that’s enough

i am an artist. i am not a blogger, but somehow it seems like this has become part of the contemporary artist’s repertoire. i can’t say that five people will ever read this, and even if one thousand did, what would it ever matter anyway. not to sound too cynical about this modern day blog tool, but the work that happens in the studio is why i am an artist… not the blog posts. so, even though i have become extremely tired of my day job, and i now yearn deeper for financial support from my studio work, and being connected electronically may help eventually turn a dime for me and my family… i can not seem to keep up any sort of consistent posting. so, why do i do it at all? well, there is some desire to get in sync with some of the others that are doing this. but, i have never been one to walk on the sidewalk… some followed path… but the natural tendency to fit in just enough to be accepted, even if on the fringe, is part of my make-up. with the paintings that i am currently working on, i am still trying to broaden the narrow notion that my work is strictly about the civil war, and that the market for the work is limited to those who are deeply interested in the civil war. it may take an in depth essay someday (soon… that few will read,) to communicate the complete set of ideas that i am working with inside of this body of work… i need to clarify. i have a handful of series of paintings waiting on me, and they are growing impatient. for the last two months, i have been working on The Life Of Slaves. it has expanded my capacity for understanding great paintings. i have quite a ways to go to “finish” it, and then it will not be for sale. it has expanded my capacity for understanding art for art’s sake. it has built a strength and confidence greater than before… i am not expecting anything in return for the painting…. that’s enough.