that shot of
uniqueness which we call style.
Our gardener
came into the studio to get the extension
cord for the weed-eater. He is a man of
few words. "That's different,"
he said, looking at the same thing I was
looking at. I had a little flush of joy.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "My wish
is that we might progressively lose
confidence in what we believe and the
things we consider stable and secure, in
order to remind ourselves of the infinite
number of things still waiting to be
discovered." (Antoni Tapies)
Esoterica:
Isolation: I've often thought about an
artist I met high in the Peruvian Andes - a
chap from Illinois who called himself
"Cosmos." He didn't communicate
with anyone in the outside world. He told
me he was "doing the most important
art being done in the world right
now."
The following
are selected correspondence relating to
the above letter. If you find value in
any of this please feel free to copy to a
friend or fellow artist. We have no other
motivation than to give creative people
an opportunity to share ideas and
possibly broaden their capabilities.
Thank you for writing rgenn@saraphina.com
› Envy of
individuality
In your letter of yesterday, you use the
phrase "defiant individuality . . .
of creative people." Does this
include envy on the part of some artists
when other artists succeed at something
and they don't. Some friends and I are
involved in organizing arts/cultural
events and it's mind-boggling sometimes
what hefty doses of sour grapes we
encounter from time to time. My own take
is that there are plenty of ideas to go
around in this world and we should enjoy
the successes of others. Even better is
to learn from the ideas of others and,
whenever possible borrow from but not
directly copy them.
Iowa, USA
› Appreciation of
our differences
I was enjoying a wonderful afternoon with
a friend, and we were both painting away,
enjoying the sounds of the brushes and
our secret messages to the paint in order
to direct it to do its very best work,
and we both said to each other, how lucky
we were to know what we wanted to do in
life and also that we can share this time
together and we respect each other's work
as it is so completely different in style
as well as different mediums... It was so
pleasant that, when it came time to
leave, it was just hard to end this
perfect time and appreciation of our
differences. Our work is far from the
accepted word of perfect, but it is ours
and it is known for whom it represents.
nobby, Orillia, Ontario, Canada
› Jerk
The guy up in the mountains is a jerk.
Art without an audience is like light
without eyes.
David
›No right way
Having my own voice in my world is the
number one thing. Frankly, I get tired of
people telling me that I'm not doing
something "right" in my
painting and illustration work. People
have to get this message: THERE IS NO
RIGHT WAY IN ART. All there is is the
artist's voice and his interpretation. It
may not be photographic, but that's what
we have cameras for.
Years ago my art
teacher told me point blank that I could
never do portraits of people. This pissed
me off, because I realized what he was
saying is that "he" never was
able to do it. Soon after I quit the
class.
After that I
vowed I'd prove him wrong. And, if you've
seen my work, you will know I succeeded.
Some people
still say I don't do people
"correctly". They watch the
method I use for drawing a face, click
their teeth and shake their heads. Some
even have the nerve to come up to me and
say: "My art teacher said
this." Robert, my answer to them is
this: "That is fine for your art
teacher. He might be a fine artist. He
may have taken classes up the kazoo to
get where he is. People may praise him
for doing it the "right " way.
But, frankly, it doesn't mean beans to
me. When you're dealing with
"my" art you're dealing with
"my" art. I give you the option
of liking it or disliking it. That's all.
If you like it, that makes me happy. If
you don't, then that's up to you.
W. Pattison, San
Mateo, CA, USA
›Trust the force,
Luke
I smiled as I read about your successful
experimentation. I have experienced the
same with the making of tapestries. I
dared to break rules, and it made my work
unique. It's a little scary at
first... but it's like your instincts
force you to push on. Because
instinctively we always know what's
right.
Yvette,
Montreal, QC, Canada
› Being
possessive
Some years ago we had a long and futile
dispute with some musicians about the
naming of a new musical piece. We
resolved it by using the same word from
another language. The original name was
never used. So much about being
possessive about creativity.
Kalwant, UK
If you would
like to see selected correspondence
relating to the previous letter
"Pressures" please click here www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/pressures.htm
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