All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
–Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther 1774
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One of the primary factors in my finding my way to art was the fact that whatever I created would be all my own, a reflection of what I felt was my own truth. Art, painting in my particular case, was the one place in this world where I could have total control, the one place where I could set the rules and chose what criteria would satisfy my own needs.
I would be using materials and knowledge available to everyone else, just like the knowledge referenced in Goethe’s quote above. But what made art so appealing was that there was the opportunity to take these materials and knowledge and transform them into something quite different than the person sitting next to you equipped with the same materials and knowledge. For some, it is an academic exercise that uses the materials and knowledge by the book with little of their own self invested. For others, it is a battleground in an existential struggle to be heard, to have their voice have meaning of some kind.
The real difference between these two comes from how much one is willing to totally reveal their self in this work, how they interpret the materials and knowledge they are given, and how much of their heart and soul they are willing to put on display. For me, having my own heart evident in my art was always an existential effort– if I couldn’t make something that was uniquely my own then I would not be pursuing it for long.
You know, this is a pretty simple quote on the surface but it is one that makes me struggle in discussing my own relationship to it. Perhaps I should just let Goethe’s few words stand as they are and let the new painting at the top of the page, a 24″ by 48″ canvas that I call The Singular Heart, speak for me. After all, that is what the whole thing is about– a heart that is all one’s own.
Redtree Times 
I’m always surprised by the parallels between the painter and the writer. It’s the same when it comes to writing. Everyone has access to the same materials and knowledge — the same language, the same vocabulary. It’s figuring out what to do with it that counts.
You’re right. You could easily substitute writer or dancer or musician for painter in many of these essays and quotes. It is often difficult to discern between different forms of expression because, while there are obvious differences, there are so many similarities in many of the creative fields. But at the bottom, it’s all about expressing some part our self.
On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 10:05 AM, Redtree Times wrote:
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Love this! Not sure what pleases me most here, the confetti sky, the Goethe quote, or your beautifully expressed reflections…..all quite delightful. A mentor once assured me that creative souls will apply themselves in multiple ways…..a painter writes, a singer paints. We are all blessed to never be bored!