I Love Art

(Artist's Statement)

Art is adventure. It gives me a place to let go and trust life in whatever it’s offering in the moment; an open-hearted leap into the unknown. "Mistakes" are avenues leading to new lands, "disaster" is a door that just flung open. Every possible human emotion shows up; delicious pleasure, meditative quietude, frustration, bewilderment, fascination — all of it, and it's all within an very enjoyable context of adventure and discovery. Each finished piece is an expression and a record of one particular adventure.

Many artists endeavour to convey an idea through art, to stimulate commentary, perceptions and thinking in general. I’m usually more inclined to hope that whoever encounters the art relates to it through feeling. In one second art can communicate something far more significant through a silent feeling than can two hours of mental dissection. Nothing we can ever say or think about something will ever really capture what was experienced before we began speaking or thinking. The sound of rain ... just as it is ... clear, uninterpreted, true. There is so much beauty in life that asks nothing more from us than just being quietly aware.

The immense joy and intrigue I feel during the creative process leads directly to another very pleasant feeling: knowing that in the end, when the Flow is done with me for the moment, and on my easel sits a completed work, it will go out into the world and attract someone who resonates with it, and a beautiful relationship will begin, a love affair. The painting will become part of all that is loved in their life, a comforting and inspiring presence. I've seen this occur more than a few times and it brings me enormous pleasure. In this there is nothing more I can ask of art; the adventure, from initial inspiration to final resting, has been a gift.

Jay Roma Lamb