Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like

applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... now you tell me what you know. - Groucho Marx



I am glad that Art is in the eye of the beholder. I am reading a book Mary gave me for Christmas that pertains to the recovery of art confiscated by the Nazis in WWII, and the way it was treated by Hitler and his cronies. Anything created by Germanic artists in a Realist style was considered good, whereas anything modern or experimental was derided. He put together a traveling show of all the modern art pieces which included the Impressionists and labeled them "degenerate art," clumping them on walls with captions pointing out their "flaws." He considered Van Gogh among the worst, - after all, anyone that saw a sky as green and a meadow as blue had to be a degenerate. The Degenerate Art show was far more popular, it seems, with the public than the "finer" show he put together featuring only approved artists - in fact the crowds were about five to one. So of course he closed the Degenerate show and put the works up for sale as "garbage". In that auction, hundreds of 19th and 20th century masterpieces were sold for a total of $171,000; the only piece fetching anything appreciable was the Van Gogh self portrait at $40,000. Thousands more were burned.

Which all goes to prove that one man's view of art is never more important than another's. I have commented before that there is art in everythig, that it just takes a thoughtful eye to see it; that does not mean that anything slapped together qualifies as good - even in the eyes of its creator, but it is art, and if one man sees it as such then it is accomplished. It is a shame that the art world is occasionally overrun by snobbery, since by its very essence a piece that has been created in the heart and hands is deeply personal to someone. Snobbery - although I am as guilty of it at times as anyone - is nothing more than passing judgement on someone else's brain activity; the Snob himself is the one who is not thinking clearly.

Which brings me to my own work. I know that many of the pieces I have been making recently would be considered peculiar by some. Actually, in my warped sense I hope they are. I try to put some humor in my work, even when the underlying theme is dark. I like to use double entendre - which is just a nicer way of saying I enjoy a good pun. My preference is to have a piece look serious at first, humorous on closer inspection, and telling a story that makes a stiff comment about modern life. I hate being too serious, but I also feel a need to give my opinions. I wish that Groucho was still around; I think he'd get it.