Ari Glass Lessons on Being an Artist

Known for the colorful fields of spider webs and shapes, Seattle artist Ari Glass is considered one of the best abstract painters. For him, art is all about freedom. However, there are several lessons that Ari Glass learned, and believes all artists should pay attention to.

Lesson # 1: Get out of your inner world, don’t follow recent art trends

According to Ari Glass, in order for a particular object to be legitimately regarded as art, it is necessary for it to be an unobstructed, outward manifestation of the artist's psyche - his authentic thoughts and feelings. Despite his lack of theoretical background, Ari Glass believes that theory came after, not before, true artistic creation.

He believes that the expression of inner reality is the key to achieving moral integrity. Anything below that would not only undermine the artistic value, but also mentally harm the artist. Furthermore, true artists, should prepare themselves to be misunderstood throughout their lifetimes.

Lesson # 2: Don't paint things. Take a picture in abstract form

Claude Monet’s famous, haystacks had an early influence on Ari Glass, catching his inability to identify the actual objects to which the forms referred. Initially surprised by this obstacle, Ari Glass soon embraced its possibilities, later insisting on art that was not only abstract but also completely unrepresentative.

Nowadays, artist Ari Glass experiments with compositions filled with lines, simple geometric shapes, and full points where they met or overlap. Unlike the suprematists and constructivists, he is not interested in exploring or achieving the purity of the composition per se, and considers devotion to any specific formal qualities irrelevant. Even in its simplest iterations, its forms would embody references to the artist's inner world.

Lesson # 3: Approach color as a window into the human soul

The impressionist painting introduced Glass to unorthodox ways of using color. By embracing this type of color freedom, he went one step further in thinking. Influenced by Color Theory, published by German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Ari believes that every color has an inherent personality. For example, green is like a cow- calm but strong. Yellow, though warm and earthy, also represents anger and could be deeply disturbing. Blue, on the other hand, is at the same time serene and heavenly and could be perceived as a kind of transcendent spirituality.