A dear friend recently asked me how long it takes for me to do my daily paintings. There was a long pause before I answered. It was not the first time I had been asked this question. People may be curious because they don’t see how I can fit the activity into a busy schedule. Perhaps they are gauging my level of commitment to the activity. Maybe they are trying to decide if they could do something similar.
Some people may ask the question to determine a work’s value – compensating an artist for time, materials and perhaps a modest profit. Regardless, this is not the crucial question nor is it the correct way of viewing this type of activity.
When I enter my studio, pull out a sheet of paper and start marking it, I bring everything to the table. I bring my experiences, knowledge and the skills I have developed over the years. I consider what I did last week, the insights garnered over years of mixing paint, experimenting and, yes, playing. I bring my education, childhood memories, my feelings, thoughts, opinions and emotions. Like a well-trained athlete all the preparation comes down to a series of brief moments. Sometimes those moments last five minutes and sometimes they last hours, but they never constitute the entire investment one has made in a particular work.
I have done some of my best work when I had very little time, and I have done some of my worst work when I had too much time.
It is tempting to look at an abstract work of art and underestimate what is required to produce it. I have had several people look at my work and say, “I could do that.” Undoubtedly more people have had the same thought but refrained from uttering it aloud. The few critical individuals who have earnestly attempted to paint a non-objective abstract work are inevitably shocked at how difficult it is. The time one spends on a particular work is never the issue. So after a very long and awkward pause I answered my friend, “A lifetime. The correct answer is a lifetime. ”
This is precisely the right answer! Many people who don’t understand the creative process have a tendency to discount its importance, because they completely misunderstand its difficulty. Keep writing about this, its important stuff!