Reflections on the role of the artist: THE ARTIST AS VISUAL POET

As I have started to look for venues to present my paintings to people, I have encountered different sets of demands. These demands led me to reflect on the role of the artist in our culture in order to better understand how I want to position myself in the larger social context.

The way an artist thinks of his role in the larger social context determines the intent and the content of his work.

In reviewing the landscape of practicing artists, a number of roles come to mind. The artist as visual poet, the artist as rebel as agent of social change, the artist as social commentator.

The visual poet experiences amazement triggered by something. A wave,a sunset, a landscape, a seascape or a cityscape. All of us respond emotionally to certain images or colours. I am moved by nature in all of it's forms, mountains, oceans, streams and trees affect me and it is this emotional response that I tranpose in my work. I am particularly influenced by the interplay between light and dark, sunlight and shadows. I am equally attracted to the intricacies of light dancing on water.

Different artists are moved by different things and this shapes what they present to the world.
Abstract artists are transported by colour and form. With only those two elements to play with, abstract art is the Haiku of visual poetry.

Some artists are moved by people living in cities and their work displays cityscapes showing how people in every angle. People in coffee shops or walking down a dark rainy street, homeless people or crowds waiting for the subway; all are subjects allowing an exploration of the wonderment about people.

Realist painters who are shunned by many as mere technicians are really visual poets attempting to share with others the object of their fascination in the hope of eliciting an emotional response to their subject. Maybe it the majesty of a lion, or the shimmering of light dancing on the waters of a stream. The goal is to share the emotion and communicate it by attempting, to elicit it in the viewer.

The aim of visual poetry is to provide a counterpoint to the harshness of life. In a world where violence, death and injustice abounds being able to balance with these tidbits of amazement allows the pain and suffering of every day life to be bearable. This simple act is not a mere distraction the hardships but the reaffirmation that life is amazing and worth the trip. The visual poet aims to go beyond just expressing an emotion and seeks to communicate it with others. But communication is a reciprocal process that involves two actions; expressing something then listening for the response.

Just as poetry requires an audience the visual poetry of art requires a viewer. This viewing is not a passive process but an active one that allows the painter to hear and feel how his art elicits emotions in his viewers. For many artists this experience is more valuable than anything else.

At the present it is in this light that I see my role as an artist.

My Evolution through 2011

A year ago at this time... I had never shown any of my paintings to anyone. I was exploring the possibility of doing so in 2011 as an experiment, just to get a sense of how people would respond.

Well the experiment is over before the year is over. I first took the plunge and had a solo show at Neilson Park Creative Centre and exhibited 30 paintings under the title: The Colour of My Darkness. Sales were good the response was amazing... People loved my paintings. The curator of Gallery in the Gardens saw my work and offered 5 weeks of exhibition at Sherway Gardens with a sculptor from Taiwan, Shuhui Lee. Around the same time, I was also attending the One of A Kind Show...and found the feedback overwhelming. People felt touched by my work.

Finally, this summer I took a painting to a new framer to be reframed. When I picked up my painting, I jokingly said she should feel free to call me when she was ready to show my paintings. Synchronicity is everything. The artist scheduled to exhibit his work cancelled that very day. She suggested August was open providing the curator liked my work.

We had a show in August at Galleria 814 under the title: Contrast in Nature: explorations in pastel. I discovered that August is not the best month of the year to have an exhibition. However the support and the feedback was again very positive.

I draw and paint for pleasure and I always have. Now I also have the pleasure of touching other people with my art, of connecting with them through my paintings... what a privilege

Claude J. Millette

Moving in at Walnut Street Studio

I have moved into the Walnut Street Studio but have only been able to spend a few hours painting in the last few weeks... Packing and trying to get everything else done.  I have however uncovered a pile of my latest pastels that I will photograph and show online here in the next week.
I have started tweeting and despite my original trepidation found it to be really useful in finding people with similar interests in terms of painting.

I am working on a few pieces based on the Elora Gorge and hope to be able to finish some of it next week.