Make It Real

Pop artist Peter Blake told his students "Don't do a painting of a bottle of wine and a piece of camenbert . Do something that means somthing to you".

Andy Warhol said "If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface: of my paintings and my films and me, and there I am, there's nothing behind it."

Two very different statements that I love for their insightfulness and their honesty. As Blake Said, when you create a piece of art that means something to you, your work is going to reflect that. The audiauce will feel it. The work will be more powerful......Naturally.

Andy Warhol's statement is great. There's no bullshit here. He isn't trying to tell us that his work is more meaningful or important than our first impression of the image. Often people feel that they don't have the education to appreciate or understand modern art. This statement cuts right through a lot of jargon and reminds us that we are visual creatures looking at an image after all.

Speaking of images here is one of me working in my studio on the last few paintings for my show.
I'm having fun again on the work, now that the pressure is off. The colours have brightened up, and I'm playing and letting the work happen without forcing it, like when I began making the work. The middle part was a struggle though.......nothing seemed to work, and I destroyed a fair bit of it after a weekend away. That really put the pressure on!!

Sometimes painting is a real battle, a war with my self, but not at the moment. It's working beautifully, let's hope all the way until the last stroke.