Getting Past Critics

I have to again apologize for my digital camera - this is the best I could do with the flash going wonky. I tried to to distort and skew in Photoshop to eliminate the worst of the exposure but I'm afraid not very successfully. I see a big expenditure in my future!

Well this being a Monday morning, rainy outside, with the soft rain more reminiscent of late spring than early winter, I come into my studio. I see all good things around me, lots of light, inspiring work from my collection of artist friends, excellent starts begging to be worked on. I am feeling deflated and not jazzed to paint.

This is a common feeling artists get when they see a lot of artwork which I have this last week - the PAA Exhibit, the Astoria Artwalk and local galleries. It's not the art itself but the internal questioning that starts within the artist to go forward with work after a battering of critique.

In some case bad judges exhibiting poor choices calls into question what is good art. In other cases it's ordinary viewers criticizing work that is intentionally done and well done in certain styles. It makes artists wonder if it's worth it to create a vision that exists in our minds, that explores concepts not of the everyday experience.

All artists have to get past other peoples opinions and get on with the work. Put away the voices and listen for the clear tone that happens when those voices have been silenced. Wait for the questions that start in our own mind and follow those bread crumbs of thought down the rabbit holes of our own thoughts, experiences, challenges and problem solving. It must be that here is where our occasional greatness hides out.

Today I wish you successful painting, and with luck I will see you down the rabbit hole today! Happy painting!