I spent quite a bit of time this morning looking at the image of the painting above, Listening to the Muse. It’s part of my show at the Kada Gallery which is in it’s last weekend there. This painting really captivates me on a personal level and reminds me of a thought that once drove me forward as a younger painter. It’s a thought that I often pass along as a bit of advice to aspiring artists:
Paint the paintings you want to see.
Sounds too simple to be of any help, doesn’t it? But that simplicity is the beauty and strength of it.
For me, I wasn’t seeing the paintings out there that satisfied an inner desire I had to see certain deep colors that were being used in a manner that was both abstract and representative. If I had seen something that fulfilled these desires, I most likely would not have went ahead as a painter. I wouldn’t have felt the need to keep pushing.
It was this simple thought that marked the change in my evolution as a painter. Before it, I was still trying to paint the paintings that I was seeing in the outer world, attempting to emulate those pieces and styles that already existed by other artists. But it was unsatisfying, still the work of others, forever judged in comparison to these others.
But after the realization that I should simply paint what I wanted to see, my work changed and I went from a bondage to what existed to the freedom of what could be. For me, that meant finding certain colors such as the deep reds and oranges tinged with dark edges that mark this piece. It meant trying to simplify the forms of world I was portraying so that the colors and shapes collectively took on the same meditative quality that I was seeing in each of them.
In my case this seems to be the advice I needed. But I think it’s advice that works for nearly anything you might attempt. Paint the paintings you want to see. Write the book you want to read. Play the music you want to hear. Make the film you want to see. Cook the food you want to eat. Sew the clothes you want to wear.
Make the world in which you want to live.
Simple.
Redtree Times 
It is that simple, and that true. Toni Morrison’s one who said the same thing to writers: ““If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
There’s only one thing I’d add to your list. It’s there, but it’s implied. It’s simple, yet complex, too: “Become the person you want to be.”
Yes, that’s a wonderful addition. Thanks, Linda.
On Sat, Jan 10, 2015 at 8:43 AM, Redtree Times wrote:
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Best advice I’ve heard in a long time. Paint the paintings that you wish were there to see. Thanks very much, Gary!