What's Good?

A friend recently commented that the reason I'm able to share and promote my art is because I know it's good. Hmmmm...... is it true that I know it's good, and is it true that thinking it's good would help me to share and promote it?

What does it mean anyway for art to be good?

So, first of all, do I actually think my art is good?

Sometimes I do. But more often I wish it was a lot better than it is.

Shaken

More than good, what I do know for sure is that I want my art to be honest. I hope my art is always getting technically better but if I waited until I really thought it was “good” all or even most of the time I probably wouldn't share it for a long time to come. There are amazing crafts people out there producing fabulous art that I can never hope to compare mine to. If I were to compare myself and my art I'd come up very short, so I try to do as little as possible of that while still being profoundly inspired by it.

While I would like my art to be great technically what I more strive for is an art practice that is meaningful to me. In that way I believe that it has a chance of being meaningful to someone else and contributing to the lives of others whether they choose to live with my art or just witness it in person or online.

I've woken up enough mornings in my 60 plus years without a sense of meaning to know firsthand how uncomfortable that is. And you certainly don't need to be an artist to have those kinds of mornings, days, weeks, or maybe even years.

When passion strikes I feel a sense of hope, joy, excitement, vision, and most importantly meaning. When I have that meaning kindling the fire of my current skill level there's no stopping me.

If I like what I've created, different than it being good, it's usually because it has meaning for me and if that meaning touches the life of another I feel fulfilled and more driven to create more of what we call art. I'm not attached to which medium it manifests itself into tangible form through although I do believe that the longer I pursue one medium the more likely it is that my skill levels will develop and become "good”.

Stirred

I do find that sometimes I have to shake it up a bit in order to learn from other mediums and bring back that understanding and perception to my previous medium, stir it in, and I do enjoy experimentation and I find the whole process very meaningful. At a certain point it's hard to see and grow from the same old techniques and art supplies. That's what these two new pieces that I'm sharing now, also available as prints, reflect. I've spoken or written about this before where I flip flop back and forth between muted and more vivid work precisely for this reason. Each genre nourishes the other. And if that sounds kooky so be it. I've never been one for the straight and narrow path.

In the words of Van Gogh, “Normality is a paved road. It's comfortable to walk but no flowers grow on it”.

I write about my art and I share it because what I've noticed is that by experiencing the art of other artists, and often with others experiencing my own art, there is something comforting in being mirrored by another person's journey of creative awakening and the expression of that.

It's why I often feel that creating visual art isn't much different than the other modalities I devoted myself to in the healing arts in that I was always motivated by contributing, connecting and caring.

Shaken and Stirred are each pieces that reflect my path that is sometimes bumpy, sometimes smooth and every point on the spectrum between. They each have their virtues. I'm still learning how to appreciate, be intrigued by and harness whatever shows up.