Another challenge I have is letting go of the precious . Often in the painting process there are parts of the painting I love but I am unable to resolve the whole work . I start working around those precious sections not wanting to give them up . Finally I realize I just need to let them go . When I do , the work is free to open up and go in a new more exciting direction .
I believe in the power of beauty and I want to create beautiful work . The art world often puts down the word beautiful describing its meaning as pretty , simple , unproblematic and asocial . Many of us as artists , have been taught and conditioned to strive to create something that is totally new and different , something that perhaps shocks or conveys a certain ideology or concept . We have often been encouraged away from the sensory world where beauty resides . The beautiful is not trivial but rather describes something that has the ability to open our senses to feelings long held or forgotten . The beautiful has the power to startle and open our hearts . When our hearts are open we feel a connection to each other and the world we live in . What can be more powerful than that ? James Hillman once said , “ If we go toward the world out of duty , shame or grief , it isn ’ t enough . We also have to love it , and we only love it if we recognize how beautiful it is .”