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Enjoy the past comments below for The artist’s ego…
First of all, Alan Soffer, your encaustics are just beautiful..strong, which is hard for encaustics to be, it seems to me. Second of all, say hello to Wallingford PA…it’s exactly where I grew up..on Brookside Road! Now..about egos. I do like what Robert is saying about “we artists work daily in a state of blessed mystery, driven by our equally mysterious egos. ” We say we are driven, or inspired, but the rider on that driven or inspired horse is our ego, and let it not be blasphemed against! I love that we are granted that place of mystery where we can be the maker of art.. that we can seek mastery without making apologies. Admit it…we really admire that result that we see in the morning, the times we say to ourselves…”how did I DO that? It’s really nice!” A gift. Given to the artist and given out of the artist.
Interestingly we need the ego to search for truth in our work while we need to put aside ego to accept the truth within ourselves.
I ponder this a lot, thank you, Robert. The learning curve of artistic growth is a complicated one, difficult enough to take an honest look at our own work and accept it, nevermind at ourselves and accept who we must be to support the validity of our work. After many years of plugging away at my art, I have come to understand it makes no difference whatsoever to buyers what kind of person I am. If they want my art, they’ll buy it, trying to prove I am of an appropriate image as an artist will not effect the artwork. Self examination is a scary process on all kinds of levels. I admit I don’t enjoy trying to convince anyone I am talented, I hope my art convinces them of that.
We tend to have public egos and private ones. The ego we project to others in a social setting is often different than our friends and families are familiar with; not that either is false or the real one, it simply may be more appropriate. It’s funny how some large egos in the art world play to their audience, as if the public expects it. I wonder at some quotes whether the artist really meant it or was simply trying to get a reaction – but it is repeated and recorded, isn’t it? Those of us with quieter personalities have to lift our ego in public or fade into the woodwork … the meek may inherit the earth but a reserved personality rarely sells a painting. In the privacy of our studios the ego must rise and manifest itself. Possibly that is where the true ego is.
My ego makes me who i am. I am glad it is rather socially acceptable ego, but without it i would dissolve into the universe. I think it is time for that after i will be dead, in the meantime i want my ego to maniftest itself in my art. To show it’s individual view of the world, to rise it’s voice and express me.
I think we are just the power to perceive. Everything exists within that consciousness but is not the power. THAT does not judge, qualify, separate, think, feel, or have any attributes in and off ITSELF. It just IS. Everything else is a conditioned response from childhood or prior lives. In other words, it is all ego. Deflated or inflated, it is not really us. It is just a temporal attachment to an identity. We, in reality, are more unknown than known. To me, mystery is far more appealing to some limited idea of perfection.
I love my ego, it helps me to put negative remarks into perspective and soothes me when I don’t sell well, except however it occasionally lies to me and prevents me from seeing where I am falling short. This is when I need to push it aside and see with the eyes of a critic not an adoring fan.
Thanks for the Ego boost, I really needed that.
At NSCAD I developed an Ego switch to turn off and on when required. Leaving the ego at the front door can be useful when honing observational skills and trying to absorb the scene, feeling or lesson to be learned. Turning on the Ego switch for me happens while returning home or to work where life outside of NSCAD can be very critical, overbearing and competitive. In other words, a healthy developed ego can help with the unending criticism and rebuffs while working on challenging projects.
Oh my! I have NO ego and am not competitive ! Maybe this is cause for my lack of confidence in painting and golf. Confident in most aspects of my life. How does one develop an ego?
The artist’s ego lives in that moment between having an idea, and getting to work. All of my knowledge, my talent, my will power, and the best of circumstances amount to nothing if I don’t find the courage to make the leap across that chasm between thinking and doing.
Dear Robert, Been reading your articles and can you tell us artists, how someone like you with how should I say it? With, not much talent is able to sell his pieces of art so high? Your skill is not very evident and I can say much more but as someone who is not a skilled artist can you write some articles on how you pushed your work? I mean, you had to start out selling your art for next to nothing, since the quality is not there. Just read your article on Ego and you will do your bla bla and try to explain how you are so gifted but let;s face it, your work does not show it. If anything it is mediocre. Can you tell us how you got in the art galleries and how you eventually had your prices raised to where they are now? Now, that would be interesting reading. Help us Robert, since we paint for a dual thing. We need to create and we need to pay our bills. Write something use full for a change. Thanks
Mr. Genn has been writing about his experiences for years. Robert B. must be illiterate (among other issues).
One can only guess at how bad “Robert B”‘s work must be.
To Robert B. You share the same name, but that’s where all commonality ends. If you can look at a Robert Genn painting and not feel anything or see anything, then you’re looking up the wrong tree. Try taking up some other pastime, like reading the Classics or collecting stamps. Creativity may not be your thing.
Robert B is not a Robert Genn 2 B
Ego is a meaningless term, creativity and the artistic drive comes from within, not on a neon sign. I offer what Patricia wrote “…an idea might be connected to landscape and nature as a metaphor for inner states and feelings and looking at lot’s of artists over the centuries who have done that in different ways.” And further, “… I think that the full range of the human experience is the business of art and in return art intensifies our experience of being alive in all its vitality. {Patricia Dobrin)
Indeed, when painting, we go to a better place.
It seems to me that most art that is being recognized in this modern age is “angst”-driven, created out of a need to unburden oneself of one’s dark childhood or working through personal trauma. We all have baggage but I choose to create art that is (hopefully) uplifting, appreciating and seeing the beauty around me. Where do artists like myself fit in? I often feel less of an artist, guilty almost that I don’t produce work that has a social commentary….
No ego, no art
Ego is one of those words that, like all other words, was just made up. A good example of this is the word, “instinct.” Define “instinct.” (It is actually, something an animal does that we cannot understand or explain.) So, we call it an “instinct” and that makes us sound intelligent, but in truth it doesn’t really mean very much. We have all been told we have an ego, a super ego and a subconscious. These are merely old made up words of dubious value. Freud was a coke fiend and saw himself, predictabley, as God’s gift to wealthy women, whose main problem was likely an over-tight corset. Make art! Be happy. Take care of children and people in need.
Loved your 365 day list but I could have digested it better one day at a time. :-)
DefiniteLy fooD foR ThoughT = WonderfuL….
There is a big difference between having an ego and being egotistical, like having a self and being selfish. To make art is a very individual experience, a way of calling out to others in a kind of wilderness, and you need a strong sense of self for that. Great art happens when that voice is heard by others and the messages are powerful ones. Robert’s paintings are wonderful but his philosophical messages are rich and provocative as well.
Great list of words!! I have a couple to add: Overblended, and Skritchy-Scratchy. I am terribly guilty of both — but trying to improve.
I love the quote you used, but I believe it is more like “how do I know what I think ’til I SEE what I say”!
I was reading your list of keys. Could you please elaborate on “painterly senility”. My biggest fear is growing too old to improve my painting.
We should all speak less and think before we speak. So then, we will know what we are going to say about . Less stream of conscious babble…. Sometimes is seems like having an opinion is more important to us than really believing in what we say.
Of all the artist’s I know, I have the best control over my ego. Better’n all of ’em, bar none!
I am wonderfully in control of my ego–of course I am a wonderful person.
If ego is defined as your consciousness of your own identity and appropriate pride in one self, then I think any artist that creates gives something of themselves for others to see, feel, hear. As individuals, we all view the world differently and we let others see it through our expressions, be it art, music , writing. Most artists are never recognized until they die and then suddenly someone takes note that there will never be another creation from that person and so their works, good or bad, seem to get valued. Look through the history of people like Emily Carr. When I paint I forget my troubles and just am immersed in the project at hand. The good or bad of it may not be realized until I am gone but I feel I might have left something of myself behind in what I create. I am in awe of the art that is in this world to enjoy, from the cave paintings to the masterpieces I enjoy viewing it all. When I viewed the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the art in the Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence, the many churches and castles throughout Europe, you really get a sense of just how much art exists in the world. My art may never be recognized but that is okay with my ego because most of those artists before me never knew in their lifetime how great their works would become.
…….and you have a wonderful sense of humor, too, Dick Hiller.
In your list of Keys, I did not see the word planes. I was introduced to that concept at U of M in Ann Arbor, in an Art course, and I have to admit I still do not understand planes, as in art.
I think that what motivates people to achieve something and to put a lot of energy in it is not necessarily ego but this unconditional confidence that make you trust in the creativity.
Harbor Rhythms oil painting, 11 x 14 inches by David Lussier, USA |
My favored season is fall.When I look at your painting,I say,hmmmm,just like when I eat good food…