Thank you for such a beautiful expression of this perspective. It resonated with conversations I've had this week about the foundational disciplines which lie behind 'constructing'/creating art - and lie behind music too for example.
Love the way this opens with the masterful painting by Thaulow and the quotation from Field. I believe a seeming paradox can arise when an individual seeks to deeply know, feel, and express their innermost experience of life — though initiated and rooted in a process which seems intensely personal, the creative works arising from that exploration can touch others in a way that feels universal.
The mystery of mysteries, creative work. I think we always self and all else we encounter, and the proportionate mix of the two is always going to be unknown ahead of time; and often after it seems. Wonderful article James! 🙏😊
I think the personal expression comes out subconsciously in the tones and strokes. I don’t need a psychologist to tell me how to feel about what I see. The artist left it up to me.
I would define “personal expression” as a privilege of immunity granted to fine art and fine artists.
What happens when commercial art crosses over the line into fine art, as with Norman Rockwell?
For me, a dual graduate from a college of fine art and another college of commercial art/illustration, the crossover created a pull between many factors. That of wanting to satisfy my own desires and professionalism, while taking pride in meeting expectations with directors who I might not see eye to eye with. I had to perform well in the time granted. I was never under any illusion that art directors cared about my external life or personal expression. I knew from the beginning that they simply wanted my best results and on time. So in the end, casting away personal feelings enabled a long successful 45 year career in art.
Otherwise, I might have been destined to go work— as the Dean of Art where I earned the fine arts degree said, “With this degree you can go work in the produce department of a grocery store.”
Today, as a retiree, and a plein air painter, I’m all about personal expression. But then again, I’m not looking to sell my paintings.
I really appreciate this question/topic. Visual art is primarily wordless, words are superficial to the experience. Words slow things down, require interpretation, can get in the way but how else can we express what is wordless? A poet can evoke what is wordless with words. Visual art that resonates communicates without words in an instant. The quote regarding a great person with a broad, expansive perspective, impersonal with empathy for nature, words limit… impersonality is not the antithesis but is the fulfillment of personality, what a fantastic thing to share. The art communicates perspective wordlessly. The wordless experience is in the beholder.
Lovely post,James.I think your concluding paragraph is the very definition of all the arts since the beginning.
I really enjoy this perspective. I think I will be thinking about this for a while! Thank you!
Thank you for such a beautiful expression of this perspective. It resonated with conversations I've had this week about the foundational disciplines which lie behind 'constructing'/creating art - and lie behind music too for example.
Just wanted to say that I read these posts almost every day, and please keep them coming!
It's so good to stop and think about the work itself once a day.
I think Seth Godin nailed it in his book "The Practice: Shipping Creative Work" when he drew an analogy to bread-buying in Turkey. Check it out.
Even if we seek to uncover and express universal truth, we see, express and color it, through the filter of ourselves. Inseparable.
Love the way this opens with the masterful painting by Thaulow and the quotation from Field. I believe a seeming paradox can arise when an individual seeks to deeply know, feel, and express their innermost experience of life — though initiated and rooted in a process which seems intensely personal, the creative works arising from that exploration can touch others in a way that feels universal.
The mystery of mysteries, creative work. I think we always self and all else we encounter, and the proportionate mix of the two is always going to be unknown ahead of time; and often after it seems. Wonderful article James! 🙏😊
I think the personal expression comes out subconsciously in the tones and strokes. I don’t need a psychologist to tell me how to feel about what I see. The artist left it up to me.
Hey 👋 James, another great topic! Thank you.
I would define “personal expression” as a privilege of immunity granted to fine art and fine artists.
What happens when commercial art crosses over the line into fine art, as with Norman Rockwell?
For me, a dual graduate from a college of fine art and another college of commercial art/illustration, the crossover created a pull between many factors. That of wanting to satisfy my own desires and professionalism, while taking pride in meeting expectations with directors who I might not see eye to eye with. I had to perform well in the time granted. I was never under any illusion that art directors cared about my external life or personal expression. I knew from the beginning that they simply wanted my best results and on time. So in the end, casting away personal feelings enabled a long successful 45 year career in art.
Otherwise, I might have been destined to go work— as the Dean of Art where I earned the fine arts degree said, “With this degree you can go work in the produce department of a grocery store.”
Today, as a retiree, and a plein air painter, I’m all about personal expression. But then again, I’m not looking to sell my paintings.
I really appreciate this question/topic. Visual art is primarily wordless, words are superficial to the experience. Words slow things down, require interpretation, can get in the way but how else can we express what is wordless? A poet can evoke what is wordless with words. Visual art that resonates communicates without words in an instant. The quote regarding a great person with a broad, expansive perspective, impersonal with empathy for nature, words limit… impersonality is not the antithesis but is the fulfillment of personality, what a fantastic thing to share. The art communicates perspective wordlessly. The wordless experience is in the beholder.