The Rabbit Hole, keeping your artists soul in tact

The speaker, Robert McAfee, talks about his experiences as an artist and the importance of reflection in his work. He believes that artists are meant to tell stories and present reflections of the world around them. He discusses the process of creating and refining his paintings, as well as the temptation to repeat successful works for financial gain. McAfee warns against falling into this trap, as it can rob artists of their creative soul and freedom. He encourages artists to be true to themselves and create what they want, rather than being controlled by outside forces. McAfee expresses gratitude for the freedom he has found in his own art and encourages others to do the same. You're listening to the Lost Paddler podcast series on RobertMcCovey.com It just so happens that I live close to the lake. There are a few different access points that I can go to. One of them is a sandy section and the waves just kind of roll up on the sand and the seagulls just kind of do their thing. But another section that I really love to go to is east of where I live a little bit and it's a very stony pebbly beach and the waves hiss as they roll up on the shore. When I go to these kinds of places for me they are moments of reflection and that's something that artists are good at doing. I mean what are we supposed to do? We're supposed to paint pretty pictures? Well that might be a little bit of it but I think artists are meant to reflect on the world around them. Artists are meant to tell stories. Artists are meant to present reflections of the world they see in the work that they produce. You may be a painter like me. You may be a songwriter, a poet. You may be a craftsperson who fashions things out of wood or metal. In whatever you use to create your message you're telling a story that brings your experiences in this world to others and maybe somebody will share that experience and somebody will identify with what you've been through and then just like a bridge across a great chasm the bond will have been made between you and the viewer, the one who beholds your work. As an artist I seek out the emotional elements of the things that I see and the things that I want to paint are manifestations of the emotions that I experience. I once heard a quote from A.J. Kasson who said it's not the artist's job to capture every last detail of a scene. In fact the artist's job is to capture the parts that moved him and leave out the rest. Reflection is something that I enjoy presenting very much in my work. I travel extensively to gain the experiences that I need. The background I like to call it the R&D or the research and development department of Robert McAfee. It's when I go out into far-flung places and sometimes not even so, sometimes just down to the lake just a few kilometers from where I live. Somewhere where I can glean that experience that is so rich and carries with it so much emotion and I can't wait to get back to my canvas and render something well that comes somewhere as close to what I've just seen but essentially carries the feeling of it, essentially carries the experience of it. I may paint a painting once, twice, three times. I like to refer to those as the practice runs before I take off on the runway and head off into space. I like to try the thing. I like to experiment with different techniques to achieve the effect that I'm really looking for in the final painting and once I've achieved it I may revisit it again and again maybe three or four times. The reason why we do this as artists is because each time we get a little better at what we do we are able to refine it. When I think of other artists like Tom Thompson who widely known most iconically for the Jack Pine or the West Wind, it's understood that there were a number of what I call runway paintings done prior to the final one that we are all so familiar with. The artist did sketches and then one or two medium-sized paintings and many of those paintings are out there. Somebody owns them. Some of them are in galleries. Some are in private corporate collections and others are in people's homes but there comes a point when the artist has reached a point with the subject that he knows or she knows that it's finished and it's time to move on. There's an interesting scenario that sometimes happens to artists. I've been there. Every mature artist that I know has been there and experienced this. It's what I call a flash-in-the-pan movement. You know you've reached that point with a painting where you've done a few little practice runs with it and you've achieved the painting at the maximum that you wanted to. You put it out on display and very quickly somebody wants to purchase it. It's always an exciting moment when another soul, when another human being somewhere out there sees your work of art and connects with it and is willing to part with their hard-earned dollars to acquire your painting. It's a connection between your soul and theirs that's unlike any other and it's one of the most rewarding things that an artist can ever experience. It's not really about the money but it is about this sacrifice that somebody is willing to make to part with something that is precious to them. To have the thing that you've created because that is equally as precious to them and it's worth the exchange. When it happens artists experience something. It's pretty common for most of the artists that I've spoken to. That feeling that well that one sold so quickly and they were so willing and ready to pay the price that I put on it. I think that I'll paint another one with the hopes that someone will buy it too. If I did one certainly I can do another one just as good. And off you go. You head into your studio. You set up the same size canvas. You mix the same paint because it's really already there on your palette from the last painting. And in no time at all you've rendered a painting that is well almost as good or maybe the same or maybe it's even better than the one that you just sold. And you're thinking to yourself for sure someone is gonna love this too and they're gonna purchase it and I'm gonna have a little bit more income from it. Let's get this show on the road. So you post it and sure enough before you know it it's sold again. Artists at this point reach what I call a fork in the road. This is where an artist has to ask himself or herself do I keep doing this or do I move on to something different? Art institutions like to refer to this kind of a scenario as the artists such-and-such series, the dark series, the water series, the light series, or the morning series. They like to put these titles on on a painting that an artist has done in a kind of a succession so that they can sell more of them. And why not? Here's the opportunity to generate more income and to keep the artist going and to keep the institution going and basically to grease all of the wheels and keep the machine in motion. I've been there. It's happened to me. Guilty as charged. But on the theme of reflection I have many times looked back at those times when I fell into that trap. When I stood on the edge of that rabbit hole and leaned in and fell in headfirst only to find myself falling falling falling deep deep into the pit. To me it's an endless dark bottomless pit. And the reason why I feel that way is because the artist becomes entrapped by that spiral of demand for a certain thing that generated a fine income for everybody involved. But what it does is it robs the artist of their creative soul. There are other paintings in the studio. There are other scenes. There's other day trips that are waiting to be taken. There's other stories that are waiting to be told. And yet the artist feels this compulsion both from their inner self desiring to see that success continue and also from the institutions that represent them. After all everybody would love to see this flow continue. And it may be enjoyable at first but eventually there becomes an arduous churning. There becomes an arduous repetition. There becomes this feeling that I'm trapped now. I can't do anything else or even if I could I know that I'm a good artist. I know that I can paint other scenes. But if I keep doing this well then the income continues and I can continue doing this. But if I change well what if nobody wants to purchase the other thing that I want to do? Well what happens then if I change? Perhaps the institutions won't want my work anymore. They want that series to continue. I speak from experience. I've been there. I've fallen down that rabbit hole and it robs the artist of confidence. It robs the artist even more importantly of the freedom to create. To move as your soul leads you. In fact it bottles you up. It contains you and makes you feel that you can't do anything else. It's a little like the record company telling the singer or the songwriter, hey that was a number one hit. You knocked it out of the park. Let's have another one just like it or let's have another one very similar to it. And the demand goes on and on and the artist or the creator, the songwriter, the singer becomes entrapped and they never ever feel that they can escape. It's a tragedy. It's sad. And for me when I went through those experiences I had to go through fairly long periods of redevelopment, re-establishment. I had to literally break away from the institutions that controlled every aspect of my artist's life. I had to become more independent. I had to put my foot down and say this is what I want to do and if nobody likes it, if nobody wants it, well that's for me to deal with. I will just have to be me and create the things that I want to create. I like to say that these opinions of mine and these thoughts that I express are not rules for other artists to follow. In fact I really believe in a to each his own kind of a approach to life. But for me the way I express is something that needs to be free. And in this podcast today I want to address those artists that have asked me about this very subject. I enjoy freedom today to create whatever I wish to create. I don't follow any outside controls. I am at liberty to be the artist that I want to be. And thank God every day from the bottom of my heart somehow the work that I do resonates with you and many around the world. And somehow this voice that I have, this inner soul that I wish to come out and express my artist's desire, my artist's love, my artist's passion is free to fly and free to be who I wish to be. And it is what you see on my canvases every single day. We are so richly blessed as artists with this creative soul that we have been given. We should never be pigeonholed. We should never be slaughtered. We should never be forced to do this thing over and over again purely for the income that we derive. We should be free to create. You've been listening to the Lost Paddler podcast series on robertmcafee.com. My name is Robert McAfee and I'd like to personally thank you for taking time out of your busy day to enjoy this podcast. If it was a pleasure for you and if you benefited from it perhaps there are others who would as well. By all means share and let others know and come back next week for another session right here on the Lost Paddler podcast series.