A and B- 24x30
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Conch Cottages-8x10
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Facing Down Southard-16x16-0229c
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thoughts on artistic pride and self doubt
here are the latest that just got taken down to the Gallery on Greene. the light has been gorgeous the past few weeks and temps are in the 80's. a plein air painters dream. the nerves start up the last week before delivering a huge body of work that hundreds will be scrutinizing soon. the self doubt about your true ability starts to nag at you, because you know the way you see your ability is entirely different from what it really is. just part of the human condition for emotional survival I guess. will I sell?, will I bomb?, why did I make that shape that color, it should have been that color. that little voice that says you suck, advantageously countering our huge ego that says youre pretty amazing and painting the best you ever have. neither are correct and both are correct at the same time. self doubt. the antidote for egotistical pride
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6 comments:
Mike,
I don't know if you will sell, but I think you should! I understand the self criticism, but your work is SO alive! It is not shapes and colors to a non-artist, it is a feeling. You produce good feelings! I listen to my "war of art" book when I think I should just quit trying to paint. Good luck! Betty
I agree with Betty. There comes a point when all the technical stuff you learn takes a back seat and you are left with the pure emotional impact a painting has. There are so many great technical painters on the web, but what I get drawn to is something authentic and often hard to describe. I now only have 3 painters I follow, yours included for those reasons. Didn't some famous painter once say " A painting should be felt and not analysed" might have been Gaugin... keep doing what you're doing, so many of us love it!! SF New Zealand.
Wow! what a profound statement you make at the end . self doubt. the antidote to egotistical pride! the proper balance of both creates health in any profession and life Thanks mike for giving us wisdom to meditate on. wayne
Just discovered your work because friends texted me that they were sitting in on a session you just did in Florida. I agree with just about everything the previous three posters said. Your paintings grabbed me. (and obviously got my friends, too) That's what really counts.
Dottie
betty, SF, wayne and dbest. thanks for your comments. esp. like the quoute paintings should be felt and not analysed. that's great!
ah, the inner critic. I think the paintings speak for themselves.
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