Moving for anybody is a big ordeal. Moving for a visual artist is probably worse. I think it is important for artists to move around. It is not mere restlessness or lack of inspiration, the true motivation is finding a place where you can be productive.
Van Gogh moved many times in his life. What did he do with his work? Just think about the size of the Potato Eaters which is painted in oil on canvas, 82 cm × 114 cm (32.3 in × 44.9 in) He made sketches and even a lithograph while staying at his parents house in Neunen. When he moved to Paris, he did not have the advantage of a U-haul truck and even if he had, he did not have money to transport paintings. Nor did he have a fixed address. He must have left everything behind, never selling a piece and not even photographing it for documentation.
Letting go is the key for a worry-less existence.
Many of his drawings were seen as scrap and must have ended in a landfill. Vincent Van Gogh always travelled light. I think I can learn from that. My mentor said about old paintings; “Get rid of them, otherwise they will become a heavy stone around your neck. You can always make more and they will be better.”
I am planning on bringing the paintings I am currently working on in my car on Easter to Asheville, together with a small selection of old paintings. Normal luggage can easily be stacked in my little car. The rest I will leave behind. If I cannot sell it before the end of March it might go from the storage to the dump in October.
Me too wants to travel light.
