Art At Arm's-Length

Art has the quality of presenting intimate experiences at arm's length.

For the audience, art provides a way to discover without risk. For the artist, art gives choice of what, how, and when to reveal.

People are careful about how close they get, how much they talk and touch. For some who are alone, art provides a path that makes real in mind and heart the world of others.

My Wondering, Stubborn Mind

Much to the frustration of my school teachers, I sought to understand relationships and events through journeys of dream and the imagination. My mind was prone to wandering which was nourished by intense childhood experiences. Perhaps because of deep-seated need, I will not let things go until I reach a point of completion.

It seems I have a paradoxical nature: I am easily distracted, and yet utterly absorbed by a single task.

The Point of Art

My son asked whether I view art as a means of exchanging knowledge.

In my desire to understand I search for ways to put things simply. It has taken a day to consider my response which I think is as true for art created by one person as by many.

I view art as a means of connecting one world with another. I prefer this to it being considered 'a means of exchange'. My experience of art is more than the acquisition of facts, information and skills.