June 23, 2020

To paint like a child

As adults who have learned about the world, we carry a version of it that’s influenced by our loves and fears, our likes and hates. These things make us who we are. They influence the decisions we make, the risks we take, and the stories we tell ourselves about the life we’ve led. They also influence the art we make, and how we make it.

It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. – Pablo Picasso

Perhaps the pursuit of art is about unlearning what we know and what we’re afraid of. To put aside what people think we should or shouldn’t do and take the selfish time to discover who we were before we learned how to exist as adults in the world that may not be made for us.

Other observations
March 24, 2026

I have to work today

What if, on the days we don’t feel like making art, we do anyway? In the same way that we show up to our day jobs when we don’t fee like it?

March 17, 2026

Scared of progress

The problem with progress is that we’re likely to learn that we’re either not good enough or not ambitious enough. But maybe there’s no other way?

March 3, 2026

The ancestors are speaking

What might we be able to tell ourselves and listen for in order to provoke more positive energy and action in our art practice?

February 24, 2026

Can I do this?

Where does the motivation for beginning mark making come from? Why would I even try in the first place?

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