There Is No Art Without Heart: Defining a Fine Art

For me, the act of painting was considered a thought or small action laden with meaning that I would transform with my paintbrush stroking oil color on a stretched canvas. It was never about the pretty (or lack thereof) picture that I wanted to do, it was that thought and how I could render it into a visual meaning that I hoped others would 'get' through their own interpretation of what or why I painted what they were looking at. In other words, a blooming oriental cabbage was not just about getting an accurate rendering, but more about the layers seen and unseen that makes the painting a whole. Cabbages are a layered vegetable with the outside layer being tough and a little earth beaten due to its protecting the layers beneath it. Each subsequent layer becomes more succulent, both in color and in meaning with the heart of a cabbage being of it's purest color, most notably white: the white of innocence still nesting at the heart of the thing under all those individual layers of protection. Sort of like life, huh?

While some people paint flowers showcasing various portions to tell their story and using the form as a representative of their main thought,

Others choose to stick with one species of flower to paint over and over again, changing the nuances to tell their stories

While still others choose to use a different icon all together, but are still considered still life painters of one sort or another. What part of life is still, other than a painting. It seems to me that life is never still, always flowing, evolving and having its way with us....just as a decent painting should.

But me, I always preferred to paint cabbages...no kings....just cabbages. So there you have it, a couple times two of what I used to fondly call my fine art. I now think that the collage and altered art I do is fine, so really, it is all just relevant. However, if you note, the last three pieces of this fine art were done in my usual outlaw way...these oil paintings are not on canvas, but on Mi Tients paper where the paper became a very intricate part of the painting...thus it was the real beginning of my paper arts, just in a totally different way! Thanks to all for indulging me this moment! I hope that October 4th is going to be really good to everyone. Let's join hearts on that one, shall we?