Considering Art

“Why buy art, when you can create art?” This, from a text conversation with my daughter-in-law. We both have a passion for photography.

It reminds me of a favorite line from Neil Simon’s, The Goodbye Girl. Near the end of the film the character Elliot Garfield is approached by the film director Oliver Fry. Fry asks, “We won’t keep you. There was just one question that I wanted to ask. Would you be interested in a movie?”

Elliot responds, “You mean making one?” 

Fry then replies, “Or we could go to one, but I think working is much more fun.”

These lines have had meaning in my life on a few occasions. When I was heavily involved in theater I always felt it was much more fun to be involved in the creative process than to set in the audience and watch the product of the process. Consequently, when I stepped away from acting and directing, I also stopped going to theater. This was not necessarily the right thing to do, but it was what I did nonetheless.

The same is true of music. There was a time when I was playing nearly every day.  Now, I couldn’t tell you when was the last time my guitar has been out of its case. It sets in a corner of a room, a relic of something I once did while the decals on the case remind me of places I once visited. From time to time I think about taking it out and playing for a few minutes. But it rarely happens. Again, not exactly the right thing, but it is the way things are presently.

But now, let’s consider art. This year I have been compelled to rediscover art. Both to view art and to create art. I have done fairly well with the former, but not so, the latter.

Gerrie and I have visited a few museums and attended a few festivals this year. We’ve spent hours in the Art Institute of Chicago and have walked the galleries of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Last weekend we spent several hours going from exhibitor to exhibitor at the American Artisan Festival in Nashville and have returned from the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina. This festival was filled with art, music and film. Next month we will renew our membership to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and will become members of the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. 

We have made an effort to view art. This is ongoing. But, “why buy art, when you can create art?” It is now the time to begin the creative process. Part of that process is simply getting to the place that I am now.

This year has been the beginning of a journey for me. I have looked my life up until now and realized that I was missing so much while trying to reach a destination. I came to understand that it is the journey, this trail that I am on, that is what my life should be about. We are never assured of reaching a specific destination in this life and our efforts to do so can cause us to miss the beauty before us. This beauty is part of the journey and I have overlooked so much it as I have made my way in life. 

Being creative, I feel, has always been a part of who I am. Whether is was acting, playing music, drawing, whatever, it was a part of my life. Yet, for some reason I have  not celebrated that part of my life in quite some time. This is about to change. My trail has found a bend in the road.

Having looked at art, and seeing what others can do, I think, “I can do that.” I don’t mean that I can create something and become great; that is not the point. The intent is to find a sense of fulfillment that comes from using my creative nature; a gift given to us all. I have no illusions. I don’t create with any intent of being exhibited in any place other than my own home. Granted, I wouldn’t mind if that opportunity presents itself, but it is not the aim of what I’ll do. To be creative is simply a challenge myself to give expression to my experiences and to find fulfillment in life.

So here I sit. It is mid-year and the journey is well underway. This weekend I get home from the Wild Goose, clean and pack the camping gear away, get some rest and get back to work. Next weekend; next weekend I begin to clean and organize the garage. I will take inventory of what I have that is still any good, and then, I get to work. Who knows where this will take me. I don’t.

There was one artist I met at the American Artisan Festival, Sarah Bean, who builds mixed media collages. She begins with pages and photographs from old books and adheres them to the canvas using a clear acrylic paint. This is her base. On this base she then builds stories using paper, water color washes, oils and anything else she feels fits the piece. I was fascinated by her work! 

For me, I may work in wood. I’ll definitely work with oils. Perhaps pencils and watercolors from time to time. I wonder what happens when you mix wood shavings and sawdust with oil? Does is look better being applied to canvas or on a rough piece of plywood? What if I add a few pieces of scrap paper here and there? I don’t know. But I do know it is exciting to think about and the boundaries are as far and wide as my imagination.

It is exciting, this journey. You never know what will happen from one day to the next. But it sure makes you want to get up in the morning to find out.

Greg