Originally posted on May, 26, 2007
I am receiving some e-mails with comments and questions seeking clarification. I am very much encouraged by them. These people have a unique quality that is all too rare these days. It is not many people who think below the surface of things.
Originally posted on April, 26, 2007
In the old atelier systems years where spent simply learning technique: genius, the problem of becoming an artist, was not addressed. Conventional opinion was that art could not be taught. It wasn’t until very recent times that this began to change. Today, it is not really clear how to go about teaching art.
Originally posted on April, 10, 2007
I am of the opinion that we are not able to teach anyone art. But, having said that, we are not absolved from spending our life learning.
In my younger years I studied classical literature and philosophy. Then, for the last 30 years I’ve been obsessed with 19th century art and literature in my attempt to better understand how we got ourselves into this mess. Many years were spent in Portland, Oregon in the United States perusing Powell’s Book Store, one of the largest bookstores on the planet, as well as the Portland City Library. I lived between the two which were just 3 blocks
apart and was transporting piles of books back and forth to my apartment. Read the rest of "On life and art"