"Paintings With Personality"

I was invited to paint at a nursery. That is where I was when I painted this bromeliad. It was lovely there among all the plants. Ask if you can paint at your local nursery. 

Once again, I am writing from my hotel room. I’m taking another workshop tomorrow, and really looking forward to it. Honey didn’t come with me, so I have a room and king size bed all to myself. I was sitting here thinking about our three children when they were little. There were times when they would say my name, constantly and all day long. By the end of the day, when I had reached the end of my patience, I would tell them I was going to change my name. Next my thoughts left the kids and went to thinking about the Kandinsky book I’m reading and from there to centuries of changing art movements. So, from changing my name to changing art – makes sense to me.

An art movement is the direction taken by a group of artists who share the same art viewpoints. My interest is in what happened to artists after the modern period ended.  Modern art began in the 1860’s changed into postmodern or contemporary movements somewhere in the mid 1960’s.

Today, those involved in the visual arts, including the artists, are looking for new ideas; new ways of creating art and new subjects to create. They are looking for the ‘wow factor,’ or an element of surprise that will attract public attention. As society changes, the artist must also change in order to respond to the events of their time.

The social, political and economic events have changed drastically. Much of it due to television and computers in the home, the worldwide web and the vast amount of information available to the general populace. There is no longer any distance between people, politics, religions or cultures. All of this resulting in social struggle and war.

Post-modern or contemporary art focuses on what is done, not on how it is done. There is a lot of importance placed on communicating with an audience. The question is will these artists be remembered in future years? Will they someday be considered ‘masters?’ If you follow the art market you’ll see that the price of modern art is soaring and that of contemporary arts is non-existent. When I walk around NYC, I see that many artists are leaning toward pornography to get the ‘shock and awe’ they so crave. Where are the painters who will create ‘truly great’ art that will remain for centuries?  There are only a few famous contemporary painters around, but no masterpieces seem to have been produced since 1970.

If artists continue to produce pornography, or work which has already been done in the modern period, we may find that computer art from our era is all that will go down in history.

Simply stated, there are too many people producing art that lacks soul and personality because it is based more on rules and techniques than on personal feelings. – William Lawrence

Please comment below. I want to hear your take on this subject. Judy

www.judyballance.com