#art, My Reply to What is This Thing Called Art…

So I have asked you, and you have responded. Your definitions of art are phenomenal and I greatly appreciate them. And I agree with all the points of view as expressed. But I must add that to me, art is a profession. It is not a whim, a dream, or a spiritual experience. Neither does it depend on inspiration or muses to exist. I paint because it is my chosen career, my profession and my job, and I love it. But it is a profession which I treat just like if it had been medicine, architecture or engineering.

To be a professional artist one does not need formal schooling, but one needs to learn. And there is no such thing as being a self-taught artist. One cannot teach oneself something one does not know. You cannot teach yourself how to build a rocket to the moon or a submarine to explore the Mariana Trench. So, you either take the classical approach and go to uni or you find yourself a master, or a private academy and you enrol and learn and then you keep on learning, because art is the result of the search and searching means exploring, investigating, and ultimately learning.

So, yes, art is beautiful, meaningful, and a perfect expression of our humanity. But that art that is so appreciated was created by artists that worked hard, explored hard and solved problems within their canvases or sculptures, to arrive at the final product. And finally, artists work because they want to get paid. So, in the end, art is a means of making money. And there is nothing wrong with that. I am sure you, like everyone else, works for money, not for the love of art…

CHEERS