A social comment - an edited extract from my painting diary
10/02/05
Why paint? Why lines? What was the starting point? In business today the mantra is "The only constant is change", "Change or die!" I observe that everyone is so busy rushing around trying to change, learn, keep up and hold down a job … hold it down!… that they end up doing nothing excellently. As soon as something is 1/8 mastered then the person is moving on trying to consume the next skill, piece of knowledge or technology. My reaction to this is to reduce painting to its bare minimum - the line - and a short one at that. No color. No preconceived form. No tight corners or schooled conventions (almost). My aim is to be capable of drawing a really good line that is repeatable - the series - and a line that relates ideally in time and space to its neighbors and the painting as a whole. Through this process of learning I gain knowledge of myself - my psychological, kinesthetic and soul processes.
You see… I want to be really excellent at least at one thing. I think this is a critical learning for our society. The learning for most need not be so "simple" and clear as a line. It can be a social skill, a characteristic, a holistic thinking process - ultimately a corner stone or keystone of a person's career or life on which they concentrate and turn into excellence - and are not in a rush to do it, allowing time, broad learning and life to develop the chosen area, but be conscious of the chosen area.
This process involves a very different style of learning and change to that promoted in business. It's like the Karate teacher who spent one year practicing only the most simple punch. He said that after you have punched 10 000 times you begin to understand what the punch is all about. It's the same with my line. Repetition so I move beyond conscious consumption and learning and into a challenge and development of my whole being. As this learning takes hold so my work will gain power and clarity as I engage all of me to create.
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