Integrity

Styles and techniques help artists create high quality works, nevetheless, integrity is the one ingredient that marks a work of art as authentic and unique, something not easily done. The pressure coming from the media, family, friends, art dealers, curators, interior designers point tyranically a direction to the artist. Basically they want you to make their ideal work, not your own. Gallery owners appreciate art, but their basic interest is to make money and to sell whatever they are capable of selling to their clients regardless of their taste. History tells us that artists making the most money are not necessarily the greatest. In fact some of the greatest were refused the salon floors and the impressionists come to my memory.
Artist attitudes often vary, those who prefer to make quick easy money no questions asked, and amongst these we find the fakers; those who will retain their inner values, but on occassion will ignore them when money comes short. They often end up accepting commissions they later regret doing. It is important to create works of art for ourselves, to reach the inner core, to trust our guts, to ignore the status quo, to dismiss the trendy color, to turn our back to contemporary labels and tags in order to stand apart.
You most know where you stand, your own peculiar taste and boundaries. How else are you to create new art? KNOW THYSELF!!
When I've attended art fairs, museum exhibitions, benefit shows and group shows of all sorts, I've noticed artists copying each other especially the fashionable artist, the highest paid artist, following trends, duplicating works from expensive glossy art magazines which end up winning cash prizes, works created by other artists, already placed in museums abroad and the experts can´t even tell the difference! And they dare, to call these works their own!

Are you willing to attain fame and fortune by copying other peoples work? Are you going to do your own thing, be yourself and stand alone if you have to until you get there? Is that your call? Fame and fortune is not every artist's call. Some artists are willing to fight for freedom of expression with their lives if they have to. But freedom of expression can be dangerous at times when it endangers the general public. Do you want AIDS for ART SAKES? You may ask yourself, what do they want, notoriety? Scandals? A choice has to be made. I am one who believes that true greatest is achieved by lots of work, by learning from failure, by pushing oneself, by studying all the art that you can, refraining from copying. By daring to be yourself.