THE COMMON THREAD
December 18, 2007
Over these many years of filming, I have been trying to distill what it is that makes one person an ARTIST and the next a PAINTER. (Notice I don’t say ‘just’ a painter) I think I can say, without reservation, that one ingredient in the mix is objective, self-critiquing. All of the people I’d consider Artists have paused many times in the course of their creative process, stepped back and pondered their next step. They asses the painting as a unique ‘happening’, on it’s own merits. Never have they said…’but it, the subject, looked like that.” They are more interested in making a work of art.
Artists are in no rush to complete their paintings. To the contrary, they do not put brush to canvas/paper until they are confident of the direction in which they want to lead their painting. Some have said they may have to wait days, weeks, or in the case of Cheng-Khee Chee, years, for a satisfactory, or even a brilliant, solution.
This is not to say that artists do not take risks. They do. They constantly push the envelope. Mary Todd Beam read from an article in SCIENTIFIC AMERICA (sorry, I can’t remember which issue) which said “creativity flourishes on the brink of incompetency”. Carla O’Connor described it as, “dancing right up to the edge of the cliff.” Virginia Cobb talked about creating problems in her painting, and then finding solutions as part of her creative process.
The real difference between a top tier artist and painter occurs in what they bring to their analysis. It is then when the years of study and experience give them more options, better choices and a clearer understanding of their media. It is NOT a “lets throw it on and see if anything works” sort of process. It is having confidence in their ability to trod new territory knowing their design skills will help them find the best, most expressive solution available to them at that given time.
So be patient, step back often and assess what’s happening in the painting. Don’t just ‘do’ to be ‘doing’. Stay attentive and try something new, something you’ve learned. If you always paint the same way, you can expect to … (here it comes…) always paint the same way.
Have a wonderful holiday!
~Lynn~