This Artist's Purpose

moon The other night I stood gazing at the full moon over the San Francisco Bay, on top of the Marin, California hills, with Mr. and Mrs. Neil with a beautiful glass of California red in our hands. We toasted to their new art collection. Mr. Neil booked an Experience of Art of their homestead perched on top of the Marin, California hills to as a gift to Mrs. Neil to celebrate their wedding anniversary. What a treat to be part of this kind of celebration.  They are a great couple. Mr. and Mrs. Neil had just acquired four oil painting studies and chosen the one that would serve as the basis for their large-scale custom piece. As we gazed at the moon, I suggested that they could look at the moon in such a way so that they would never look at it the same way.  I could change their view, shift their perception. “Do you see the bunny rabbit on the moon? I said. “It’s sitting in profile, ears at the top, and the paws to the left.” “Yes, I see it!” they delightfully replied. A permanent shift in perspective, a new way of seeing, this is what I ultimately hope to create as an artist. Each oil painting study offers the Neils a new way of experiencing a landscape that they are intimately familiar with. That's the power of art.  Our purpose as artists is the to shift the perception, the feelings, of the viewer, of the listener, the reader. That I can forever, or at least for a moment, shift the perception of the viewer, this is my rewarding purpose as an artist.
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