The Journey

I had this big question in my mind and it had been following me around the past few weeks… what makes an art piece amazing? There are so many concepts, isms, stories that are passed of as art and sometimes this makes me wonder has the lines somehow blurred? Or am I simply being a purist without understanding the deeper meaning of art?

So I took this question to my mentor and he simply said to me that the art piece is merely the effect… the by product… but the artist… his journey is that which makes the art.

Now this intrigued me so much and I contemplated on this for many days…today I sit here writing down my experience with this thought.

When we paint we are taking what is inside of us…our stories… our perceptions based on our ‘experience-coloured glasses’ and putting it out on the canvas.

The more we take the road less travelled and create new pathways in un-chartered  territories in our mind and in our heart…the more rare treasures are uncovered…seeded in the very center of our being. And these treasures are surely there for the artist to share with the world and perhaps open another door in the lives of the preceptor.

As I pondered on this more, it slowly dawned upon me that this question which began this journey has somehow become meaningless now. For the question should not be about what makes an art. It has no meaning to the artist …who are we to question that… are we painting to simply receive appreciation? Perhaps then we may need to have a precise answer.

Or are we painting stories that demand attention… simply because it was part of our journey…and as storytellers, we the artists are simply unveiling that which we have found…

It has also revealed something to me… not to question that which life throws at me… to have a deeper appreciation that these are treasures given to us…be it the bitter pill or the bed of roses. To have the belief that even though it may be hard to comprehend it at that moment…that bitter pill is merely unlocking a huge door… and if we simply embrace it…and trust it…that door adds on another amazing chapter in our lives…adding on to the journey…making us the artist.