Artist Statement

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Artist Statement

Toller Cranston (1949-2015), CM, OLY, LL.D

“The basis of all art is sincerity—to be yourself, to rely on your own judgement, and to trust your own gut feeling of what is right.”

When Andy Warhol founded Interview Magazine in 1969, it was the hippest, hottest magazine in New York. I met him once. Andy Warhol was out there and brand new. The magazine was out there and brand new. I don’t think I am brand new. I learned from seeing others. I taught myself through my own experiences.

I’m an Aries/Taurus. Aries is the god of athletic ability and individuality. Taurus is the sign of the artist. Both the ram and the bull will charge and not backtrack. I have always charged into anything artistic, full steam ahead, without looking right or left, and never wondering what is going to happen.

I am fascinated by DNA. For me, it is undeniable that the concepts, the subject matter, the sense of colour, the people, the world, the imagery—everything that is in my paintings was in evidence when I was six years of age. For me, there never was a period of evolving to something. Everything was already there. It is different for many other artists. Look at Mondrian, for example, who moved from naturalism, to still-life, to extreme abstractions done in geometric forms and squares. That wasn’t me. My path was set. It was in the genes. And for me, the influences seem to be of Russian origin, or Mongolian, or definitely Eastern. What is so odd is that it was in evidence back at grade school in Baie d’Urfé, Québec. Even then, my work was completely different from the work of the other students who would have been influenced by the times in which they lived or the things they would have seen. My influences seemed to come from some kind of subterranean creative reservoir. It is obvious in every painting that I ever did, from when I was six, until now.

Childhood Drawings

  • Child's colorful pond drawing with animals and plants.
  • Child's drawing of a horse jumping, with rider.
  • Child's drawing of Christmas scene with Santa, tree.
  • Colorful drawing of a fairy in green outfit.

As soon as I sit down in the studio, I enter a different world. It doesn’t matter how tired I am. As soon as I sit in this chair in this little space it is like embarking on the Magical Mystery Tour. I just go somewhere else. I am never aware of what period I am in because I am simply doing it.

Artists record their lives in the work. I literally can go back, and I could say, “Well in January 1999, this is what I did, and this is where I was.” A painting freezes the moment in a way that skating never could. Live performing doesn’t do that. In live performing, you are only as good as your last performance.

I am humbled by the knowledge of what has preceded me. I know that I am not da Vinci, but I have a creative energy propelling me forward, even against my will sometimes. It is a force. At the end of a long day, I am squirming a bit because I still have a drive to go back to my studio and work longer. Unless that energy is exorcised each day, I am frustrated and not in harmony with myself. My problem is that it is very, very difficult to turn it off.

Someone once asked me, if I had unlimited money for the rest of my life, would I take it at the expense of never being creative again and of course the answer is “no.” Nothing is more wonderful than being creative and the pleasure for an artist, even though it’s nice to eat, isn’t about money and selling, it is the doing.