Marti Jones Dixon Artist Statement.

 

Who was it that said "writing about music is like dancing to architecture?"  Martin Mull?  Peter Buck?*  **  I can't remember where I read that quote, but it aptly illustrates my feelings toward writing about art.  Art is a feeling.  Simply put.  If you are someone who has difficulty expressing your feelings to other humans, you probably will have difficulty discussing art.  

 

I paint because I have to.  It keeps me alive and focused.  I wake up thinking about it and I go to bed thinking about it.  I think about what I want to achieve with each painting.  I usually can't express these thoughts because they are intangible feelings. Abstract.  Complicated.  Indescribable.  I do know that I want to show life in my paintings and  that it's made up of complex variables: movement, weight, light.  I want the viewer to feel the life.  No need for discussion, really.  Stare at it for as long as you want.  And more importantly, you are free to feel whatever you want.

*A consciencious reader has graciously taken the time to let me know that it is Elvis Costello who unleashed from his brain that clever quote...  Thank you, Jerry.

**  OK, now my husband is arguing that it is Martin Mull's quote...