Dear keine:

It will take a whole lot of time- if you work hard and smart- to silence that voice telling you to do “good art” and not “bad art”- a whole lots of time to wait before you can create art.

What I would do if I was you would be to purposefully create “Bad Art”-

I wanted to create art but lacked the technique. Had a class, oil/ acrylic painting, but one class was not enough. I got the feel of it though, the pleasure of learning a technique and I liked it. I mastered the beginning of a technique and could have gone on but didn’t. So technique is necessary.

And then the topic. This is my most prized painting (no longer have it): a head of a person, maybe me, with a hand coming out of my skull as in reaching out for help (I was very troubled, of course). That was my Real Art- that was ME.

So, coming to think about it (as I type), how about focusing on Me Art instead of Good Art and Bad Art.

The Good Art and Bad Art are other-focused. Make your art Me-Focused.

Your art and your life used to be about others: what would make them happy. Make both about you: it is your time, your life, your art.

anita

Hey Keine,

Perhaps that little critical voice in your head is the expectations others have had for your art, all the distinctions between good art and bad art that you were taught.

I have to say, though, that whoever said good art was art with historical context was on to something (yes, I am an art historian, after all). What I take this to mean is that the best art is not just art that is an expression of a single person’s feelings on one particular day, but that is an expression of a whole society over a longer period – an ethos, if you like. The best artists are the ones who capture the essence of the human condition.

I know it sounds like I’m putting more pressure on you, not less, but what I’m saying is, perhaps it will help to make art with a purpose, which is to establish a kinship with the rest of humanity, and perhaps with nature too. Realize that any work, whether good or bad, is a step along the road toward becoming one with the universe. Not every step on that road is a step forward! The failures are just as essential as the successes. I agree with Anita and Joe to an extent; make Me Art while you’re working, and then somewhere along the road, it will become Us Art.

Last but not least, remember that art is not separate from life. Creative inspiration can hit you at any time, so always be mindful.

Dear keine:

The way I see it is that The More Me Art you make it, the more Us Art it automatically becomes.

What is inside you, the needs, wants, fears, love…these are universal. Let those create your art and naturally people will see their needs, wants, fears, love in it.

When you modify the Me Art with so to satisfy that inner critic (internalized critical parents, extended to all potential criticizers), you muddle, cut the wings off, and take the life out of those things inside you that need to be delivered to the canvas/ raw material.

anita