Monday, December 27, 2021

Why Do You Make Art?

 I want to ask: What are your aspirations in art-making? What does your ideal art self look like? Where are you trying to get with your art? Is your goal a moving target or fixed? But... in the end it's all the same question. Why do you make art? What is your primary motivation for making art?



I am sorry that I have to moderate comments. It is because I have gotten a TON of bot-generated spam. Please do comment, though. I do check every day and publish all comments that are not spam. Thank you for your thoughts, and for visiting my blog.


18 comments:

  1. because sometime i get and idea and want to see what it could look like...at th the start. we asked why the answer is because!! be well!!!

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  2. The process is good for my mental health and I love putting paint on paper

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  3. I love the process and the exploration. I love the colors and combinations.

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  4. I love playing with paint, like to express my feelings of a subject - mostly a landscape - in color. In earlier days I wanted to make something that looks nice and that you would love to have on your wall. But in the last two years my intention has shifted. So now I go for more abstraction in my work.
    It's an exciting journey and I love travelling. :-)

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  5. These are all the questions I am asking myself at the moment and they are not easy to answer. I have to create things everyday, I don't know why, but I don't feel ok if I don't.
    What to do with what I create is the question that is UP for me at the moment.

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  6. Same! I feel compelled to use my brain in a visual way, and in pursuit of that elusive compositional zing.

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  7. I make art because I want to take what I’m contemplating or feeling on the inside and put it on the outside where I can examine it more closely. Sometimes I’m surprised, sometimes an issue is clarified.
    I also like to simply experiment with materials, to play a game of “what if I . . . ?” That way I can use them to express myself.

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  8. I started making art to distract my conscious mind from worry in the pandemic and explore my feelings through a different avenue, something more instinctual and life-affirming. It just kind of happened.

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  9. Because it takes me to my happy place!

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  10. Jane, these are great questions to help me focus on my art journey! Thank you. Through your workshops I'm gaining an understanding and practice of visual language. It's all beginning to click for me, I just need to increase my skill level. 100 Paintings showed me I could take my art journey more seriously and dedicate 24 to 30 hours/week to practice. My goals are now broadening to include showing my works. I appreciate you teaching your process, so I'm likely to sign up for whatever I can afford.

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    1. I am so glad to hear this! I'm hoping that my questions are thought provoking. For me, the journey includes a lot of inquiry and reflection to stay honest and focused. There are so many voices telling us we have to make a Product and Sell it to be good, or to make it worth the time. And art is so different from that, it takes vigilance to remain receptive to its real benefits.

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  11. I do art because it allows me to express myself visually. Art is healing. When I create art I am only focused on the process, the movement of the paint. A Zen like feeling comes over me. I get in a zone and forget all the world's problems and mine, and am able to relax. Painting brings me such Joy. I am happiest when I have a paintbrush in my hand and color on my palette.

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  12. I think my answer is relatively simple----because art enlivens me! It has me attending to the miniscule details of everyday life in a new way, more attentive and engaged with everything around me. Who could ask for more?????

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  13. I make art because I LOVE all the colors, mixing color, the feel of thick paint gliding from a brush to paper. I paint for different reasons, sometimes to relax, sometimes to develop a skill. My goal is to be able to draw accurately and easily, so that I can be freer to paint in a painterly style. I also enjoy art journaling and painting in abstract styles. I hope this answers your question. But, I make art, because I love the feeling of creating an artwork that does have aesthetic value.

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  14. Hmm, not sure if I lost my last post. Forgive me if I repeat myself, or just edit out one post. I make art because i love the feel of thick paint making a clean stroke on a substrate. My goal is to learn to be skilled in drawing so I can paint with more freedom of expression, in a painterly expressive style. I also paint in different styles for different reasons. Journal work is just for me, usually the abstract work is too. I'd love it if you could talk about how to paint without all the voices in our heads that doubt if its a wise use of time. . ..to just play without the intent of a painting for sale.

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  15. I make art because I simply cannot imagine a life without my art. In a way it is a compulsion and addiction but something that is a necessity in my life.

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