COMMITMENT

I think the "restless brush syndrome" can be the outcome of lack of confidence and being afraid to commit. I remember a teacher in grad school questioning the drawings I had done as I began exploring abstraction. He said he wondered why there were so many lines; perhaps what was being said could be said more simply. Perhaps many of the lines were basically redundant, instead of strengthening and supporting the whole. I took his comment in and thought about my love of the rough style of drawing that I admired because it had vigor, guts. I also considered the simplicity in Asian brushwork that captured me through its dynamic boldness and grace, as well as the cave paintings of Lascaux that were soul inspirations. I began working more simply and this also came with a slowing down of my hand. The process was more steady and relied on trust that I could simply evoke something strong, direct and moving with less marks, but with more specific gestures. Another teacher saw my developing work in relation to language. In essence I began creating my own visual language. Both in written and visual language we need to trust that the reader or viewer has the capacity to get the point without us overstating it. Overstatement can be tedious, insulting and killing to the mystery of the work, the mystery that gives it its power. As Einstein said, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." Mystery can be conveyed profoundly through simplicity.