Painting is what I do. I set up a palette and apply paint to a canvas with a brush and render a depiction of a three dimensional subject onto a two dimensional surface. It’s a simple enough idea, but the process is always a catharsis.

As I paint, I am implementing a plan to accomplish a goal. I am solving problems. I am considering rules and principles. I am looking, seeing, and trying to understand. I am calling on my experiences and what I know about my subject and the world it occupies. I am continually evaluating, failing, succeeding, and re-evaluating. I am deciding what finished means. I am trying to see my work and what it says about me through another’s eyes.

When I am done, I am satisfied. I gave myself to the process and put forth the best effort I could during that time. I thought, remembered, and learned. The completed work, while being the most concrete, is only part of the product of the process. And, hopefully, the work itself will be more than just paint applied to a canvas with a brush.

Michael Janosky
Sunday, April 26, 2020

This piece was written in response for a call-out from Nickel Plate Arts for their May, 2020 exhibit about process and the healing power of art. I had always wanted to express where I was at in my head when painting and am glad to have received the necessary prompt.