When the daylight has no end.
A true artist is willing to stand in front of the canvas for as long as it takes to make something beautiful and creative. A true artist does not give up. What we “see” is likely not what everyone else will “see.” We don’t control that. I don’t need to encourage you, I just need explain.
“I would never waste my time with that.”
That quote summed up my friend’s opinion of painting, and well, art in general; but I understood. I wasn’t about to cry or punch him in the face. I had been there a few times myself. How many studios do I need to destroy before I understand myself? Why would any good minded person waste hours and days standing in front of a blank canvas with brushes and paints, and begin to create, create something, that for most people has no value.
China dishes, silver, Ferraris.
What has value? A Ferrari has value and it has a lot of art in it. Have you ever met a person who thinks a Ferrari is ugly? I wonder where all that beauty comes from anyway? A Bitcoin has value because enough people decide it has value, a store of value, no beauty though. The Mona Lisa has value? And beauty? But for 99% of the world, it only has value because someone told them it has value, same goes with beauty. If a person - a person who knew nothing about art - stumbled upon the Mona Lisa at a flea market, what would they pay for it? $2? Or nothing. Would you believe me if I told you it was valued at $850 million? The Mona Lisa isn’t beautiful to me. Do you think, if there are aliens, they would ‘like’ the Mona Lisa on Facebook?
Give them Mikey Angelo, give them the Sistine Chapel.
When you lose your peace, the devil comes and whispers in your ear, “You are not worthy.” Don’t listen. Hold fast. Stay quiet. So, how easily can you be driven out of art? Does it take a little negativity or a lot? What my friend doesn’t have, is the hard wire in his mind or heart to create, this is something all true artists are born with. I believe it is a gift. Repetition. Again, a hard wire to create. Isn’t creation the highest form of worship? It is who we are, it is so deep and so much a part of our personality that we can only escape it for a short time, we can hide from it, but like ants and weather, it comes back. Repetition.
In a little while I’ll be there
This will pass - You, me, we will pass. But art will stay, if it is not thrown away, in a land fill. Dirt that covers stuff. The mountain gorillas of Uganda are majestic and divine in their application of strength, but they don’t create art. They will never create art. Not in a billion years. How do I know? How do you know? It’s in us humans. Somewhere in a landfill is the next Mona Lisa, or maybe better the next Basquiat, or Velázquez. Glorious brushstrokes. Maybe we just need to dig… and we will find, in a little while.
Written by: Hans Krause, Featured Artist of March 2021 at Gallery 120
Learn more about Hans here and view his March 2021 Exhibit online at https://www.clovergallery120.org/2021-march
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