2:00 AM 5/20/2010 (date written)
i turn around and see myself on the net
i have got to stop looking at art on the net. i continue to turn over websites that reveal to me new artists and their work. Some of them seem to be me. what? can anybody ever be original anymore? it seems that there are at least 10 or more artists exploring the same territory at the same time without ever knowing the existence of the other. How can anybody every be in a “first” category with their art again. too many people involved in the act(ion) now.
Kinda negates the last entry “riding this horse” doesn’t it? Or does it?
And life continues.
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Hello Mr. Novak
My name though its not important is john davis, its a good name , named after my grandfather and i am proud of it.
You speaking of being original, and folks i think jumping on any band wagon that is selling ,no true art from the heart or from studying any certain medium or era in art, most look to you tube see whats new there than jump on to half ass someone Else’s half ass work.
Then add the fact that there are some 18,000 john davis’ in this country and i do believe a 1/4 of them are some sort of artist, so trying to get my art to the public is truly a imposable task. it seems that every time i set off in a new direction someone always gets there screws it up and gone so i end up looking like some slow miss informed nut.
But any way all this aside , i am very down on the art scene
of today and like you just keep creating and hope to out live most to be the last one standing to have my 5 minutes of fame at 95 years of age then kill over before i find out it was another john davis they were hyped about.
I have followed your work since way back , never to copy you but to be inspired by what you have done, I think my favorite work of yours was from a show at modern eye in charlotte they were some geo works i think my favorite was green and red. I remember Ron unpacking them and showing them to me up close and remembering that as simple as they were they still had a professional fill that i don’t think i have seen since.
they influenced my work yet i never had the desire to copy what you have done.
I will keep painting i will keep growing and if some day it all comes around to be on the same field as i am at the same time so be it ,if not so be it.
I just wanted to say thanks from a fan I know that and 5 dollars will get you a cup of coffee but just wanted to let you know your work does matter even if be it to keep the spark of creativity alive.
The wonderful and weird thing about us humans is that we’re uncontrollably unique. I’m thinking about something totally different from David right now who is inspired by something totally different from John right now. Artists do what artists do which is create. They can’t not create. An artist may have a space of time when things seem to rest, but it resurges naturally.
We may get ideas from other works. This is as natural as looking out your window and getting an idea from a passing cow (should you be fortunate enough to see such.) It’s all alive. It’s all moving. It’s all changing. And we can’t help but drive our own cars (artwork) in a different way, at a different speed, down different roads than the next guy.
As an artist, you are a well that never (and I mean never) runs dry. The art well may have a dry spell, but it is only that. It’s a blessing and a curse to be born an artist as you are, to be sure. You have to get it out, you’re not sure why, and then there are so many other considerations, post creation. For now, forget them and do what is most natural and normal for you. Create and explore.
Some fellow already hiked the trail I hiked yesterday. Aha! But he did not see what I saw or feel what I felt. Truer still, those were not his lungs that I pulled breaths through! Should a scientist sit you down and explain to you how your brain is so very different and how unique, as an artist, you are in the world, you would laugh long and loud and maybe even fall out of your chair. It’s true, you are ridiculously special. David, John, and each other artist born to make stuff.
Gentlemen, enjoy your work today.
Wow, David – I’m slow on the uptake aren’t I? This post and the two comments before mine are wonderful inspiration. When I read the post I had some of the same thoughts as John and Olie, but never, ever could I articulate them as well.
Yes, you might see something on the net that looks like someone is doing the same thing you’re doing. But paintings are like snowflakes. And I don’t have to tell you that, because know it already. Every single one of us has those images from time to time that hit us in the face and make us consider stopping in our tracks and never picking up another brush. So we just have to remind each other that we are unique and that it’s going to be OK.