See art in a fresh way.

For artists carving out time for artistic creation it is a hard won battle honoring private mental space. When creation is in full swing, there is no other feeling quite like it. But it is egocentric, which is great and essential for making art, but terrible for artists writing about art.

Visual artists are rarely writers, yet they must write bios, and artist statements, and often, they have blogs, and post on forums. It seems that visual artists, more than most professionals, often start paragraphs and sentences with "I."

This is unfortunate as the big "I" makes the audience feel excluded. And that is a shame, because they really want to know how art comes about, how artists think about it, and what inspires them.

The easiest way for artists to meaningfully communicate their passion and authenticity is to bypass starting paragraphs or sentences with "I," and simply find another avenue to open with their insights. This will engage the audience and encourage them to respond positively to the artist.

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This tutorial is dedicated to my friend and art collector, George Cordero, for his unabashed criticism of yours truly for starting too many paragraphs with "I."

Michael Newberry
Santa Monica, December 2011

copyright 2012 by Michael Newberry