Feeling genuine gratitude despite your petty issues is a blessing for all concerned.

Here is an apt excerpt from my book, An Artist Empowered:

Although Pollock would become the icon, fellow travelers of that era such as Willem de Kooning, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, Barnett Newmann, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, and Jacob Lawrence weren’t deterred from making art that was no less provocative. The works of these artists didn’t happen in a vacuum either; artists who had come before them had already done their share of the grunt work for expanding the understanding and appreciation of art.

Given this lineage of bold achievers, it is essential and healthy to express gratitude toward those artists who have set the stage for your art. Once it had been established that art didn’t need to be representational, the genie was out of the bottle: art was then open to being anything as the subject, as long as it worked.

Think about it.

Remember, the most original artist is influenced by everything of merit. If you envy instead of applaud the innovator, then not only have you missed the point and the opportunity for your own work to evolve, you are lost.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A seasoned defense lawyer is speaking on the radio: blah, blah, blah, and of course, he’s innocent until proven guilty.

Do you find a problem with this conclusion? Look carefully. Sure, we’ve all heard this phrase thousands of times. It is, however, an aberration of the correct rule of law, which is this: innocent unless proven guilty. Do you hear the difference?

In another radio show, a woman reporter was interviewing a young girl.

“Well, I suppose you must be dying to do so and so.”

“I’m not dying to do so and so, but I would like to,” replied the girl who didn’t bite on the grisly dying metaphor, as she was much wiser than the reporter.

This is the trap of parroting things without taking the time to understand.

Art, culture, dharma, passion . . . is it all too much to bear?

Art without humor is lifeless. The true artist knows that humor is a saving grace, especially when it comes at his expense. This point is exceedingly relevant for those who are full of themselves. Sure, you know who you are.

So, an artist with a monkey on his head goes into a bar . . .

Viewing art.

This activity appears to intimidate many. Fortunately, there is good news. No one knows more how feel than you—not the museum director, art expert, and so on.

But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook; with access and freedom comes responsibility: know what you are looking at—not the subject matter or lack of formalism, but how the art got there on paper, canvas or other medium, in the first place. Is it magic?

In art from the spirit and soul, if you see it, it’s there.

Veteran’s Day, an intense moment to feel gratitude for those who fought on your behalf—an ongoing reality lost on all too many, especially on a generation bedazzled on reality programming and the cult of celebrity.

One can denounce war, turn the other cheek, or appease the aggressor. In the end, when the sword is at your neck, you must make an existential choice: live or die.

Of course, one can point to Gandhi, for example, where nonviolent civil disobedience eventually won the day over British colonial rule. But would this same strategy have worked against a totalitarian regime? 

Unless one has faced mortal combat, there is no way to fully appreciate the sacrifice of those who did. So, when your moment of right action comes, do so with honor and awareness. Ignorance in this world is now no longer an option.