I've been drawing and painting for a long time now. It's a practice that is both peaceful and mentally stimulating. And even more. It is also a demanding practice that trains the mind and the senses to work together, not merely to observe, but also to interpret in both seen and unseen dimensions of experience and discovery.
I have a personal view about art that it should strive to be beautiful. In the striving a work becomes art. Its quality is not something we ought to judge, for who is entitled, or so wise, as to judge another's journey into the discovery of Beauty. Indeed, who ought spend time away from his or her own journey to weigh another's efforts.
I have nearly always avoided the world of art competitions for this reason. This is not to say we ought not to take a moment to perceive what we can perceive in someone's work, but I believe we betray our art when we surrender it to judgment. I do not think we need to impose opinions on what we do? I think we desecrate Beauty and Art when we think of it in those very western terms.
I have decided to display some of my work here, not out of vanity but in the belief there are far too many people displaying ugliness and gross foolishness today. Silence in front of coarseness, animal competition, profanity and self indulgence is, in the end, tacit approval. The rest of us should be doing as we can, in our many different ways, to enrich the human being by demonstrating our beautiful, wondering, nobility. Striving to touch beauty is to reflect its nature. It is our highest enterprise.
