The need to create art is an enigma. 

In the roughly 30 years of my life that I remember, there has barely been a day without feeling the desire – the need – to create art of some kind. As an adult, this need has largely been suppressed – the modern lifestyle leaves little time for creative pursuits, and our society leads us to believe that such pursuits are of little value in any case. Yet, even in this environment, the desire does not just go away – it is merely contained, fighting vigorously at its constraints. 

This paradox – the fact that the desire does not go away in the face of extreme pressure to do so – causes me great anxiety and paralyses my creativity. It has led me to intensively question why I want to make art, what the point is, and why I simply cannot remove art from my life. 

I decided I needed to answer this question through reading, thinking, learning about myself and, perhaps above all, doing my art. I consider this to be the process of becoming an artist, and I want to document this. for art’s sake is where I do that. The blog is essentially a personal journey of discovery, a scrapbook where I file my thoughts, feelings and contemplations on the reasons for and process of artmaking. But I hope that letting others into this journey will firstly provide opportunities for  interactions that contribute to this journey, and will also provide inspiration and encouragement to others on a similar journeys. 

I consider myself an artist, but at the moment I primarily work with photography – you can see related but more photography-specific content on my sister blog photography for art’s sake. You can also see my portfolio at www.ianfyfephotography.com.

Art for art’s sake
An expression of the philosophy that art has an intrinsic value, and that ‘true’ art is independent of any didactic, moral or utilitarian function

Aesthetics
A branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of art, beauty and taste and with the creation or appreciation of beauty

Main influences
Claude Monet
Pablo Picasso
Piet Mondrian
David DuChemin
Michael Freeman
David Bayles
Ted Orland
Bryan Peterson