Art is for everyone

The wonderful thing about art is that there is something for everyone. There are no right ways or wrong ways to go about learning the fundamentals and there really are no rules on the outcome either. As an instructor people expect me to teach theories and technique with a sprinkling of art history which I am very pleased to do. Over the last two decades as an art instructor I have felt that I should “adapt” to what the “client” wants and needs for them to push forward on their own creative path. I have tried very hard to remain on neutral ground over the years and will continue to do so. However I do have some very personal feelings about what exactly art is and should be.

Art is more than copying

I have stated that I do believe that there is more to art than a simple act of copying from nature, life or a photograph. I would like to remind everyone that I have also encouraged every student I encounter to learn how to copy from life well. Developing a good eye and a steady hand is essential for anyone serious about making art. That being said, a simple demonstration of skill alone is not art. There needs to be something more.

What exactly do I mean by “more”?

The “holy grail” in the creation of a drawing or painting is for the work itself to detach itself from the artist, meaning that the work of art take on a life of its own. This is what Kandinsky is trying to impart when he says “…it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being”.

A life of it’s own

A true work of art therefore takes on a life of it’s own separate from it’s creator. Many people confuse this notion of “life of it’s own” with the artists ability to capture an “expression” on a model’s face or a reflection in the water. Once again these two elements are only a demonstration of skill and nothing more. The ability to “capture” life doesn’t necessarily mean that an artist is always successful at it. Therefore there has to be something more to a work to be considered a true work of art.

What Kandinsky thought

Kandinsky says that a work of art is born of the artist or in other words a painting or drawing is created by the artist which we all know is true. What he is talking about is the intent of the artist. There are varying degrees of intent and purpose in art. Some artists want to make their paintings or drawings look exactly like a photograph while on the opposite end of the spectrum we have artists who want to make their paintings and drawings look like nothing. While both can appear to be successful there may still be an underlying feeling of ‘absence of something” in the finished work. To be honest most people see “the something” or the lack of “something” of which I speak but don’t know what it is.

Kandinsky’s spiritual breath

What I am talking about today is what Kandinsky calls the “spiritual breath” in art. Brian Knowles says that “much of what is billed as ‘art’ today is a reflection of the deep spiritual poverty that has overtaken the lives of many artists. Out of the darkness comes more darkness. Emptiness yields up emptiness.” Is it any wonder then that in a society where secularism is on the rise and where anything remotely spiritual is frowned upon that our art is devoid of “spiritual breath”? They say that art reflects the society in which it exists, but must it? I don’t think so.

What I know about spiritual breath

I have felt the “spiritual breath” in everything around me for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the Laurentians and being able to witness the beauty around me first hand changed me forever. As a child I walked deep into the forests and mountains to see first hand the miracles that nature has to offer for those willing to see and to experience. I experienced and felt the subtle changes happening around me. I learned about the *spiritual breath* from nature.

Spiritual breath is all around us

This same “spiritual breath” extends to everything around us and is there for all to see and to experience. Here in lies my own approach to art making. Although my experiencing the “spiritual breath” in my process may in a large part escape most viewers it plays a huge role in how my works develops. It is my intent as an artist to capture some of the “energy” I feel in my subject and infuse it into my work. I am fully aware that I am not always successful in doing so and this in part is why I have kept showing up at the easel for the past forty years.

Art as a means of living a life

Robert Henri’s quote were he said that “he was interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living” rings true with me. Although making a living from what I do is important to me eliminating the “spiritual breath” in my work to do so is not something I am willing to do.

This underlying belief in the existence of a “spiritual breath” extends into other parts of my life as well. As I believe that we are meant to be able to connect to a work of art through this “spiritual breath” so to should we be able to connect to each other as well. I have always believed that we are here to connect “deeply” with at least one other person in our lifetime even if it is ever so briefly.

My life and my work is all about a connection with someone or something larger than myself.