A slower day of studies and plans. I drew out tone studies for 'Inspection At Theresienstadt' and the Cromwell painting, prepared a small canvas of each for colour studies (which I do in oil), and prepared the canvas for Theresienstadt. Here are the studies for the Descartes painting, which I filed today:
In the evening I released the Flatspace Music Pack 2 on Steam.
I need something more, more! I listened to the next step of Beethoven's 'Composer of the Week' special from 2020. I have some Beethovian aspects to my character, stretching to broad misanthropy and frequent hatred of people. Everyone probably shares some aspects of Beethoven. Like Vincent van Gogh, he has a mythological character which is easily hooked upon by artists. I appreciate struggle in poverty and against ignorance, and the concept of struggle for making the best art. I may strive for the best, to do my best, in stoic solitude; but I'm not world famous, or a deaf German, and barely touch alcohol. I love the piano, and improvising; but I need more drama and overt genius in my art. It's horrible to contemplate that I may be closer to that despised emulator Brahms - no! Passion inheres, I would be ashamed to emulate a style. I am, at least, recalcitrant.
I must return to roots, to 2004, to 2007, the dawn of my art. Last night I read about the dawn of surrealism. I always disliked my work being compared with surrealism, I use the term only because it easily conveys 'what my paintings are like' - but from the outset I painted in the way I did, and knew nothing about art then. Surrealism is unique as an art movement because it was intended as a revolutionary social movement, changing the world by promoting a new way of thinking. One key problem with surrealism is that its theories of thought; on the conscious/unconscious mind, and on Freudian symbolism were incorrect.
The paintings I paint are not surrealist, any more than Beethoven's Late Quartets are; but all unusual works are considered eccentric, so unusual or anti-social that they stand out; his were. The word 'surreal' has come to mean this, but there are many forms of this eccentricity, and their connection to the surrealist movement are more tenuous. The word 'surreal' to mean this certain sort of creativity is perhaps the art movement's most lasting monument. I've started to describe my music as Surrealist Rock or Surrealist Pop as it fits this definition, as does the music of Sparks, for example, or perhaps The Shaggs or the Legendary Stardust Cowboy other acts which emit thoughts in a 'raw' sort of way.
