Paul Nicholson - California Artist.

Creative expression is the birthright of every human being. Therefore, everyone should be an artist. However, we live in a time, in a part of the world, where the importance of art and the life path of the artist are misunderstood. Few children are encouraged to take the path.

Artists are important to societal integrity. A work of art, when at it's best, should inspire, set wonderment in motion; it should connect artist and all viewers at what I call the level of the moment; that place of oneness, of no "other".

It is, I feel, the task of the artist to provide decent points of departure for this very important, very human experience.

The art I make is something I do both for its own sake and for my own release. For me it is more of a calling than anything I have a choice about.  I feel more of a conduit; a channel for what becomes my art to come into this dimension through. It’s like it chooses me as much as I choose it. I’ve been doing this now for over forty years and I still feel a sense of beginner’s mind about it all. There is always something to learn, some magic moment of awakening usually while doing something where I think I know how what the outcome will be ... but then, some "accident" will happen and I'll have something new and unexpected...

As I've stated above, I believe that artistic expression is the birthright of every human being and that art is essential to human well-being. Whether it is art we make ourselves, a collaboration with someone, or the artwork of another, we need to have an art experience of some kind every day or we lose our higher humanity. Art making is something that distinguishes us as a species. I believe it was once as ubiquitous among us as song and nest building is among most bird species. This is exemplified by the ruins of ancient civilizations. Almost every wall and pillar in those early cities of North Africa, Southern Asia and Central America was adorned with a mural, a fresco, a mosaic, a carving... the sacred graffiti of those times, if you will. In individual homes, household religious icons, pottery, frescoes all were artfully rendered either by the resident or by someone in the tribal community.  As humanity experimented with new forms like empire, large numbers of us stopped doing art ourselves due to the demands on our time because of the amount of work required by the rulers; but art making was continued by master members of the society who still managed due to their skill, the quality of their particular craft and familial or political connections to make art full time. Over time, sadly, it came to be generally believed that only certain "gifted" people could be artists. I feel there is a direct correlation between the rise of social strife, personal violence, depression, etc. and the degree to which art making has been abandoned by the people.

Today, art making IS a calling. Those who receive it haven’t got much choice.

So in closing, there is for me a definite sense, a palpable feeling, that my best artwork comes through me from some other level of being. There is an importance, an urgency about it, irrepressibility about it akin to that of buds needing to burst into leaves at some subtle urging of time and conditions. Leaves that in time fall away and have individual destinies quite apart from the tree that grew them.

So it is with an artist's works. Once complete, they eventually blow away on the winds of time and space into their own stories.

My job as an artist is to get ME out of the way as much as possible so the art can come through. Because we need to slow down, as we do when we are drawn to a work of art for whatever reason... to enter that timeless place of reflection, of reverie. So thank you for visiting my site, I hope you take the time to enjoy yourselves.