Artistic Freedom

A  person cannot freely say yes if they do not have the freedom to say no. Life is showing me this and I am also learning it through art, so in my painting experience I thought I would take the time to write down  aspects of this truth that are being shown to me.

If I am not free to mess up then I am not free to advance.

If I am not free to make bad art then I can't live in the confidence that each day is new and sometimes the results will be better than others.

If I am not free to make things that are for nobody's eye but mine then I am living with a performance mentality that inhibits creativity.

If I have to fit in with a particular style enforced by others or myself then I will lose the ability to be an individual.

If I live to please others I am not free to be myself.

I have been inspired by Richard Diebenkorn who painted in many different styles seemingly unconcerned about how this might hinder his reputation as an artist and probably without giving in to possible pressure of galleries who sometimes want more of the same. As for the supposed conflict between abstraction and figuration he concluded in 1985, 'Finally it is all the same thing.' Because he was free to follow the way his artistic muse led he was able to bring all aspects of his painting together so that one style fed into another, and most importantly of all, he achieved what only he could do.