Painting as a Meditation on the Self and the Universe

Why can making art be a challenge? For me specifically, making acrylic paintings I will try to explain a little bit why this is true. In some way or another you are always painting yourself. Even when I spent years painting in complete non-representational art with no conscious intention, aspects of myself always come through. If I do quick sketches, still-lifes, or planned compositions, aspects of the self always worm through. I find this to be true when I write prose as well, it is a therapeutic process on some levels. Even when you are not physically working on the piece it is often in your mind, even after finishing it. Leonardo said, "art is never finished, only abandoned". I am sure many artists of all kinds relate to these aspects of the creative process. That is why making paintings is more stressful then you think it is. Because you ARE always painting yourself whether you want to or not. It is like a mirror of yourself, an extended daily meditation of 6, 8 sometimes 12 hours or more. That is what makes art beautiful though, honest art is an expression of the soul, a mirror of it. That is what I try to instill into my artwork.

Thoughts on Art Theory

Terms that I absolutely hate, that are used to describe artists sometimes are: Insider and Outsider art. That's just ridiculous; theory, academia, snobbish galleries, critics, all of this detracts from true art. These people that need to classify and separate things in such a way are vain and ignorant. What I am saying is that ultimately, no theory, no knowledge, no formal training, no anything is needed prior to viewing a work of art to understand it, or 'get it' (whatever that means), or even to create a work of art. This quote from da Vinci backs me up on that:

"The supreme misfortune is when theory outstrips performance."

-Leonardo da Vinci

In my artistic style for example, yes it is a kind of personal non-objective language that I have developed over time partially based from various artistic influences. But at the same time my work I think is universally accessible. You don't need to know my life story, my theory, my mentors, my family life or anything else to appreciate it. Good art should speak for itself. Of course knowing art-history (obviously I love art-history) can definitely deepen one's understanding of an artist's work, it should by no means be necessary to understand a work of art, even in cases of very conceptual art.