The Drama Of Simplicity

Harley Brown’s fascinating things no one else will tell you

We should often draw or paint subjects that many would think are rather commonplace. What’s important is putting our imagination and spirit into our love of art. In other words, through ourselves, we make a totally creative work.

This would be like one of the great moments in film history. Simple setting: backseat of a car with Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger discussing life. The film: On the Waterfront. I saw it in my mid-teens and remember every moment. Two men talking. Direct, natural, memorable.

Think Whistler’s Mother, Degas’ Dancer, Van Gogh’s Shoes, Durer’s Young Hare. Let’s include two works from two different worlds: Munch’s The Scream and da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Unembellished masterworks from the artists’ hearts.

Each of us as imaginative, individual artists, can draw or paint anything. When it’s from within it’s important and that’s why we’re here.

Begin in the arts becomes one of the reasons for waking up in the morning and we carry it to bed at night. To me, it is both part of my life and all of my life. Family and friend and daily routines, somehow all reflect upon my art. Sometimes peripherally and at other times with a mighty and positive force. Art is not work. What is art? Art is us.

Finding a Rhythm