I started to get my feet wet in painting when I took a painting class at WWU at Bellingham Washington. Although I gained something from it, it also proved to be a disappointing experience. Our teacher, although a decent fellow, wasn’t cut out to be a teacher. It really was the best thing that could have happened to me in hindsight.
After that experience I realized I wanted to learn from the best and I mean the very best. This was a problem because most of the very best were dead. My only access to them was through art books, so that’s where I started. I don’t know if you’ve tried it, but it’s really difficult to see how a painter painted a painting by looking at an art book. What I had to do was absorb the spirit behind the paintings and develop my own technique from that stance. This ain’t easy, let me tell you! I burned all the work I did for two years, although now I realize some of it was pretty good.
So now I’ll get to the point. A person will reach a level of development only to that level which he strives for. If you are an artist, why would you want to limit yourself by making your artistic goal anything less than the best artist’s throughout history. I don’t mean copy them, although that can be instructive, I mean take from them, make it your own and use it to reach towards the level beyond the good painter to that of a great painter. When I say take from them, I don’t necessarily mean technique, but the underlying transcendent quality that makes it Great. If your model of what you’re striving for is less than Really, Really, Really, Great, I mean Fantastic, than you’re limiting yourself. I know there are a lot of Great painters out there, but how many of us can compare to a Rembrandt or Da Vinci or you name it. This is reaching towards the heavens and settling for however close we can come to that level. This is good, because it creates a healthy sense of humility and respect for those that have paved the way.
None of us are as great as we may think we are at times, although self dilution can be a valuable tool when you’ve just created a painting that stinks. There’s always something higher to reach for, even for those who are on the level of a Rembrandt or Picasso or Cezanne, or you name it.
Strive for heaven and be content in having achieved one more step along the way. Paint On!

Tom Clements

Gold Monolith - My Mixed Media Painting

Does it feel right is the essence of inspired creating. Learning to feel your way through a painting, rather than letting your mind dictate the does and don’ts of creating an image, is really the way to go. First a person must develop skill, but once developed, he must transcend his skill and work on the level of super conscious mind, or whatever you wish to call it. A place where conscious thinking stops and being totally present starts. A place where time stops and awareness is freed to a higher level. This is where you feel your way through a painting rather than think your way through a painting. This is a place that requires total concentration and an elimination of mental chatter.
I’m by no means saying that you don’t use your mind in creating art, I’m just saying that you put your mind at the service of the art, rather than the other way around. Being able to create on an intuitive level liberates you from all the preconceived ideas you may have about art. To learn to feel when something is on or off puts you on the level of creating from your soul.
This isn’t some great revelation, but if you haven’t heard it before it may be. Sometimes reminders are good to refresh our direction in the creative arts. Paint on and stay in the creative flow.

Tom Clements

The Two Trees - Print from my Oil Painting

What’s the most important ingredient for producing great art or even good art? It’s not technique, It’s passion. You can have all the technique in the world and still produce works of art that have no soul. Conversely you can be someone like Cezanne who’s technique wasn’t anything extraordinary and produce works of art that are alive and breathe. With passion comes the drive to invent technique and strive to bring to life that inner vision. Passion is the force that drives us to go beyond our limits and bring out the depth of our expression.

In order to keep that passion alive we need to keep ourselves free from limiting thoughts that hinder that energy. Painting to fit a model we have in our heads is one way to choke the life out of a piece of artwork. To be in a place of letting things happen without controlling them, but only directing them, leaves room for expression.

Tom Clements

Mediterranean Woman - Print From My Oil Painting

My whole purpose for painting has always been to experience the breadth and depth of art through the vehicle of painting. I soon found out that this isn’t exactly what most of the Gallery Mentality is really interested in and I can understand why. Branding a product is a much easier way to sell things including Art. I’ve been told more than once that unless you settle on one style of painting, then you’re still a student. My response has been, if you’re not a student of painting, then what good are you. Once you’ve reached the status of teacher or master without also realizing that you’re also still just a student, then learning stops and you start producing work that no longer is fresh and alive.
Having said this, I have no problems with artists who’s work is all very similar. Sometimes I wish I was wired that way, because it would be a lot easier to get recognition in the Art World. If doing similar work is being true to who you are, then great! and the work will shine. The point I’m making is to be true to yourself rather than buying into the group mentality of any group, including artist’s own biases.
It seems that we all buy so easily into group think and it’s a definite challenge not to get sucked into it. I believe we are about to enter a new era in art, where the freedom to display our multifaceted creative selves will be embraced not only by the general public, as it’s always been, but also by a new Gallery Mentality that desires to see all the various aspects of what we individually have to offer as artists. I believe it will be a Gallery Mentality that will design marketing for art, rather than following a marketing strategy of trying to force artwork into a marketing model.

Tom Clements

Sunset On The Pond - Print From My Watercolor Painting

When a friend Dennis Brady suggested Blogging, I wasn’t quite sure what the focus of my Bog would be. I really wasn’t interested in doing a Blog just to sell my art, because I had no passion behind it. Marketing to me is just something I have to do to continue to paint. Eventually it all jelled and I knew what I wanted to say. The years of being an artist and thinking about the inner workings of art, creativity, and painting have given me a storehouse of perceptions to glean from.
The purpose of this Blog is to inspire you, me and everyone who reads it, to better understand that there’s so much more creative energy within us than we’ve ever imagined. All of us have only touched the surface. I want to do my small part in facilitating the release of that creative energy into this world. To free ourselves of the limiting beliefs about what we can achieve as creative individuals. I’ll probably be focusing more on painting since that’s the discipline that I’ve delved deepest into, but hopefully there’ll be some universal concepts that’ll apply to us all.
The reason for the Title Art Rumor, is to say that both rumors and opinions are alike, in that they can be filled with both facts or fantasy. If it resonates with you, then make it your truth.

Tom Clements

Guardian Of The Way - Print From My Watercolor Painting