What Is The Point Of Art Making?

What is the point of quiet and consistent art making in a world run by those who scream the loudest and who put on a gaudy circus? If I stop painting or composing music, the world will go on just as it has before, and I will become a tiny trail of smoke from an extinguished flicker against a backdrop of technicolor fireworks.

A practical man (an academic professor) once asked a fellow composer, “Why do you still write music? There is too much music already as it is.” Another level-headed self-appointed appraiser of arts history, said to me, “There is nothing new to discover. All great artists who were meant to be discovered, the geniuses, have already been brought to light.”

The world keeps broadcasting its omnipresent NO. Don’t paint. Don’t compose. You are not needed. You are not welcome. You don’t belong.

To this, dear Gate Keepers, I must answer, I don’t want to be a part of your world. I have no need of your acceptance if you think that what you have is enough. I don’t want to plead with you if you have no need of discovery. I do not create to embellish your world. I don’t endeavor to entertain you, to persuade you.

I paint, compose, and write to create my own world, a new and independent one, in which I choose the colors and sounds and select the words. I have the keys to its gate, locking and unlocking it from the inside. I invite my audience to enter in, to come and go as they please, and to take from it what enriches them. The gate is open and those who wish may enter. All others should stay away, either searching for other worlds or proclaiming that what they have is enough and that there are no new worlds to discover.

“Gabriela 2” – Watercolors and ink on paper, 18 x 24 in (45 x 61 cm)

https://dosiamckay.com/painting/art-gallery/

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