this art business is serious stuff

Andy and Chitty have both given me food for thought that could so easily apply across the arts to music, theatre, literature, etc. Hell, it could apply to almost any discipline that requires both inspiration and perspiration. It's the question of serious art vs. popular art.

The avant garde art world can be a very cold place, so no wonder it doesn't appeal to the general public and makes the sensitive layperson feel like a clueless moron. It's like this exclusive club where you have to produce a passport stamped with items such as "intellectual but inscrutably eccentric" or "mainstream is just another word for the devil". I've struggled with my place in that world for a couple of years now. I want to be able to produce work that is accessible but does not compromise. I want to respect craftsmanship without allowing it to control my own brand of creativity. Everyone has been a child with a box of Crayolas. Why do artists feel the need to dissociate themselves from the child we all were once and elevate art to something that appeals only to the Converted?

Maybe it's that very reason. When I was a teacher I discovered that every yahoo who had ever been a child in a classroom thought they had an insider's view on the profession and could therefore comment at length on its failings. Visual art has the same direct experience factor: we've all enjoyed the moment when we first dipped our fingers into those juicy primary colours to produce something our parents could proudly hang in the family art gallery (the fridge). That access to the child in oneself can make it hard to be taken seriously by the “uninitiated”. Every time I’m asked what I do I find myself unconsciously slipping into a defensive/reactive mode. Sometimes I avoid the question altogether and just say "I'm on LOA from my teaching job." Now that I've finally been forced to abandon my school district contract, it gets harder. Even one of my closest friends, after a couple of years, can't seem to get used to the fact that I'm working harder now than I ever did when I was job sharing with her husband. She thinks that being at home means I'm watching Oprah and eating bonbons because painting is not really work. OK, I'll admit that the paycheque sucks and I spend a lot of time analysing my bank balance, but if work stress is an indicator, then I'm right up there with the residents of office veal-fattening pens.

But back to the childhood connection. As a teacher who has taught all age groups (5 to 65) I have learned that the freshest, most creative art by far is produced by those with no concept of what art is "supposed" to look like. It follows that the more knowledgeable and sophisticated one becomes, the farther the artist gets from the true source of creativity. Maybe that's why the conceptual art movement happened 3/4 of a century ago. With the knowledge that experience hobbles inspiration, those with a clear vision realised it was the only place where true creativity could happen.

One of my ways to deal with this conundrum is to steal from my kids. OK, "borrow". A couple of years ago I started a series based on my boys' drawings and never saw it through completely, though it takes up a lot of space on my mental backburner. #2 son did a bunch of these step-by-step drawings that are an amazing peek into the mind of a child with a pencil and an idea (see above). To me, trying to capture that pure essence is one of my driving creative forces. Retaining its clarity is an ongoing challenge.

But for now, back to the drawing board...