Can we just focus on art please?

"Can we just focus on art please, rather than all this psychological stuff?"

I hear a version of this question over and over again when I teach my annual free course. I'm always amazed that there are people who believe art and psychology can be separated. In my view, our art reflects our psychology. So, we can't change our art without changing our mind.

If you are a timid person in your life, you will be timid in your art.

If you are a frugal person, you most likely skimp on paint, using the minimum possible and then wondering why you can't get rich creamy colours like others do.

If you are repressing emotion, there will be some constriction in your creative expression.

If you hide your real self from others, you will also hide in your art. 

If you tend to rush through life without paying attention to the present moment, chances are you do the same when you're painting.

And if you are incredibly productive in life, you probably have a strong focus on finishing, and that likely hampers your creative expression.

Now, perhaps the people who asked that question are perfect. Perhaps they have resolved all of their foibles, risen above ego, and achieved spiritual enlightenment. But I doubt it.

I think they just don't want to get too involved. I think they prefer to paddle gently on the surface without ever questioning what might lie beneath the surface. 

And of course, that's fine. Lots of people like to buy art from surface paddlers, especially if they are skilled at their craft. A beautifully rendered painting of Bolton Abbey at sunset will always appeal to those folks.

But I believe in helping people take their work further than that. I want them to push beyond picture-making and into art-making, and I think art-making always involved adventure and risk. Art-making changes you. In order to paint bold expressive abstracts, or those emotion-laden portraits, you have to open yourself up to the possibility of failure, to the likelihood that you will use a lot of paint, and to the certain result that you will be exposing your true self - no more hiding!

Making art also means you have to know yourself at a deep level. You mine your own soul for your art, and you can only do that if you know what's in there.

So the answer to that oft-asked question is 'NO! We can't just talk about art without all that psychology stuff."

We just can't.