Why process is so important.

After the abstract expressionist and the bohemian artist that have been romanticized, Duchamp and his Dada inspired Bohemian Rhapsody of nothing really matters, Artists have been left to live with a Sisyphean attitude that lends itself to neglecting the hard work of being and doing excellent work. As a culture we place too much emphasis on outcomes, and scant emphasis on processes that insure successful outcomes. The problem that I have had concerning processes over the years has been an inclination to think of them as red tape, paper work, busy work, please get to the point. This is probably because many of our institutionalized processes do not focus on learning as goal, rather they become a goal unto themselves. As an artist, I look back on the most successful artists, and realize they spent many hours on the development of their images before producing a finished product. By spending this time with their work, they began to grow and understand more intimately what their work should be, and there is no short cut to this process of developing their talent by exercising their mind. I am not advocating spending years on one painting, but I am advocating allowing yourself the freedom from the expectations of results, and taking delight in a daily process of getting better.

#process