But is it Art?

Well, here it is. Barring the odd tweak and shave this is pretty much it. So? Is it art?

If the definition of art is the end result of the urge that drives humans to scratch images on rocks or cave walls, then it is. But then the same is true of graffiti, some of which is viewed as art and some, well, not. Will it end up in the Guggenheim or Tate? Not likely.

The fact is though that something seemed fairly determined to express itself through me and I did what I'm able to give it expression within my current mastery of oils, and via the shape of my current visual preferences.

If I look at it from a longer perspective it seems both waif-like and wraith-like. It seems to be a portrait of a female consciousness dreaming deeply with a wildness and intensity bordering on madness. Perhaps it's an attempt by the battered and bewildered love in my own male consciousness to come to terms with the seemingly impenetrable mystery of the female principle, through the only aspect of life that's ever worked reliably for me - art. Whatever that might be. Visual media.

It struck me last night that there's a dominant arrow shape running through the head. I can't say how it got there, it just sort of happened and I took it for granted and worked with it. Looked at more closely it reminds me of a dark galaxy, and perhaps that's entirely appropriate as company for the moon.

Whatever the merits or lack of merit this piece might have something in me feels satisfied when I look at it. At least that's the state of things today. It's been known to change.