A Simple Word “Serious”

A Simple Word “Serious”

Showing great interest in or commitment to an endeavor, skill, or pastime…Wow!  A great word “Serious” when you think about it…Clearly I’m boringly serious about my art!! Why would this word even get my attention?  It did! And in a split second too! I have used the word before in this blog, but I’m not sure I ever applied it to myself.  I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t because I am serious. But, did it always apply?

How long have you been painting?

A question I’m frequently ask “how long have you been painting”? I would typically say 2 years adding “But forever” indicating knee high with my hand. A typical response might be “What happened in between”? If you tell them in my former life I was a…….. Oh!  You decided to do this in your retirement” which given my age could have been a viable reason. They could not have been more further from the truth because from day one I looked at art as career change and approached my new career as any one might a new business venture. Make no mistake if your "serious" art is a business!

Recently I was the main attraction at an Artist opening reception in a nearby sleepy harbor town gallery. The first time a large body of my recent work was assembled, framed, lit and then exposed before a wine sipping crowd. It was a new experience for me too because I rarely hang my own paintings. I don’t like clutter or being influence by yesterdays work so dry paintings are quickly packed away or framed and shipped to gallery shows or new owners…as a result this show was a treat for me as a painter and as a designer, because it took both hats to do it! 

You know the question I was overwhelmed with…. yep!  “How long have you been painting”? I’d say 2 ½ years and they go blank in disbelief!!...never getting the chance to say my forever..part. Now what do I do?? The gallery owner over heard it a few times, knowing I need help broke in by saying “he’s been doing it all his life but, only took it seriously 2 ½ years ago” …Well! There you go…one simple word “seriously” wrapped it up nice and tight! My new buzz word got a serious workout the rest of the evening....my new friends accepted my new explanation and quickly move to talking art...my favorite part.

Until that very moment I never had a clean answer why I stopped painting years earlier. In a single moment I knew, I was not willing to take art seriously. As a preteen and a teenager I must have because art had my attention. I studied the old masters. Not exactly something a normal teen would do, but I did. So I was serious at one point but, later it was just something I could do like riding a bike or driving a car. Art was useful making extra spending money as a teen.

As a young adult entering the job market my art, school drafting along with a wood-shop class allowed me the necessary tools to become a commercial bank designer which I did take seriously from the start. Quite possibly because it was a bigger more complex medium than oil painting. 

Mmmmm... not so sure that holds water in the real world. Oil painting is creating the illusion of light, colour and depth with paint. I found all the same old design rules applied to oil painting.....even has many of the same buzz words. In the end Good Design is the most critical element in a good interior, building, landscape or a great oil painting without good design all these things will fail.  

 #430 Winter Koi 48x44 oil on linen 

I think a good question any serious artist might want to ask themselves before starting any painting intended for eventual sale...."where do I want my paintings to hang"?