With an impending trip to London (UK) my intentions are to devour as much art as possible. As a rule of thumb since before I can remember I go into galleries with pure hatred in mind. Every image that hangs on the wall I despise. Reverence must be earned by the artwork, only then can my eye discus it visually. I am not talking about intellectual appreciation of art....that is taught and understood. I am talking from and always from an artists eye. My desire has always been to suck the life out of a Monet, Michelangelo or Vincent Van Gogh. As a young grasshopper I can recall going to an Warhol exhibition at The National Gallery in Ottawa with my father. The place was packed. The rooms were like Noah's Ark. Art lovers with flyers and headphones listening intently as they munched on each painting one by one. I couldn't grasp the concept. I tried following the rotation around the rooms. I miniked the other movements when one adult leaned in the read a label, I leaned in to read a label. Halfway through the shoffel I stopped dead in my tracks. My father noticed. I felt emparrassed that I couldn't do what the others were doing. "This systematic viewing of art was werid to me" and "I couldn't take in an image that had not yet spoke to me" I quietly explained to my father. "Well then you do the show how you want to do the show" he answered back. So I did. Top speed I ran through the show only glancing at images that caught my eye naturally. I didn't worry about the writing on the wall or the procedure. All snap shots of colour, lines and composition. This behaviour made the docents uncomfortable (but what did I care??!!--). Then once I had captured a few distinct images I went back to them. I stood in front of them until my eyes felt like they would bleed. People pushed and shoved, "Tough" I was consuming art. We (as artists) have to find our own way of looking at art. Art should earn our personal respect--we should be critical of the work (appropriate to the stage in our artistic lives) Since then I have never felt obliged to take in every painting or to "ohhh and awwww"...I don't care when it was painted or how long it has been in the galleries collection? Those facts only become important to me as the art grows and stays with me. It's okay to go to the Uffizi and only view a few paintings, or walk through quickly. And now after many years of going back and forth to London-- in The National...I can't wait to see Mr. Turner again. Perhaps this time I will understand him more. Of Course I am always eager to meet someone new--like Mr George Henry (Japanese Lady with a Fan- oil on canvas-below)