Pete Hubbard's Art

I am an artist who has shown throughout the Bay Area. I have been painting for 30 years and have a master’s degree in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. My studio is in Vallejo, California, thought by many to be next “artist colony” of the Bay Area. And I have been working as a draftsman in engineering for the past 20 years.

One of the main motivations in my work is to reduce the number of questions or choices I must make. I think many choices I am confronted with are minor or irrelevant to the subject of art. The size of a painting, the color, the subject and many other questions are irrelevant and mask the true question of art. So by answering as many of these questions by a neutral or unbiased process as possible I am revealing the true kernel of art. If most questions have been answered then the remaining query must be the one that must be answered by me. Which is the true irreducible quantum that is art. For instance, whether a painting is large or small is not a significant choice. The thing that is significant is that a choice must be made, not which choice is made. So I use a neutral mechanism to make a choice. I flip a coin or I spin a wheel. Make a choice, not which choice! When I follow this thinking to its logical end I find that I am at last confronted with a choice that is indeed significant. That is to paint or not to paint.

Not what to paint.

From that answer flows all else. Because when I’m confronted with a blank canvas, there are no questions or choices, because I have already made the only choice that counts. Paint! I lift my arm that has a brush in its hand. The brush is loaded with paint and I touch the brush to the canvas. It’s all down hill from there.

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