The Challenge of the Heart

“Eggs Among Stones” in the Spring Series

I’ve sold more prints this year than ever before and that’s good. But accompanying the sales is a bit of baggage. I’m too new at this to speak with any authority about the challenges faced by artists as a group, but I can talk about how I feel. The demon of avarice is definitely bad for my work. And even worse is the demon of wanting to please others.

Although it’s tremendously rewarding when someone likes my work, and a huge thrill when they want to keep it on view in their home or business, these natural results of making and displaying can throw me off balance in deciding what subjects to pursue and how to pursue them. If I lose my focus on exploring what’s in my heart or the back of my mind — fearlessly and without regard for consequences — I get lost. I literally cannot find my way back to the creative path.

What I’m sure I have in common with other photographic artists is the desire to communicate intimately on a nonverbal plane. In my case, that comes with a lot of second-guessing and uselessly reading the minds of viewers, a feat at which I clearly suck.

I can say that the work of other artists is often quite helpful in bringing me back to a state of courageous exploration. Sabine Le Grannec (@sabine.legrannec) posts on Instagram and her work often looks like something discarded, but it’s so rich with her soul and her courage that it sometimes takes my breath away.

Ruslan Kulikov (@rulet_kulilot) does work that reminds me a bit of Andy Goldsworthy. He’s clever but in a way so organic and intuitive that I find myself searching for his latest entries, if they don’t come up in my feed on Instagram.

I also find that Frank Zappa, Wayne Shorter, and lately, Benoit Delbecq, are very helpful in expanding the possible.

There are hundreds more artists of all types that illuminate the world for me and I’m so grateful for their influence and their inspiration. Art often comforts us in ways we don’t anticipate or understand, releasing feelings and ideas that we might never otherwise access. And that’s how it sometimes, under the right circumstances, changes a life.