The Sport of Art

It occurred to me that painting a series is like participating in a sport. There are goals and strategic moves you need to make to score, you need to be mentally and physically prepared and there are lots of challenges.

Of course, here’s no opponent. It’s just the artist and their craft, but the art world and art markets set some high standards to meet and exceed.

What I like

I enjoy it all: the challenges, the painting process and achieving the goals I set for myself. 

I particularly like the physicality of painting. I expect that some of you don’t think that painting is all that physical, but movement is integral from assembling supplies, putting the paint on the surface to shipping paintings.

For me, the experience of loading the brush ( or any painting tool ) with paint and applying it to the canvas is wonderfully satisfying. Regrettably I’ve had to pull back from painting outside, which involves lugging painting equipment to just the right spot, due to health issues. 

However, there are many other aspects of painting that I equally enjoy such as the minute-by-minute decision making and strategizing when painting and the thrill of taking creative risks. 

What’s Happening in my Studio

After deciding on my creative direction and probable roadblocks and doing several studies I recently plunged into painting big-time. I hauled out my old easels and prepared my studio, which is now full.  I can barely move! I’m gleefully surrounded by canvases and gessoed paper. I couldn’t be happier. It’s exhilarating, fun and exhausting. 

I share all in my recent video ‘Game On’ along with some all too familiar obstacles I encountered. Check it out.