"THIS IS MY COUNTRY. WHAT I WANT TO EXPRESS IS HERE AND I LOVE IT. AMEN" - EMILY CARR (MAY 1934)

Friday 18 March 2016

Becoming Unknown

 Original 24x36" Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
"Storm Over Little Salmon"

 Original 11x14" Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
Fox Lake, Yukon

Original 21x42 Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
Commission: Kluane, Quill Creek 

Before I write about this I thought I will post a few of my recent paintings.  So if you aren't interested in reading,  you can see my artwork, which is really what this blog is all about :)

Becoming Unknown?   What does this mean.   Well this is my statement, I guess, of defiance against the current wave of culture where we are told what it means to be successful.  Specifically for artists, "the big thing is to become "KNOWN".   Known on the web, on facebook, with the art establishment, with collectors with "THE WORLD" and then of course to be financially rewarded for all of this.    I am not much of a writer but I want to put it out there that this is not something I care to pursue any more.  In recent years, I have decided  it is more important  to be "KNOWN" to myself and unknown to the world.  At the end of the day, true fulfillment is on a personally meaningful level.  Happiness is not created by fame, the approval of others, money.  Sure it would be nice to have some of  these things but I choose not to make it my aim.   Now that I have all the time in the world to paint, I realize that what will lastingly sustain me as an artist for the rest of my life is to go inside of myself and look for what is truly meaningful and special to me and to paint that.  It is a journey.  I love nothing more than to be in that moment when I am painting and the PROCESS is happening where after all these years  and thousands of hours of painting,  I feel this joyous energy coursing through my veins and the resounding YES! in my soul.  The energy flows through me, it feels effortless, .......This to me, is the ultimate success.