Art is a practical balance between tradition and invention. Art starts with established rules of the past and then the artist break a few rules to bring us through the present into the future. There we challenge the viewer with something new. In that respect, art is pretty much like time: The connection of the past and future, through the artist. However, if an artist needs a more direct mantra (in the meantime) my suggestion would be to slightly alter the statement of the meaning of life to read: “(Art is) finding something (artistic) to do while you are waiting for something (artistic) to happen.”
When we better understand the patterns of our own artistic process we generally produce better art. The process should be simple. However, the markers of what we like are based on such an infinite number of life events, experienced randomly that sorting them out is best left to the unconscious mind.
No bliss is ever as stark or confusing as the moment of our own birth. From that moment we are collecting impressions and ordering them into a workable understanding which gives reason and meaning to the journey ahead. Mistakes are made, new data must often be reconnected, rebooted, and refreshed. No working artist is as full of wonder, as fresh in approach, as accepting of new data, or enjoys integrating new data as joyfully as children. That is the point of departure of all art, that and the effort to achieve it.
Most important to the individual artist is the point of departure or “From where does this stuff come from which we call art?” I choose the model of “The Muse” as the simplest, most direct, and accurate of the definitive alternatives. However, it is up to the artist to identify the point of departure and learn how to keep the door ajar as they coax the demons of creativity out into the open and hold them there for others to experience.
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