It is managing these arbitrary events that makes a painter an artist. When does one push ahead? When does one stop? When does one take distance? It's curious how our minds trick us. Some days, I'll look at a painting and wonder why I stopped there. I can't see the harmony in it that once was evident to me. Similarly, I think to how I have assigned inspiration to something that was purely coincidental, or worse, mistaken or misinterpreted.
What exactly is inspiration?
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| Image by Louise Sturges, shown in Group Show 38 of the Humble Arts Foundation. |
At the end of a long painting session, my back hurts and my brain is exhausted. I want nothing but to lie in a hot bath and stare at the tiles. When I paint, I am reminded how stupid I can be, how much can be wrong, how chance can be more instrumental than skill or intention, how insignificant or life-changing a tiny mark can be, how beauty can be captured in the smallest things.
In short, when I paint, I feel humbled.
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