Kitchen goblins know the whimsical answer

Cute monsters rule the internet.

What makes good art? Toggling between the familiar and the unknown, kitchen goblins know the answer. Pictures always searching for wildness and for the freedom to operate on their own terms.

sad happy whimsical fishes

The juicy part of every artwork is done using the mind, not the fingers.

Symbolism, Allegory & Metaphors

Life is art like that of a moth to a flame. Complexity is uncertainty.

You will have gathered if you didn't know already, a hermit crab out of its shell is a metaphor for the artist's life and death. Mute art should speak for itself.

art life anxiety

The work should speak for itself.

Moths and other insects are drawn to lights at night as reliably as planets orbit stars. Entomologists have long exploited insects drawn to lights at night by setting out light traps whenever they want to collect insects. Poets have reached for the image of a moth drawn to flame to signify self-destructive behavior in works ranging from “The Merchant of Venice” to the Hindu epic the Bhagavad Gita.

bullies have low self-esteem

There are essentially two ways to feel good about oneself: 1) be or become better than others, and 2) put others down any way one can. With actual talent running short, option 2) is what is left.

The new information age might not always aiming at bending the rules, unruly artworks do have a point.

fear of anxiety

Because odd pictures may be important to the understanding of human emotion, a large number of statistical methods have been developed to detect the fear behind the images. But to see the big picture requires looking outside the art studio.

Drawing numbers is the best cure for arithmophobia because there's nothing else to do. When in doubt, ask someone. Everyday art is everywhere around you and looking to cooperate with friendly household spirits.

All great boredom killers tell a story, artists have to take care that they do not fool themselves.

Contemporary stuff is more about ideas than danger signs, but how can some whimsical artist solve my problem?

Symbol for absurd

There is no future in the past. How important theoretical thinking is, how it is a force for good: The canvas will wilt before I finish my painting.

What are the lessons learned from the postmodern theoretical puzzlement? That sounds terribly abstract and some examples may help. Fit your round peg into theoretical square hole if you like.

I knew that something had to change, but none of the obvious options were appealing. Graphic art is a great boredom killer since empty brains are the devil's shop.

Paintings drawing attention to the ways in which individual and collective memory collide to shape history and geography, and ultimately, the present.