A Musing #18

I don’t know if I can stress how important it is to get out of routines especially if you’re a creative. As an artist, I do my best to change things up so working in the studio doesn’t feel like a horrible relationship.Ways include deciding to work on new projects, coming into the studio at different times, and socializing which would be the most important of them all. Being a painter is a lonely job. I’m very fortunate to have the space I’m working in, but being by myself has some disadvantages.

I’m starting to look at my work as a collection continuous discourses with myself. That doesn’t mean I paint with the intention of hiding it from the world. I’m completely aware people will lay their eyes on my work and have opinions. You know that feeling you get when that one friend is occupied and you don’t know what to do with yourself? Imagine having that same feeling but concerning you to yourself. There are periods of time I feel I can’t reach myself properly, hence why I’m not constantly painting myself. I’ve received tons of feedback that you all very much enjoy my selfies, but I can’t force them. Doesn’t matter how much I ring that door bell, I’m just not home some days.

Brooklyn Behaviour is a bit of a result of that. I really got into over analyzing art clichés and what’s happening where on the globe. An example would be how most artists in London are obsessed with surface quality. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I’ve noticed with many of my friends and interviews I’ve read that you guys can’t let it go. New York painters seem to be pushing boundaries of painting by being so out there or Ironically making “bad” paintings.

I didn’t want to go to Brooklyn for the reason I feel I’d fall into the trend. There’s a fear that I’d lose my identity. Paris has been treating me well. I’ve never been the type to follow along. Like a tag line from a perfume ad, make your own path. The attraction to the history of art in this city has pulled me in. Florence was a stepping stone and now I’m here. Call me an idealist, but I know what I want to do and how I’m going to do it. The beauty comes when all the unknowns happen when I translate my ideas.

Now I’ve lost track of what my point was and where I was going with this. So the bottom line is that change is healthy and needed from time to time.