A Musing #68
March has been an interesting month, but I haven’t bought into all the madness. It’s official that I’ll be giving a Ted Talk at the end of May here in Paris about art and mental health. I’d like to say I’m very good at improv, but the challenge is getting the point across properly within 15 minutes while not sounding like a stale piece of white toast. Art talks in general have always had the ability to put me to sleep. What they’re saying is very interesting and dense, but the delivery needs some help. Maybe a couple theatre classes would do the trick. An hour and half interview will take me at least a week to get through properly as I can only do 5 minute intervals at a time. That’s showbiz, baby.
In comparison to 2018, I’ve been taking more time on my projects instead of pumping them out as quickly as I possible can. Quality vs Quantity. There’s more focus on making something I’m very much satisfied with instead of trying to stay relevant on social media platforms. I’ve gone on and on about this subject because it’s a serious thing for most artists out there. We’re human at the end of the day. I’m making the self portraits count instead of counting the self portraits. We all know I’d be bullshitting if I said I wasn’t focused on surpassing Frida’s numbers with mine at some point. Paintings aren’t filler, but you should still put them out there regardless. With each one made, you become more and more refined. Insert your favourite sport quote here or talk about how to get to Carnegie Hall.
Sam is also moving along with Anne. I’ve finally figured out the inevitable stages of my paintings. There’s the beginning phase where you see so many changes and leaps in whats happening. After all that, there’s the middle plateau where everything seems to be at a standstill despite working hours a day on it. I’m currently there, but the final stage is what’s motivating me. Those final sessions where everything just pops into place better than you can even imagine. All that hard work done in the middle is finally seen in the end result. I guess you can see it as life. We all have those boring and frustrating middle moments and then it all works out.
