The Epiphany Drawing

'I paint because I'm angst-ridden and anti-social, with a peculiar view of the world, and the white surface of the canvas maddens, distracts, obsesses me to such an extent that I find myself moved by a powerful hidden force to splatter it with paint'. -------------------------------------------- Well, actually, the more prosaic truth is - 'I paint because the materials were there and I thought, well, let's give old Van Gogh a run for his talent'. ------------------------------------------------ Of course, that's not the whole prosaic truth either. ------------------------------------------------ I analyzed my mind the other day. I sat down and turned on the music and tried really hard to plumb mental depths hitherto unplumbed. Then it came to me - not from the mysterious deep, but from the shallow surface - the best and simplest reason for practising art. It was the song that was playing that lit the bulb - 'I get a kick out of you'. ---------------------------------------- My method of working is rather simple too. I apply color - lots of color - to surface, make sure I make a fine mess, and then I look at the mess for a long time and slowly sense begins to emerge from the reigning chaos. I follow it and the painting takes its own shape until at some point a balance is reached and a voice inside says, alright, that's it, stop, and I stop, and the painting is done. ------------------------------------------- Since art and life are inextricably entwined, this is the story of my life as well.