Here it is--a stranger recoils and dismisses your work--feeling the revulsion so strongly he or she simply has to spit out a cruel commentary. What is that?
We, humans, fear what we do not know or understand. And what is fear but a threat? It can feel like an assault. The potential assault here is on one's beliefs--the belief that only paintings of "real" things have value or demonstrate skill. The artist, me, was effectively threatening this man at his core--ergo his preemptive assault.
What we believe is simply indisputable, sacrosanct. Isn't that right? Think about your own beliefs. Now, consider, if everybody's belief that the-world-is-flat continued to this day as indisputable? We might live in a curious world today. Beliefs vary widely on every imaginable topic. Can both sides be right? Really? What if both sides are wrong? What if there is no right and wrong--and only just what is--both.
Before I drift too far off topic . . .
I paint landscapes, and I paint still lifes, and I paint abstract stories with abstract characters. I believe there is room in the world for all of it--all of mine and all of yours.
Don't let anyone convince you that what you are creating somehow lacks value. The fact that you even try takes immense courage. And by the way, I'm pretty sure the world is not flat.
Here's my latest BIG painting . . .
"There's a hare in my eye."
36" x 36" acrylic on birch board
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