Second rate poets and artists...

For a one man show of my work some years ago, I added captions to my paintings.  I wanted the viewer to understand the creative thinking behind the painting – a similar concept to this diary.  More eminent and established artists were critical of my captions and online diary notes.  From their ivory towers, they claimed that a painting should speak for itself.

Well, I am happy to be in the ranks of second-rate artists.  To quote Oscar Wild:

"A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating. The worse their rhymes are, the more picturesque they look. The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets make a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize."

Here is a painting from that exhibition, with caption. 

“Every painting is a love affair.  As with such traits of the heart, the memory lingers on. 

This painting drips with affection.  I will never forget.”