Painting is about Execution

Welcome to the G Bauer Studio Review. This will be my attempt to explain why I'm painting and what I am trying to accomplish by painting. I am going to try to avoid the word "art" as much as possible because it's such an overused term and leads to more problems that it solves. For example, after I have completed a piece, I will often stand back, look at it, and ask the question: Is this art? Which of course leads to the next question: What is art? I'm not smart enough to answer that question. I had a teacher once define two types of writing: good and bad. I suppose the same can be applied to art. When I look at a painting, I am really asking is this good? Did I achieve my objective? Do I FEEL good about it? That's what this review will be about.

When I paint something, am I able to get that painting to a point where I am satisfied with it? If you have ever painted, we all want to get to that point where we can stand back and say, "This is done. I have done all I can. Anything else I do is not going to make it better." 

So what do I mean about the title of this first post? As in most things, it's not about trying? It's about doing, about starting and completing. Which isn't to say that every work you start will be completed, but the effort should be about completing things, taking an idea to the end and then giving it a thumbs up or thumbs down. No excuses.If you are a painter, you will abandon things, and that's part of knowing what you should and shouldn't start. I have been asked to turn things into a painting, but given my temperament, and ability, I look at things with two questions: Will I enjoy painting this, and do I have the technical ability to produce something good. Those are probably questions we should ask about everything we undertake. 

Keep working!