I wanted to spend a little time in this blog on my favorite topic. It is my favorite topic expressly because I consider myself extremely good at it. Not only do I think this, but I am sure I can find many close acquaintances who would also agree with me. The topic I am talking about is –Being Wrong!

Being in a state of wrongness is an uncomfortable place to be. Empirically speaking, many who know they are "wrong" suffer the same malady: anxiety, sweaty hands, nervousness, a sense of aloneness; a feeling of being outside the norm or I might add separated from those who hold the consensus they are "right". Being wrong stigmatizes people. It sets them apart from everyone else who, ironically, think they are right.  Now under ordinary circumstances, being wrong, many times, can be accredited to having the incorrect information or having no information at all. Or the knowledge or information you do have was false or had erroneously attributed origin. This is understandable and correctable.  But I want to take a positive look at the idea of being wrong.

Children seem to take being wrong more in stride. It is not something they stress over too much. They realize their mistake and adopt a new attitude when the get new information. Adolescents start to lose this ability as they age. By the time we reach adulthood being wrong is a terrifying thought. In this information age, the idea of being wrong, with all the technology readily at hand you would think we would always be better informed and more 'right" more times than not.

I say being wrong isn't a bad thing. Being wrong is health and we should not ridiculed anyone for being wrong. I truly believe, for most of us, we are going to be wrong about half the time in all decisions we make. If we don't allow ourselves the luxury of being wrong, I fear learning will stop. For us to get to a reasonable conclusion about anything requires us to be wrong. How else will be able to strive to be right? Without the willingness to take a risk to be wrong, our future learning will be at stake. And we will achieve nothing of value because the fear of being wrong prevented us from striving for excellence.

As artists it is almost a responsibility to force ourselves into being wrong. We need to make wrong choices and risk the whole idea on being wrong so we can create new ideas. If nothing is ventured, nothing will be gained. If we don't embrace risk, embrace the idea of being wrong and worry only about success, we are certain to fail.

The only times where I can fathom that being wrong is detrimental is when given the correct information we turn away from it or refuse to use it; when we refuse to acknowledge that nothing is worth doing if there isn't a willingness to be wrong.

The entire process of making art has come under suspicion. Why do artists work to produce art using traditional methods, vise-a-vie- authentically, mechanically by hand, without aids, while posers produce work for the trash heap?  I believe the reason is the same - recognition and respect.  If you produce real art the old fashioned way, one hope’s to gain the respect of society and of course their peers. Many, many would-be artists don't have the skill, the training or know-how to pull off a work of art, so they resort to trickery or fakery to get a result. They may even fool most of the judges some of the time, but making 'real' art results in producing a body of work, an inventory. It is not easy to keep producing work year after year if you are producing fakes or using gimmicks. You would have to either get bored or begin to lose interest. Also the fear of being found out, over time, must become overwhelming. I can’t imagine having to explain my process to others not the least of which other artists; especially if you begin to gain notoriety. The pressure of being found a fake would be enormous after a while and cause one to either stop altogether or devote themselves to learn the art process after much study

Over time, the fakers will tire or worse be found out and will be weeded out while real artists will prevail. We should be diligent in judging art for galleries and shows, but the fakers will sneak through, once or even twice.  In the end they will not prevail over the long haul. I always think we should be judging artists considering a body of work and not one piece placed into a show or gallery. When you look at fifteen or a hundred pieces, the proof will be in the pudding and all will know if this person deserves to be called 'artist'.

One prevailing aspect about making art is expression. Artists want and need to express themselves and what is in their hearts would never want others who see their work to question their motivation, processes and more importantly their sincerity of purpose. Not everyone can be an artist. It is just the nature of things. Just as not everyone can be a pilot or doctor or scientist.  But the beauty of making art is that just about everyone can express themselves through the making of art.  But, and there is a big But, many of these people will show “creativity” and produce “creative” pieces- and here is another big But- none of it may be considered art in the truest sense. Because to be good at anything it takes education, experience, dedication, devotion and a single mindedness to get up every day and work at it. This is the arena where real artists are made. This is the theater that few are willing to be in. Living, breathing, producing art is what makes one an artist.

I greatly believe in the Yin/Yang theory. This is an Asian theology which teaches balance in life is what makes it all plausible and enjoyable. There is a time for everything and everything has a time. We need work as well as play activity and rest. As artists we all know this to be true. There is a time to think what to paint as well as time to create work. One without the other leads invariably to mediocrity and confusion, which we are drowning in today; politically as well as socially.

Society is experiencing the results of too much work, too much drive, too much ambition. This is why the world is in the state it is in now. We are being fed every day, in newspapers and on television ads, that we need more of everything. We can't handle what we have now effectively. It saddens me when I read the newspapers or watch broadcasts designed to obfuscate information. It is getting harder to know the good guys from the bad guys.

 Americans work more hours than any other culture on earth, including the Japanese. We happily give our employers 60 to 80 hours a week without any objection. We won't need despots pushing us in the coming future. We will do it all by ourselves. We have already lost the fundamental beliefs in a Yin/Yang theory. Success, money, fame, wealth have become the catchwords in everything we do.  We are not rewarded for doing anything for the love of it, for the pure pleasure and satisfaction; for the truth of the process.

The one truth in my life is my art. It is the one place I can still strive for a truth. It is the one thing in which I seek the truth; the one constant.  It’s hard to lie in painting. If you do, it leads to bad work. If you are an artist worth your salt, there is no faking it and you know when a lie is being painted.  Artists have painted propagandistic works throughout history, but they are obviously lies which can be picked up easily and recognized as such by everyone. Great works of the past have told this truth.

For instance Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Guernica by Pablo Picasso, May 3^rd, 1808 by Goya and not the least of which was Conspiracy of Batavians under Claudius by Rembrandt. There are many more, most of which have lost meaning for us through time and neglect.  Art has the potential to heal, raise one up, open our eyes, and connect us to the sublime, to soothe us and bring comfort and offer us the truth.  If we encourage art, offer more teaching, allow it back into our schools and place it in the forefront of our thinking, we can again use art to bring together a more positive reason for being; discovering the Yin Yang of life, the balance in nature we have lost in humanity.