24×30 Oil
$380
Most days I paint from life,
Many days I paint from photos,
Some days I paint from memory,
But, today, I painted from the heart!
Recently, I was in a discussion about “skill vs. talent.” As an art educator, I’m all for training and acquiring skill! We need to work at our skills to make them better. Even talented people need to understand why they innately make art a certain way and how they can use that knowledge. But talent is more about the way you are bent, the amazing things you do just because you are you. While developing skill to make art is important, if there is no passion or emotion involved, skill doesn’t always speak. And Art needs to speak!
You have heard musicians who are highly skilled. They never miss a note, but their rhythm is so steady and notes so exact that it sounds like a robot is playing the piano! But when you listen to a musician who slows down, or speeds up, or gets louder, or gets so quiet that you can hardly breathe… you could be moved to tears and whisper, “Now, that is talent!”
Maybe “talent” and “skill” are not the words you use to describe this phenomena. Maybe it is the “art evokes emotion” theory. However you describe it, I agree that if art does not elicit a response from others, it is in need of improvement. (Notice I didn’t say to throw it away. You can always learn how to improve!)
Painting from the heart happens best when there is no pressure to perform. This “Painting from the Heart” began on a landscape that had been sitting in the corner of my studio. It had made the gallery rounds and was a peaceful landscape, but did not really say anything. No one was moved to tears. So, to keep from wasting a perfectly good 24×30 canvas, I turned it vertical and spread Gesso over the middle. Suddenly a vase of hydrangeas began forming in my head. I got excited. This was a day, after several days, when I needed to paint something to process my emotions.
And as I painted, these words formed:
Most days I paint from life,
Many days I paint from photos,
Some days I paint from memory,
But, today, I painted from the heart!
This painting has served its expressive purpose for me as I painted. Now, I would love to hear the reactions it may bring from you!