GFWatercolors

“Why do you make art?” asked the speaker at an evening lecture to a group of artists which I attended recently. Answers ranged from, “Because I want to create something beautiful” to an ironic “for the money?” to a general “gee I don’t know.” I found myself mumbling, “I just have to” to which the group mumbled back, “Yes, that too.”

Why do we “have to?” For our own satisfaction some of us would say. I would add, to show others what I see and how I feel about it. Nothing thrills me more than to hear someone say of a painting, “It has real energy,” or “I like the way you’ve put those colors together; they make me feel happy.”

I believe, with Tolstoy, that art requires communication with others. I want to share my feelings about a beach scene, a human figure or horses racing. You may not feel everything I tried put into the painting, but I hope you’ll react in some way. If you do, I’ll have done my job as an artist. The rest is up to you.