bobcornelis

I’m back from a week in British Columbia helping my college freshman son start his new life in a university – looking forward to getting back to some art-making and art-discussing! I’ve thought a lot about what the process of making art consists of for me. There seems to be a line that is either…

Why do we value an original piece of art over an imitation? These days, with improvements in reproduction techniques and technology, the reproduction may be as good as (or even better than) the original. I know, I own a fine art printing studio, and it is true that not only can the reproduction look every…

“In mathematics the complicated things are reduced to simple things. So it is in painting.” – Thomas Eakins I found this quote as I was contemplating simplicity and immediately thought of our friend, Miki. She is that rare union of mathematical and artistic passion in the same person. So this post is dedicated to her……

“Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working.” – Henri Mattise What is inspiration? How do we find it? How does it differ from impulse? Is it necessary to be inspired to make good art? Is it something that we can create or do we have to wait for it? Artists want to…

“The orgiastic moment is the laying on of the color.” – Kurt Vonnegut (he says he hung out with a lot of painters…) I’ve begun reading a new book, “Color Codes” by Charles A. Riley II. The subtitle is “Modern Theories of Color in Philosophy, Painting and Architecture, Literature, Music, and Psychology” – whew! Quite…

“All paintings are abstract. Some abstract paintings also have pictorial representation or narrative content, but in essence they are first and foremost abstract because we have only paint.” – Robert Bissett I think we do sometimes lose sight of all the ways in which art does not really reflect reality. Sometimes a work of art…

“Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.” – G.K. Chesterton I loved this quote when I found it – I’m always up for a good pun. But, in truth, there is a lot to ponder about in this statement for the artist. It all boils down to how you interpret the word “somewhere”.…

I’m going to start posting the occasional abstract painting on the blog. Currently my artistic focus is on the figurative photography and monoprinting I’ve been regularly posting. In addition, I’ve been working periodically on some abstract works using Sumi ink, watercolor, acrylic, stamps and pastel. I must admit that I find this work challenging and…

The word “beautiful” is very complicated and yet we routinely apply it successfully to a wide range of situations. We all know what it means to say a painting is beautiful (though that description has fallen out of favor in the modern art world). Most of us also know what a beautiful smile is. Those…

My 18 year old son told my wife and I (both professional artists) that he doesn’t have any appreciation for painting or music (other than the lyrics of Bob Dylan). He said he loses interest in any painting after 5 seconds – it’s all derivative, it’s all been done before, he said. What’s the point?…