| January 2nd, 2001
Dear Artist, There's that wonderful feeling that it's the first day of the rest of your life. There's a kind of newness; I?m noticing for the first time the bow-wave of mallards on half-frozen ponds. Country-road families take leisurely walks, little-ones up on father's shoulders--even the dogs seem to sniff the new millennium. Among the resolutions (which are lodged with me for safekeeping) there are some resolved to give back more of what they've been so handily given. Perhaps they are mid-aged ones, I don't know--what the late psychologist Eric Erikson called the "generative" stage of life in which we feel the need to be caretakers to others not of our immediate family. Mentoring art is a delicate art. For me it has been a bit of a study. It's not like demonstrating a DVD or checking someone out at the controls of a 747. There's another ego in the way. A life force with ideals, visions, expectations, limitations. No matter how young or how willing all must be rewritten through the filter of self-esteem. We artists stick ourselves out. This in itself deserves respect. Whether we've been, or just know we can go, we are solitudes and alone with our interests. We cannot be micro-managed. We can take heart that everything we do is different than the last thing we did--or indeed everything that's ever been done. That knowledge is the key to sound mentoring--when you bend to lift up--be gentle--allow that they are to be kings and queens of their own solitudes. Best regards, PS "All education must be self-education." (Robert Henri) "Nothing is worth more than this day." (Goethe) Esoterica: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist and scientist who credited his successes to a happy and sheltered childhood. His aim was to make his life an example of the full potential of man. Work itself stabilizes, he found, and we empower others by empowering ourselves. If you would like to see selected responses to the previous letter "Resolutions," please go to http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/resolutions.htm. Here you will also find further information on the current effectiveness of on-line galleries. This letter and previous ones appear in French at www.painterskeys.com/fr |
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Robert Genn is one of Canada's most accomplished painters, having gained international recognition for his genre subjects on Canada's West Coast. He has painted in most parts of Canada, and in the United States, Central America, Europe and Asia. Born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1936, he attended Victoria College, The University of British Columbia and The Art Centre School in Los Angeles, California. |
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Bob carries on the tradition of the Canadian Landscape with fresh, painterly techniques and strong design, often and especially exhibiting his devotion to painting by reducing grand themes to small panels - painted in the wilderness he loves.
Visit his official site for more information on his art and books. Robert is a contributing editor to WetCanvas! and can be reached via email at rgenn@wetcanvas.com. Robert Genn's free twice-weekly letters can also be sent to you via email every Tuesday and Friday mornings by notifying him via e-mail at rgenn@wetcanvas.com. |
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