What to paint...

Lile Elam ((no email))
Wed, 17 Sep 1997 16:54:53 -0700 (PDT)

Hi fellow artists,

For a long while now I have felt it very hard to paint and create
art. Instead I have been spending alot of time gardening and cooking
which I am really growing to love. I am also getting into making
herb vinegars and drying herbs for cooking which is exciting.

Anyways, I am now starting to feel the draw of my studio and am
starting to think about works I would like to create. I guess for
a long while I was struggling with what I wanted to paint...

I am an abstract artist and in the past I would just paint without
trying to plan a painting or thinking about what I was painting. I
would just paint and let the energy flow... creating simple abstracts.
If it felt good, then I felt it was a success.

During my dry spell, it was hard for me to create. And I was frustrated
with trying to decide what I would paint... even if it was abstract.
Prehaps I was thinking too much. :)

And I would question the value of my art in regards to society. Would it
ever be looked at and valued by others? Not just monetary, but emotionally
and spiritually.

PBS (the public broadcasting system here in the US) has been running
various shows on TV about some of the great masters like Cézanne and Monet
and it has been interesting to see what inspired them. It was also
interesting to see what drew them to art and the path they traveled once
they decided to be an artist.

And I have come to the conclusion that for myself, I am inspired by the
thought of painting things that I love and those things which matter most
to me in my life. So as I climb that wall of rock I call life, I have
found another foothold on which to stand so that I can reach higher.

So what shall I paint? Why my compost heap, of course!

hugs,

-lile