“Some Things We Regret,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″

A:  It’s the fact that too often artists remain unappreciated while they are alive and/or do not share in the rewards after long years of struggle against numbing odds.  They/we do whatever is necessary to keep creating new work even as it is ignored and misunderstood. 

This unfortunate situation has repeated itself throughout the history of art.  As Hilary Spurling stated in the preface to her two-volume biography, Matisse The Master, even Henri Matisse was misunderstood, his work regarded as “merely decorative” during his lifetime and long after.  

At this time I have few illusions about the difficulties of being an artist.   Somehow I still tell myself, ignore the setbacks and work like there’s no tomorrow.

Comments are welcome!