Dreams and pleasures of Art

When I went to Secondary School there was a big change from how pupils were taught and certainly in Art I encountered an Art  teacher  ('Gerty' Gunner) who was quite strict and somewhat authoritarian - I seem to recall she was not happy with a cartoon based picture I drew ( I think she said something like "This is not the sort of art we encourage here") -this teacher on her retirement  though was replaced by Tom Davies who was almost the opposite to Miss Gunner - playing records and being open to many forms of Art.

[Incidentally I met Tom again many years later by chance, chatting with me he told me he's still painting every day].

So considering the pleasures and personal nourishment that time around Art provides for me :

I have found through time and different activities that I am able to immerse myself and the nature of time  itself changes for me - some people describe this as 'Flow'.

I have felt this when viewing exhibitions of work by Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns & Robert Rauschenberg  as well as drawing inspiration from the different layers that some engagement to paintings like Caravaggio's The Supper at Emmaus  to The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck and Holbein's  The Ambassadors. 

Finding out about how Artists like Bridget Riley,  Bruce Lacey and Eduardo Paolozzi  worked and took from their surroundings as well as those of times gone by (Michelangelo and Da Vinci for example). 

Another benefit is that it helps me look more at things around me.

The deeper one dives the more connections are revealed but there's also a downside in that so many avenues have been travelled before and much may feel derivative 

WHAT ARE MY DREAMS?

I want to continue to enjoy making stuff and bringing it to people's attention - a good friend of mine was still engaging with the pleasures of making, drawing and talking about Art into his late 90's trying new things even then.

One of the pleasures I got from making a Mosaic work was finding out more about Lee Krasner equally a metal sculpture exercise connected a photograph I had taken to a photo' I had taken.

I have created projects and exhibitions around photographic projects where there has been a real pleasure talking to people to find how they saw things I'd done and hearing of their own creativity - I did even put together a manifesto for one of my exhibitions 

I enjoy the conversations around art and the idea that the subject is big (too big?)

Playfulness

I find that I'm engaged by work that has (to me) a playfulness - I find Marina Abramovic so much fun (and serious too) - seeing her at The Serpentine was (to me) like meeting a Rock Star.

On the subject of 'Playfulness I  would mention Ben Wilson the Chewing Gum Artist, a very intriguing form of public art is created by him (look down  at the wobbly bridge between St Pauls and Tate Modern when you're in the area).

So to summarise - I'm not sure about the future, I do want a working space for my self and My other half (she's a bit of a weaver)   and  I do hope to continue to find pleasure in Art in the broadest sense making and seeing..