Why do I create art?

The question has been asked, "Why do I create art? What gets me into the studio every day?" It's like asking a bird why it flies. Man was designed to create, whether it be music, poetry, cooking or even remodeling a house. It is a compulsion essential to the development of the individual as well as mankind in general. Why do billionaires, who have more money than they could spend in 10 lifetimes, spend every waking hour trying to earn more? Making money is their creative outlet, their bliss. If I were independently wealthy, I would still create art, it is my bliss. When I am in the studio, it is special "me time". I shut out the world and turn inward. I ignore everything that is not me and tune into my individuality. Before I make a mark, I have to get in the correct frame of mind.

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer stated, "It is the challenge of the artist to explore the particular in order to discover the universal." I believe the individual is a particular piece of the universal and one's imagination is the conduit to the realization of that uniqueness. Art, if it is honest, is a means of self discovery. I allow my emotions, my likes and dislikes, to govern the evolution of my work. Above all, it has to feel right, I have to trust my gut, not my ego. My "modus operandi" is to set up circumstances where art might occur and then allow it to do so. This creative process is exhilarating and exciting, full of surprises and discoveries. The work becomes a byproduct of the experience. Tethered in the present moment, I watch in amazement as individuality seeks to reveal itself.

"A man's art is always more than he knows about himself," ( I saw this scrawled on a wall somewhere.)

My "Fortress of Solitude"