Questions

"How long did it take you to finish that painting?” is probably the question I hear most often. The answer is usually 36 years. I rarely keep track of how long it took me to finish a painting. Where would I start? Thinking about it counts? Looking at it while still unfinished counts too? And what about the time I spend experimenting and gaining experience doing other paintings that brought me to this moment, does this not count at all? I have paintings that I did in a few hours and others that I dedicated weeks to finish them, there is no formula.

Another question I get quite often is “are you always inspired to create new art?” or “do you wait for inspiration to start painting?”. How romantic, of course not. In a recent article on ART NEWS BLOG, entitled Do or Die List for Artists, point number 4 states the following

“Inspiration is found in the studio while you are working. If you sit around waiting for inspiration before you start creating you will have about 15 paintings finished when you're 60.”

How true! As one of my tutors used to tell us, art is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.