I don’t want to be interesting.

IMG_0680I don't want to be interesting.

I don’t want to be interesting. I want to be good.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Love this quote, but if we are good then are we not indeed interesting?

Andy Warhol is quoted saying “I’m afraid if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all its interest.” Interesting comment, but not sure I do agree with this one.

I would agree that staring at a soup can would not be interesting to me, but staring at a beautiful sunrise would never lose interest to me.
What are your thoughts?

Malcolm Gladwell wrote that it takes at least 10,000 hours to be good at anything.

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Pond painting for a friend of mine

Pond painting for a friend of mine

This last month a friend asked me to paint her pond, so I had the opportunity to photograph and paint a scene.

It is fun to interpret a photograph into a painting as you will see here.  As Picasso said to Gertrude Stein ” You don’t paint what you see, you paint what you know.”

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November Morning in Kingston, Washington

November Morning in Kingston, Washington

‎”It often seems, looking back, that the unexpected comes to define us, the paths we didn’t see coming and may have wandered down by mistake. The older we get the more willing we are to follow those, to surprise ourselves.”

— Anna Quindlen

November Morning in Kingston, Washington

October Morning in Kingston, Washington

October Morning in Kingston, Washington

There are times in our lives when we wonder about our art. Should I be an artist and try to sell my art, or should I just enjoy the everyday wonders of retirement and paint and sketch when I want to do it.

Last week I painted three days with three different groups of friends and think I must have hit a plateau, as my back sent me to the chiropractor, and none of my paintings were worth sharing.

So many blogs talk about being inspired by friends and nature, but right now most of my friends are artists. we talk about doing art for the beauty of art or for the merchandization of art for the sale.

The one think in life I never want to be is a “Thomas Kincaid” of art. He started out as a fine artist, and gave up his work for the joy of making money. Where do you draw the line in art?

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