So, I have been thinking about this a lot. I am thinking about sharing the stories behind my artworks with you all and many people ask me “why did you create this?”, “what’s the story behind this artwork?”, “can you explain this artwork to me?” “what is the deeper meaning behind it?”. For some works I have an answer- the story of what inspired my work (some place, some pattern, another artist’s work, some idea I felt strongly about and wanted to share, something I saw, some feature that the customer asked for when I create customized artwork etc…) but for other works I don’t have an answer- I don’t know.
I started creating art because I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed the feeling of using pens to create a design on paper or of adding mixing and adding colors on a canvas to make a pattern. I did it because I loved it. It is as simple as that.
I was never interested in making a specific point or conveying a message about an important issue (political, religious, the environment, social issues etc…) through my art.
Why does every artwork need to have a story behind it? Why, when you have a blank canvas or paper in front of you, you need to have a specific message or intention in mind to create? I have realized that no, it doesn’t. It is ok to create purely for the love of creating. It is ok not to have a reason behind every stroke, every color, every pattern.
The purpose of my art is simply that I want my paintings to be seen as beautiful, to be pleasing to the eye, to have that calming, soothing, happy effect on the viewer. I want the intricate details of my work to make the viewer move closer to the work and engage the viewer. I want them to look at the colors and patterns and live the creation process with me and create their own ideas and meaning about the piece.
Of course many of my works do have stories attached to them and are inspired from somewhere. But some of works are just created spontaneously, I just go with the flow and let my inner artist voice and my pen or brush guide me and the work gets created with little or no thought at all. It just is what it is, nothing more, nothing less. Just a pretty picture I created with nothing in mind and only my artistic instinct and flow to guide me. And I am happy with that.