The Oracle Painting

I was raised by painters, comic books and Nickelodeon. I grew up thinking of myself as an artist. But when I hear people say they can't do art, I wonder what does being an artist even mean? Surely everyone creates, if not with the brush, then with fashion, dance, conversation. I'm a firm believer that art has no rules. So I'm teacher averse, as there is nothing official to learn. I prefer the sometimes brutally slow, self discovery of technique. It's known that many masterful artists have to unlearn what they were taught. Picasso painted realism and then broke it down to cubism. So what is an artist? I think it's an identity that allows oneself a license to create and share. Anyone can claim this identity if it speaks to you. I was fortunate to be offered it at a young age. Drawing and painting have followed me all my life. I drew on school notebooks during lecture. I painted on pizza boxes in my fist apartment. I lived in a graphic novel library commune in college and of course we drew characters! As an English teacher in Korea, I collected the best student drawings like beloved trading cards. I redrew their creations as lifelike versions to their astonishment. And in my world travels I drew the villages and monuments as I saw them. It's only recently I've inspired to offer my art in galleries as something to ponder more deeply. After years of focus on guitar and singing. I felt my creative abilities were better suited for visual. I'm not interested in performing entertainment for the crowd. I want to express reality from behind the curtain. My focus for now is portraits of people and animals. In college I studied psychology and it's been a lifelong fasciation. I could talk all night about why humans do and act the funny and sweet ways they do. We are a miracle cocktail of brain chemistry, traumatic emotions, beautiful memories, endearing hope. I find most of that written on the face and in the eyes. Each portrait is an entire life story to be imagined. Our brains are hardwired to emotionally analyze faces. I can't help but look at them and wonder, "Who are you really?" Creating art is a meditation. A wonderful bonus to the craft, and maybe the most important part. With my pen, life's purpose can be seduced from the void. My art does not need a reason to exist. It does not require money, ego, status, possessions or addictions. It is a celebration of humanity and the feeling of existence. It's a joy to make and an honor to share.