The sentence “Every Picture Tells A Story” was famously the title of a Rod Stewart Album in the early 70s. I liked that album but at the time I thought it was rather a strange title. But then, albums in those days did have strange titles (maybe they still do but I don't keep up well).
Today Rod Stewart's title sprang to mind. I was thinking about the demand by social media for artists to post 'stories'. The work we create is of course the result of much thought, trial and error, rubbings out, overpainting etc – and this is all part of the story, the journey. The digital image may be misappropriated, and appear online without reference to its creation: but this can only ever be a pale reflection of the real work with the richness of what has gone into the making of it.
I used to think that “the story” attached to a picture was like an explanation of what it was supposed to “mean” – why use words when you have the visuals? But in the age of AI, I'm thinking that the story behind a painting or a drawing is what authenticates it. This is my image: I have created it in this way – I have felt this emotion and made these marks. It is REAL!
So, rather reluctantly, my resolution for the New Year is to come up with more stories about my work: my emotions, my reaction to a place, why I've chosen a particular colour palette, and so on....and the challenge is to make the story interesting to read, relevant and not pretentious.
I'm relieved to get to the turn of the
year - it's been hard for me to get going again since my husband died
in October. But I've been out sketching and also been working in the
studio. And I'm determined to keep going. In 2025 and beyond. In the meantime, here are some works in progress....I'll tell you the stories later......
Thanks, friends, for all your encouragement.
