The balance in art is between getting work out there, and doing the best you can. Not too rushed to be poor, not so slow that it takes time from new work.
After programming updates to the compressors, work on The Misery's Hard To Take, which in production terms is like a hoe-down. And some slow work on Always In The Morning. This needs a middle section, as does Eyes Of Pity, I want a change of mood and scene which demands the eye of a film-maker. I also did some work on Boring Ceefax Lift Music, a masterpiece of irony. The end is bluesy without any blues at all, electronic-blues, something different, so I will reference classical blues there.
I read: "Philosophy is a precipitate of the mind's electrical essence; its needs which seek a basis in primeval principle are elevated by it ... Thus every real creation of art is independent, more powerful than the artist himself and returns to the divine through its manifestation. It is one with man only in this, that it bears testimony of the mediation of the divine in him" - So true! The words of Beethoven as written by Bettina Brentano (though he later disbelieved he said it). It is no surprise to me that Beethoven, Picasso and myself feel this same belief that art is a psycho-spiritual conduit between man and the universe. Art is beyond a communication method between humans; though it can be this manifestation of love and understanding between people. Art can be genuinely loved and appreciated when alone, so it can be a form of love and understanding, and every other emotion and form of information, between one and the universe.
A poem by Jane Harland, sent to me today about my painting Now That's What I Call Blue, had a prayerful tone; perhaps an indication that all paintings are icons. An icon is a conduit between man and 'god', perhaps the only useful or true aspect of Christian spiritualism is its art. The non-Catholic denominations, the anti-art factions, are wholly devoid of love and humanity. No child could see a puritan and be impressed.
