CREATING ART, WHY THE ARTIST STATEMENT?

I always have something to say, something to say about what I've learned or something I've seen or the hundreds of epiphanies I feel I have daily.  I remember them, somewhere on the inside. Getting them to come out, live by them ... maybe is a different story.

So, I set up for myself, reminders.  Reminders of a feeling or an energy that I want to hold onto, that I want to remember.  But I'm not "thinking" about doing this, I just naturally do it and feel it when I create art work.  I want to say I capture the essence of the time, place, and/or energy into a canvas, or least part of it.

I don't know.  I've been told that I need to "figure out" and "make a statement" about why I make art, why I'm an artist for as long as I can remember.  I've done a decent job at trying to explain the complexities AND the simplicity of why I do what I do, but none of it seems to really explain why and maybe it's because I cannot.  Sometimes I do not even know why I do it.  I know that I was meant to do it, I know that I choose to embrace and do it, I know that I love it.  I know I am true to who I am when I do it, and that, is what is important.  That is what you should know.

Asking an artist about their artist statement is kind of like, "Why do you get out of bed in the morning?" kind of question.  Well, because that's what I do.  I have to "get out of bed" if I want to live my life.  It's that simple.

Now, "perfecting" what I do or what am I most interested in, is another topic.

I'm interested in what happens when you turn "nothing" into something.  Or when you take ideas, materials, and time, combine them all and create something new.  When you make choices for each step, thinking about it or not. That process is fascinating.  The input of life.  The output of life.  We all are doing these two things everyday.  All these inputs and outputs are building you up, molding you into the work of art that you are.  Work of art, meaning aesthetic form or artistic creation.

But, what is art?  Are you really that concerned with "what" something is?  Really, you should ask yourself ... do I value this?  Do I value what this person (or artist) does with this, what they are about, etc?  Can I appreciate this for what it is?  Can it add value to life and people around it?

Is art meant to add value to life?  What is it meant to do?  Why do we even do it or embrace it and want it in our life?  Everything you see around you was created by someone, and essentially, each is a "work of art".  Now, how much you appreciate it for "fine art" is up to you, then it's up to your neighbor and your other neighbor and so forth.

Why do some aesthetics sincerely please us?  What does it do for us?   Ever had a favorite color?  You know that feeling you get when you see your favorite color?  Ever wonder why it's your favorite, ever wonder why you get so excited or simply pleased when you see it.  That means that color is aesthetically pleasing to you and that you, most likely, put value on that color.

But why amongst all colors and things, do you put value on that one, your favorite color?  What feeling do you get when you see your favorite color?  Does something resonate with you?  Do you have good memories and that color is part of it?

Have you ever noticed when you are playing a board game, everyone wants to pick the "color" they want to be.  Some people get pretty excited about this too.  We have a choice to select a color for almost everything we buy, use, eat, etc.  Why is that important?  Why is that system there?  Why do we love COLOR so much and what does it do for us?

Hmm, ever thought about what it would be like if we lived in a black and white world?  Well, to me those are still colors, but I digress.  Or what if the world was all gray.  How would that change life for us?  I guess we'd have to rely on the shape or pattern of something to recognize it quickly.  I mean, we already do that but in conjunction with color, it stands out quicker to us, we process faster.

Why IS everything in color?  What is the significance of color?  How is color made?  What makes a color different from another color ... and how is that our eye can recognize all the colors?  Especially artists and the like, we seem to have a keener eye for understanding color.  Wonder why?

Well, I wonder why everyday.  That is why I am obsessed with colors, experimenting with combinations, layering them, and so on.  The color journey continues.