I love the way a piece of canvas can go from pure white to an explosion of colors. I love working on canvas.... you can always add to it or remove from it. If you get a tear in the canvas... you can always try out your collage skills or make it the central theme of the painting.
There is always a story to tell. Sometimes the artist doesn't know the story or what the painting is becoming until it has been birthed into being. Being is such a unique word as we are all in the act of being... Being human, being educated and just plane being in a state of being. Philosophers often speak of being. We question being as in the being here or the being:inness" of being.
I am no philosophy scholar, but I think I had threatened all my life to eventually go back to school and get a PhD in philosophy. After making such an ambitious statement, I often felt, that will never happen in this life time. I have a unique perspective caused by living by myself for many years. I think many artists tie the art and philosophy together, because they both are such solo pursuits.
In education acquisition one is exposed to so many ideas and there are so many brilliant minds that came before us. I've loved school all my life and have had a unique thirst for knowledge. As crazy as it seems .... I let a lot of time slip by.... being self taught and learning only from what my eyes could see.
Sometimes painting on canvas feels like a sculpture. I am whittling the painting into images by carving in and laying layers where I think they fit. Many times it's like a puzzle. I kept trying this and that to see where I want to go with it. I have been an experimental artist, writer, poet, and music lover. Every painting, every time it is a journey. When I paint live to the music, the music is my director. The sounds actually are in control and the colors are a result of the sounds, the layers forming thicker areas and the water taking the layers away. Dissecting and disseminating
them an existence of their own.
What is art? For me it is when my spirit guides take the lead and I follow in full faith that everything is as it should be. Sometimes, I just have an overwhelming feeling; I must paint and I must do it now. I have spoke with other artists that agree.... this DOES happen. I've not seen that discussed before and I think it is definitely something people should know. Musicians almost always understand what I am saying immediately, but sometimes I have to explain this to artists.
I pretty much always am working with a series in mind. Not all the pieces may fit initially but when the entire series is done, they fit. There is always a story tell, when it comes to creating art.
Yours Truly,
Jeanee
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