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On art and self
May. 21st, 2014 15:19The two quickest ways to my heart are great music and great visual art. I'm reasonably social, and I warm up to many people I meet (especially if we have something in common), but if you feed my artistic side it's like plying a cat with catnip. I'll practically follow you home. (This is something I think Geoff Ledak learned most recently.)
*****
Unlike many of my other pursuits, drawing/painting is something which is driven by having an audience. I've said before that I write heavily, but only for myself, and even my efforts to learn cello and harp are largely for my own benefit -- I wouldn't care if I never played in front of others. But my major motivation for creating a painting is to share an image in my head with other people, apparently, and the desire is dependent on how much I think they would enjoy it. I'm not sure why the difference exists, but it means that compliments on my drawing skill affect me far more than compliments about my ability to write, and having an eager audience drives me to do it more.
Given that most people I know haven't seen any of my work, and those who know me from way back don't remember it (an old friend made a comment to the effect that he had forgotten I was that good), there hasn't been much of this effect recently. I expect to see more of it once I manage to release a couple of things.
*****
Unlike many of my other pursuits, drawing/painting is something which is driven by having an audience. I've said before that I write heavily, but only for myself, and even my efforts to learn cello and harp are largely for my own benefit -- I wouldn't care if I never played in front of others. But my major motivation for creating a painting is to share an image in my head with other people, apparently, and the desire is dependent on how much I think they would enjoy it. I'm not sure why the difference exists, but it means that compliments on my drawing skill affect me far more than compliments about my ability to write, and having an eager audience drives me to do it more.
Given that most people I know haven't seen any of my work, and those who know me from way back don't remember it (an old friend made a comment to the effect that he had forgotten I was that good), there hasn't been much of this effect recently. I expect to see more of it once I manage to release a couple of things.
