In His Own Words

Machyar Gleuenta

In His Own Words

This is not a matter of living in a dream, but living the dream. I think we can agree that it is a serious under-taking when conscious dreaming is pursued with discipline!

or me, cultivating the tradition of the Old Masters is not done to revive the style, but it is the acquisition of a body of knowledge——the pursuit of human’s intellectual ability: attainment and workmanship.

I look at my works and pieces that are still in progress as a challenge that I want to conquer, so I may become more facile at any task. When I say "challenge" I mean a discipline of fine art that governs my creations.

I always feel the presence of the Old Masters when I am in my studio or when I am working on a work of art. They talk to me and challenge me all the time—in fact, I feel that I still have a ways to go before I will have mastered their discipline. It is easy to have a passion for art, but to direct the mind to adopt the discipline of traditional fine arts is quite something else: it takes labor and concentration.

"Creating my art, living it with patience and diligence in the way the Old Masters did, is not a job. It is a career and a life-time commitment."

I know I have the ability to religiously and diligently put this discipline to work. It is not an easy job but if I put my heart and soul into it, I can do it. When the time comes to invest all my energy and all my power into creating a fine work of art, it can be challenging. When this happens, I always reflect on the lives of the Old Masters and I wonder how they managed and sustained the power within themselves to create a masterpiece. I know, and God surely knows, it was not by magic. I know that what they had back then was not better than what I have today: they walked on the same planet under the same sun, moon and stars and drank the same water. They might have had the advantage of a great teacher whom they could work and share their views with. They may even have worked as an artist's helper to master the skills of fine art, but even then the students needed to put their minds and hearts to work. The students couldn't just wish or expect the skill and spirit of a master to be automatically transferred to them. A body of knowledge, agility and the ability to create art had to be acquired; they just didn’t happen into being. Attentive action means a lot more than talent.

Creating my art, living it with patience and diligence in the way the Old Masters did, is a career and a life-time commitment. Any one who has seen me has seen one of the Old Masters. The techniques and principles I use are not just my own. Rather, it is the techniques and principles of the Old Masters (essentially it is God’s and given through them), living in me. I and the Old Masters are one even though they are greater than I. I am in the Old Masters and they are in me; or at least believe it is so based on the evidence of my creations themselves. God willing, in my own time I will do even greater works than what are shown on these pages. In this way, I will always honor the legacy of the Old Masters and the invaluable contributions that they have made to our world.

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