REASONS

Northern Ontario Landscape                          Pencil Drawing

Reasons For Making Art......

I've been making art, drawing, painting, printmaking, and writing, for decades. Having reached that point where one questions reason for making more, one reflects on just why one turned to making art as a profession. The decision wasn't easy, not by a long-shot. I could have stayed where I was working at a job that paid well, and seemed at the time to have a future, but no, I decided to pursue a dream. Decades ago I watched in awe as my great aunt turned a blank canvas into an autumn forest landscape. I was hooked, and with the thought still fresh 40 years later, I left the work-a-day world to pursue my dream of becoming an artist. Reflecting back I suppose that I sought, and continue to seek admiration for my efforts, just as my great aunt had from me. I'm still trying some 40+ years later......

There are, no doubt, many reasons why persons make art, and being compelled is another way, I believe, of saying that I do it to gain attention. No one is born with creative ability. Not unlike any other skill it’s learned. Some appear to learn more quickly, giving the appearance that it comes naturally, however, it's not unlike other skills where some excel, while others struggle.

Musicians and writers, I believe, are really no different than visual artists, using their learned talent to tell a story, fictional, or experienced, and in so doing to also gain attention.

Art is not taught. Technical skills might be shared, but art, other than commercial art, is a journey of learning with deemed positive results, reinforced by gaining the attention of those that profess to know what is thought to be art, i.e. critics.

Financial success in the arts is simply the result of good marketing, and the artist succumbing to the need for public attention. Rarely does financial success result in lasting art.

And so it goes. Many young persons devote their lives to becoming artists, not realizing that one never actually becomes the artist that they hoped they'd be. It's an unending life time struggle, but, and I personally can say, that I've enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, the struggle.