I have painted all my life. One thing I've come to realize over the years is that art cannot be taught. Art is a passion. The study of art does not create artists. You cannot 'learn' how to become an 'artist' any more than you can learn how to live. You just have to do it. Art is the ability to listen as the world speaks. Art is the ability to interpret and express what the world gives you into something that is your vision. It is not the real thing. It's your vision of the real thing.
After painting for most of my life, and pursuing photography much of that time, I awoke one morning and realized the passion wasn't there anymore. After producing so many paintings I just lost the desire. The fire had died. So I quit.
I didn't paint for many years. But I missed it. Every once in a while I would clean my brushes and sort my paints. But I never painted. I just couldn't get started. However, I knew I would again one day.
That day finally arrived with the advent of ink jet technology and digital cameras. With the new high quality, professional ink jet printers it became possible for artists to produce their own prints in their studios. These prints were not only better technically, with a much wider range of color, they also lasted longer and would not fade for up to 200 years under normal conditions. This was better than commercial reproductions which often faded within 4 or 5 years.
Also, with digital cameras and the digital darkroom I no longer had to work with developers and acids. I no longer had to save up to buy a dozen rolls of film for each field trip. I was able to take off with a couple fully charged batteries and just shoot and shoot. Later, in my studio, I would spend hours pouring over what I shot, rejecting many, saving a few and planning my next trip.
I soon realized that the passion I had felt so many years earlier was slowly returning. I often stayed up till 3 or 4 in the morning working on the shots I kept, turning them into my very own masterpieces. I was becoming an artist again. Some of the shots I edited for fine art prints and added to my catalogue. Some I used for reference and began to paint.
I realized one day that I was enjoying painting more than I ever did 35 years earlier. Painting used to be work, now it had become fun. Thanks to the digital revolution, painting and photography were becoming part of my life again. Painting or photography
Taking pictures is not a science, it is a happening. It is to whisper a silent 'thank you' as the world presents a moment for only you to see and interpret. It's personal. It's a little like falling in love, over and over again.
Painting is similar but is anything but objective. Painting happens over the duration of the work. Whereas photography is the essence of capturing a moment, painting is building that moment from your interpretation of what you see and feel.
I love both painting and photography. They go hand in hand. However I will be doing less and less painting and more and more photography as time goes on. With a serious loss of vision painting is becoming increasingly more difficult. For this reason we will be borrowing back selected paintings I've done over the years to photograph to turn into limited edition Giclees. But that's okay. I'm still able to do what I love. Being an artist is a lifestyle choice. It is free and demanding at the same time.
Looking at the world through different eyes
I don't plan to give up painting completely. But it's obvious to me that I will have to change my style substantially to be able to continue. This has certainly made me realize how easy it is to take things for granted.
The project my son and I have embarked upon is going to dictate my career from now on. This is good. There are no sure things in this world. There are only challenges.
In search of a simpler life
After getting rid of my television more than a year ago, life has gotten a whole lot simpler and much more real. I've not bought a newspaper since 1995. I get my news off the Internet and non-mainstream sources. Living free of all the propaganda and conditioning spewed out daily by mainstream media has allowed me to see the world in a different way. It's only when we step outside the box that we can see the false reality we're forced to live in.We are continually spoon fed lies and false values by the media, religion, government and education to the point where most people can no longer think for themselves. People are being herded like sheep into cities because we are more easily controlled there. In the cities, just like sheep in a pen, we are dependent on others for everything we need to stay alive. I don't know about you, but for me that is not good enough. What can we do about this? Well, in actual fact, there is quite a lot we can do. I'm not saying that living in the city is wrong in itself. I am saying that delegating to others everything we need to live and enjoy life certainly is. We must become more self-sufficient in every way. It's just that this is so much more difficult in the city than it is in the country. The temptations are too many. It's a lot easier to stop off at the grocery store on the way home instead of plant a garden and look after it. But there will soon come a time when those shelves will be bare or the foods on them so expensive that most will not be able to afford them. I know people who have turned their whole back yard into a garden. I know people who have filled their flower gardens and decks with pots of vegetables and herbs. I also now people who grow pots of hanging tomato plants and fruits in their apartments. And they live in the city. For me though, living in the country is so much easier. And it is so much safer. Home invasions are non-existent. Everyone seems to smile more. In the country we can build a life that is sustaining and healthy because we have time to. As Henry David Thoreau wrote; "In wildness is the preservation of the world." How true. I love this world. It truly is a beautiful place to spend a lifetime.
John Crittenden
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