Artist as Missionary
One goal of my artistic work--both creating and teaching art--is to open ordinary
people to their own artistic powers.
My public art, especially, is a means of prompting awareness of what a creative
life is and how it is available to each of us. The Cosmic Egg, shown here, was
completed with the help of a number of volunteers who happened upon the work-in-progress
in a shopping mall. The work we did was partly an excuse to talk about art-making
and what it means to be an artist.
Cosmic Egg
enamel on Fiberglas
volunteer painters
Merle Hay Mall
Des Moines, Iowa
Almost anyone can learn to draw or paint. In my Drawing
for Nincompoops class, for example, I can teach most people the essential skills of drawing
in five lessons. Some people require more time; some get it almost immediately.
Although this ease of learning often surprises my students, it shouldn't. We humans
are hardwired to see like artists see. We've simply ignored some of our most potent
built-in abilities.
Artist's Statement
Awe, Ecstasy, and the Sacred
An Experimental Approach to Living and Art-making
Contemporary and Postmodern
Artist as Missionary
Artist's Statement for the Figure Paintings
Artist's Statement for Landscape Paintings
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