To A Student:

I have a high degree of affection and empathy for those students who are frustrated with fine art schools. They expected to be taught. . . to learn something of value - skills to be honed in order that their souls be freed -  freed from obssessions with technique - freed to explore .  There is nothing more insulting than  paying for a degree based on esoteric skill sets rather than the expected craft.   

Fine art schools, like medical schools, are expensive to attend. The only difference is that in the end, a medical graduate not only has a degree he or she has a position. Art students, after fine art school, may have a diploma but most would never get hired in a professional studio let alone be able to make a living from their learned skills. This is true simply because they have not spent enough time and energy during those academic years to hone their skills.  This is true because in  many fine art schools it is no longer necessary to know how to draw, paint, sculpt etc. to get a degree.  Try to get a medical degree without skills. . .

When an art student (and/or parents who usually pay)cannot find a fine art school where the faculty is more talented and expert than the student  - in other words a faculty they can trust - they should create their own training program based on the following

1. Enroll in an art history course where a prominent art historian teaches. Attend classes everyday.
2. Spend the rest of your day - every day - in a studio working without the diatribe or purported camaraderie of a standard fine art school. Learn what it is like to work alone and without influence from any but those sources which initially led you to the visual art realm. These will sustain you when study gets tough.
3. Find yourself a mentor(s)
1. someone who will not coddle you when you need to be pushed 
2. someone who will demand that you improve your skills every day.
3. someone who will encourage the development of your personal visual statements while not holding you up as an "artist" before your time.
4. Someone who cares enough about you to tell you the truth.  

Creating artwork is about having acquired skill sets to such a degree they become part of your make-up. They are so assimilated that you no longer have to think of them  to say what you have to say. They no longer rule your actions but have simply become professional tools in the expression of your inner thoughts, feeling and sentiments. Creating art is about going beyond the basics, beyond talent, beyond skill. Art is about seeing and analyzing and adapting your visions to a 2 or 3 dimensional  state but it can only do that if it does not have to "think".  Artwork is about necessary limitation to the skill set. Art is about visually speaking  not only coherently but beautifully.

Artwork is art, whether the subject is beautiful or powerfully negative, when it is  poetically stated - so well stated it takes our breath away.  Art is not about shock. It is about relevance, connection, impact. If it lacks in these areas, it is never Art. - 15-02-08

Artistic expression cannot be judged. But the craft can, the technical skill which turns the reflections of thoughts and emotions into poetry or dredge. A student of the arts is never satisfied with his or her basic skills and craves, always, a higher level of poetry. - 26-09-05

D'après la qualité des mémoires publiés de nos jours, il serait peut-être mieux de publier nos oublies. - 05-05-05