Statement 2010

 

I paint because I love it. I paint because we’re all brought up to think we can do whatever we want and I bloody-well listened. I paint because I go into a museum and I see such wonders captured in time and I want to be part of that. I paint because the world is so much bigger than me and completely beyond my influence but on the canvas I am god. I paint because after just a few days of not painting I begin to get irritable. I paint because art should be accessible and I hope to fill a void.

I paint because most of the time it makes me happy. Very happy. I think that’s important. I find it very easy to get caught-up in trying to rationalize art-making, to attach it to some higher ideal beyond the simple pleasure of making something that I enjoy looking at; and that leads to draft statements and drunken rants that go on & on & on & on and only end-up in me feeling angry and useless.

So let's be positive: I paint because it's fun (at least, it is most of the time).

 

 

Eric Henshall. May 2010.