When people ask me what kind of artist I am, I usually introduce them to my idea of "feel good art." Of course "feel good" can cover just about anything, good or bad. In other words, one may feel good seeing or doing something bad, so I ask the reader to attach some degree of moral judgment to my phrase "feel good art." To me, it means something that cuddles alongside a morally upright emotion. Contributing positively to my overall makeup as a human being. Such a contribution cannot but help impact my external world.
Art tends to evoke certain feelings. I guess I have always been personally opposed to drawing or painting something that only I comprehend, though that is very much a practice among artists. It is just that I would rather focus on our similarities rather than our differences. Rather than look at a painting and wonder what the artist was thinking about, I enjoy viewing something I can relate to. I’m just funny about that.
I recall a painting I did of a little girl blowing on a dandelion. Most all of us have done that when we were young. So when we view such a painting, it unites us, if only for a few moments; for a time we have both shared something in common, even though we may have never met, and for some reason I just like the idea of that.
Art should never confuse or confound us, even divide us, but it sometimes does, and perhaps there is a place for that. But I just love the phrase "feel good art." Art is going to make us feel something, it always does. And I guess I would rather feel good when I see works of art. I do know that producing such works of art makes me feel good, whether the art is very good or not.
It has to be true that no matter who we are or what we do in life, our contribution to the world at large, no matter what that might be, becomes part of the whole, whether we like it or not. Responsibility to our art? Why not? Art, like anything else, impacts our society. Art is just one means of expression, and it appears to me that self expression lies at the very heart of what we call life.
