Being a painter is a way of life

It’s that time of the year again where we look back and reflect on the events of the past year and look forward to the future.  I personally moved to Mt. Shasta and have been dedicating my time between painting commissions, clearing and burning dead wood on The Grand View Ranch, and shoveling snow.  The Grand View Ranch will be a gathering place for outdoor painters and collectors to meet and mingle under the shadow of Mt. Shasta and spend evening nights around the camp fire discussing the meaning of art.

I found that most people who gravitate to painting, either in the creation of it or the collecting of it, have a good attitude about life or are in search of one.  Artists and collectors describe how their attraction to art nurtured their lifestyle toward a softer, more comfortable place.

I feel that the Electronic Age is creating a revival in art.  Driving this movement is a principal need at work -- the need for left-brain and right-brain balance.  “Living the good life” is all about balance and a healthy attitude.

Collectors display their paintings to integrate them into their homes and actually have found that they contribute a sense of place.  They are often individuals tied professionally to the fast-pace, high-stress electronic world who are seeking the contrast of comfort stability in their homes.  Art says a lot about the person who created it and the person collecting it.  People who acquired art in their home observed that they suddenly felt more fulfilled, remarking that suddenly they saw and appreciated their home in a personal way.

We must not let collectors and museums forget the original reason that called us to become artists.  Curators dedicate wall space for expositions and dictate what we might think or what we should feel about a painting or painter, the focus of their interest is art or painting as a thing, an outward expression of the inward and invisible reality.  We must not let the Message die -- the reason that we started painting to begin with, as galleries and the Wal-Marts of the world sell giclee and reproductions, is that being a painter is a way of life and not just a producer of a thing.

Stefan Baumann