Studio Reflections

“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?…

In my last post I had a shot of my wife and her art studio. One of my visitors keenly noted what he referred to as a large “bear trap” in her garden. And, indeed, it did look like one was there ready to spring shut! So I thought I’d alleviate any fears people might…

I thought I’d share with you the art studios here at the Cornelis estate – I always like seeing other artist’s studios so thought I’d share our with you. This is my “new” painting studio – a TV room converted to a higher calling (many thanks to my wife for suggesting it!). I had not…

“Art has never been made while thinking of art.” – Niko Stumpo I’ve been thinking and writing lately about what you might call the artist’s intention in making art. What factors influence them, consciously and unconsciously, during their creativity. When you read about art history, it all sounds so organized and causally clear. This was…