“Creativity takes Courage” Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

When Henri Matisse spoke these words I am sure they came from the heart. He would of personally felt this when he exhibited Woman with a Hat (1905) at the Salon gaining the comment “A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public” from the critic Camille Mauclair. Comments like that can crush an artist in one little sweep and make us question ourselves  ‘What on earth are we doing?’, which is not good for creativity. Nevertheless, some will say we deserve it for exhibiting it in the first place!

Creating art work is a deeply personal act and I sometimes feel like a piece of me is extracted when I create an image, so when you produce an exhibition of new work it is really like putting your heart on your sleeve for the audience to make of it what they will (as you may be able to tell I am suffering from Pre-exhibition/preview jitters).  

However, at the end of the day these comments sting and all an artist really wishes for is recognition but when that is achieved – we just want to rebel!