Hmmm....as a photographer, graphic artist, and fine artist...I've got a wide variety of answers to this. First, art is an inner part of me. So it doesn't matter what it is that I do...there will always be some mark of my individuality in the piece. This is what many in the art community call a "sense of style." Even as a teacher, I find that young students will have already developed a tenative style in the classroom.


* Is it a faithful and accurate representation of a real subject?

This depends on wether or not I was commissioned to do the work. If I have been, then I feel it is my responsiblity to portray as accurately as possible the thoughts and feelings of those who have commissioned me. If it is for myself, then I often take "artistic liberty" with whatever it is that I recreate.

* An artist with the imagination and flair to express themselves in whatever form their eye leads them

I carry a notebook and a camera with me at all times....one never knows when the muse will tap you on the shoulder and say "HEY! That is an AWESOME idea!"

* the choice and use of colour, or boldness of line

I tend to use as obnoxious of color as I can...I love brilliant, intense coloring on ANYTHING...be it a tree, a rock or a person! If I am working in black and white, then I love as much contrast as possible.

* the sense of the artist revealing themselves in their work

"An artist is a reflection of his society"...one of my favorite quotes by the late Professor Joseph Campbell. He goes on to explain in his interview with Bill Moyers (in the Power of Myth) that the artists of the world really become the world's historians. What they see, and then reinterpret, becomes a very accurate look at how that society of people lived. Granted, when you look at the vast, diverse collection of people that inhabit the world at this point, it's almost overwhelming to sift through the mountains of artistic work to get a sense of modern people.

So what makes art? How would I define it? This has been a question of my own that I've tackled time and again. As far as I know...art is the only form of communication that touches everything. There is no single person that could function without it....it is a uniquely human trait.

One of my favorite local artists, Anne Martin, would often tell me that without her art, she could not function. She would tell stories of her marriage when it was new and having babies crawling on the floor...often her drawing table would sit right next to the ironing board. She said that she finally figured out that she had to draw FIRST, and then taking care of her family came second. At this time, I was in college and I thought "How selfish!", but after a while, I began to envy that kind of passion that she had. She NEEDED art to survive, and I had to MAKE art to survive. After I graduated though, I found out that I was very like Anne....I had put up my pencils and paper, and left my camera in it's bag...and found out that I simply wasn't happy. I couldn't explain it...I had food, I had love, I had a home to live in, a good job and great friends! Until one day I picked up my tools once again and started to create....THEN I was complete. So what makes the artist? I haven't figured that out yet. (I've got a few right-brain, left-brain theories to play with too.)

"If you walk you can dance, If you talk you can sing."

The Treehouse