Random Thoughts on Making Art

"Let me ask you something, what is not art?"  Author Unknown

“The inner fire is the most important thing mankind possesses.”
Edith Södergran

"For me, painting is a way to forget life.  It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh."  Georges Rouault

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."  Georgia O'Keeffe

"Man will begin to recover the moment he takes art as seriously as physics, chemistry or money."  Ernst Levy

"I want to reach that condensation of sensations that constitutes a picture."  Henri Matisse

Had an interesting discussion in Niles the other day. We were talking about how artists seem to only be valued if they make money from their artwork. That even teachers aren't valued and appreciated as true artists if they don't sell work. 

I have been making art since I was very young. If you make art, you know the feeling that you get when you sit down to create something. It's a unique feeling that comes from deep within. I have always been a big believer that if you create from the heart, you are an artist and what you make has true value. 

You don't ever need to sell anything or make art for anyone but yourself for it to have value and meaning. 

Anyone who tells you otherwise has their head up their ass. Look at the work of outsider artists. They're not making art to sell. They're making art because they're called to create. Look at the work of children. They put pencil, crayon, paint brush, etc... to paper because they can. They don't care what you call it as long as you allow them the time and materials to create (even with that, they will create something from nothing with the simplest of materials.)

Some may look at this post and call me a hypocrite because I profit from my art making (via teaching and selling occasional journals.) That said, I do not and have not ever made an exorbitant amount of money from my art. Most of the time I am scraping by with what I do. I continue to make art because I am called to. To me, it's as necessary as breathing. I teach classes because I love being in the creative environment and watching my students unfold in the class. It's a truly unique experience and one that I am grateful to be a part of. There may come a day when I am forced to stop teaching and look for other work but I will be making art until the day I die.