explaining

 I'm not much of an art person. I did grow up hearing about artists however. That's what happens when you grow up in the Hamptons. Whoopy do. Anyway, there was/is the artist colony. I would hear about these folks and what great works of art they produced. I can recall going to Guild Hall, that bastion of civility and culture residing on Main Street. I looked at that art hung in the gallery and would just shake my head. I couldn't believe folks would pay good money to see that stuff. Art? If you say so, but not to my way of thinking. I never did make any claims to being sophisticated. Sophisticated just means willing to spend a lot of money for something completely subjective, but it is the " new " thing. Rich people decide what is sophisticated.
 I did think about that art though and wondered. Why would you make paintings, and that's using the term loosely, that you can't tell what it is? Oh, I realize the artist put a name on it, I realize the artist tells you what it is, and if you are sophisticated enough you will agree, but still the question of why. I guess it is because as the artist you do get to tell others what it is without having to actually paint that object. Then I figured it out. It's because all the great artists painted all the great pictures hundreds of years ago. Yes, it is hard to compete with Michelangelo and that gang! Is anyone capable of matching or exceeding such painting today? As I said I'm not much of an art person but I haven't heard anyone mentioned lately. The last big artist I heard about that painted recognizable objects was Warhol. And he painted Campbell soup cans! Very sophisticated stuff. So I wonder, is that the reason? You have to produce something different, something new. Can't out paint DaVinci so I'll just splash some paint around and tell you it means something. Dali painted melted clocks and people loved it. Very sophisticated. Well as Dad was fond of saying, a fool and his money soon part company. I'm not fooled by any of that.
  I wonder too, is anyone writing that classical music anymore? You know what I mean? Haven't heard about any new operas or concerto's lately. Well unless you count the Who and Freddy Mercury. All the big orchestras still play the same old tunes by Mozart, Bach, Brahms and that crowd. I guess they do anyway, I haven't been to any concerts so it's just a guess on my part. Is that why music keeps changing as well? You can't out compose Beethoven! So now we have progressed all the way to Rap where you don't even need musical talent, just a beat and the ability to rhyme words. Maybe that's the reason we " drop " new music today. It sure isn't uplifting. LOL They could drop all that crap in the trash as far as I'm concerned. I admit I'm no big fan of the Classics, I'm not sophisticated enough to understand all of that, but it is the pinnacle of musical composition no doubt about that. Personally I'm happy with a few chords, a melody I can sing, and good lyrics. Simple stuff for a simple mind I suppose.
 It's been said everything that goes around, comes around. I sure hope so. There are a lot of things that need to make a return. Art and music aren't really a big concern of mine. I like my art to depict something I understand, like a sailing ship on the sea or flowers in a meadow. A good portrait is nice. I think your art should reflect your personality. I sure don't want a picture that looks like spilled paint on my wall. Good grief what will people think? To justify that I would have to employ an old trick. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull shit. And that's what those paintings are to me. You know the older I get the more likely I am to tell you what I really think. I believe that is true for most of us. I guess it is because I'm getting tired of explaining. The explanation isn't for me, it's for you. For that reason I need to follow my own advice, just keep it plain and simple.