I don't agree with that mentality, of course, as a painter it doesn't work with my abilities. But, I think it touches anything we deal with in life.
As a writer, the more we write, generally the more we improve. As an artist, the more I paint and experiment with different things, the better my skills get. As parents, the more we try and listen and work with our children, the better we become. It seems to be a principle of fact, doesn't it?
However, when you think of it in terms of spirituality, I think it could be twisted...much like the route Mr. Dutcher has gone...(only read if you want to be disgusted for the day...otherwise, don't go there) With spiritual things, the more you question and doubt and "seek wisdom" from dark sources, the farther away you go from truth and light.
It reminds me of a video we got a long time ago from Living Scriptures about the Tree of Life. They showed two men who were supposedly learned, and they were in search of more knowledge. The one wanted to follow Nephi, and the other said that truth could only be learned in unknown corners...they ended up in darkness, lost and unable to find their way back.
That sounds to me where Mr. Dutcher is heading. The medium he chose for his art was a difficult one, I think. Motion pictures has long been the tool of Satan to lure the good hearted and well meaning. Thank heavens we have people here in Utah that do well, and don't seem to be worried if their movies make it world wide or make millions of dollars.
But onto a more positive note.
We went to the farmers market in our home town yesterday, and toured the 'Utah house' as it's called. Apparently it is totally 'green', in that it's made to run on low energy, has solar panels and the toilet water is from a cistern. The garage is made partially from bale hay construction and foam/cement block. It was cooler than the house, but I wasn't sure if it had air conditioning on or not.
Anyway, inside the house was this large...painting? I'm not sure it could be classified as that, because it seemed to be a mix of mediums. I looked at it and shook my head, wondering why anyone would attempt such a thing. It was across between abstract art and natural texturing. Go figure. Abstract art just seems to be a child's work. Anyone (it would seem to me) can splash color on a canvas and claim it's the window to their soul.
This piece was something I'm sure anyone who's gone to a professionally decorated home or office would have seen before -- it's that kind of obscure and abstract all in one. Using color and texture to create something only a decorator would think of. Imagine looking at that kind of stuff on your own!
"May we help you?"
"Yes, I just spotted that large abstract over there..."
"Oh, that magnificent example of (whoever did it's)work? That's an ambitious size at 4'x2'. Do you have a place in mind?"
"Yeah, my sister needs something to cover the hole in her kids bedroom where they kicked through the wall, and that looks about the right size. How much do they run?"
About now the person, (totally offended)would tell me with a "sniff" that such piece's of art wouldn't be appropriate in a child's room. Besides, repairing the wall would be much cheaper than this work of art. I'm sure it ran a couple of hundred dollars.
That's where I guess my artistic endeavors clash with my practial side. I can just see when I start selling paintings and charge the cost of the frame and canvas. My hubby reminded me when I was contemplating a booth in a neighborhood boutique that I needed to charge for the time I spent too, not just the materials. Well, how in the heck do you figure that out? And this is something I like to do, I'm not in it to make money (obviously). So...I guess we'll see how that goes.
Just for the record though...remember I'm not the person you want to take shopping when looking for decorations for your house. Anything not slanted to my taste would probably be subjected to a critical/sarcastic tongue...grin.
Return to the Neighborhood
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