The menu "SVR Artist Background" to the left, only connected to this page has articles from my personal experience that shaped my art and ideas.

"History of Art" is a chronological evolution of my life as an artist.
The others are specific experiences and phases of life expanded  in more detail.

Immediately following is a short synopsis of personal philosophy.

Enjoy,

First, let me return to the question of anonymity:

I find self promotion egotistical and obnoxious.  However, there are times one must make a statement.  In this case, it is the impulse behind my art derived from fascinating adventure and a healthy contempt for authority.  Why do I think it's important to express this stuff publicly?  Well, it's probably not!  However, I am among the many who believe individuals have a responsibility to contrubute to society.  In my case, this contribution is the inspirational value of sharing my life story with those who may be inspired to seek their own path outside the dull gray morass of expected commercialism.  This is necessary for the world to progress and humanity to avert the imminent world wide crisis facing us today.  I also don't like speaking in first person either, but find it equally pretentious to use the third person as did J. Krishnamurti (who I do respect), because it is after all my story!

We live in a world saturated with glittering attractions intentionally engineered to channel the creative impulse of millions into a system of commercial exploitation for profit.  Commercial enterprise so well understands and uses the psychology of mind that it has become an almost insurmountable challenge for an individual to differentiate between actual thinking and a human version of Pavlovian response to stimulus.  Few can tell the difference between original thought and adopted word patterns cloaking uncontrollable emotional reactions.  Politicians and capitalists know this well and use it to herd countless unawakened people into unhealthy food, disposable junk products that deplete the natural environment, political ideologies that perpetuate social inequalities, and unjust wars; all for profit and only for profit.  So ingrained has this system become that most people in capitalist countries cannot even imagine that an intelligent person would ever question the profit motive.

A wise person once said something like; "Love of gold is the root of all evil".   Today we are watching the outcome of this love enacted on the world stage.

A different wise person once said; "The way of the world is that the less wealthy feed the poor to the more wealthy".  Today we are watching this as the method of acting out that love of gold.

An old aboriginal bloke once told me "All life is One".  That is the promise of the future, for all individuals are intimately connected with each, every living thing, the soil of the planet we live on, and the vastness of space in which it revolves.

While the first two errors lock humankind within that most primitive struggle called "survival of the fittest", the very fact that we are one with that which we destroy inevitably creates an internal struggle with the effectiveness, morality, and results of our own actions.  This again we are today seeing acted out on the world stage.  This is the battle between materialism and spiritualism; the love of gold and the love of consciousness.  This is the battle where willful, thinking, conscious choice sets one on the path to enlightenment.  The path of art.

In the Studio, Sandpoint, Idaho  2003

To "be an artist" is a very difficult thing.  Art schools and teachers can provide knowledge of skills and tools, paints, sculptural mediums, elements of composition, but no one can teach the creative act.  That must be discovered within ones own unique spiritual being.  The true object of real art is elevation of consciousness through development of skill and perception.  The object of exhibiting art is to inspire others.  To be an artist only for wealth and fame is nothing more than another aspect of materialism limiting the scope of creative potential and blocking it's effect on conscious perception, which is a grievous failure regardless of the fame and fortune that may result.  There is an ancient Tibetan saying in the Precepts of the Gurus that aptly applies; "Performing meritorious actions in order merely to attain fame and praise in this world is like bartering the mystic wish-granting gem for a pellet of goats dung; and this is a grievous failure."

To create "art" in its sense as an object is not the same thing as "being an artist".  To be an artist implies pursuit of creativity in every aspect of ones life.  The ancient alchemical definition of the term "art" as "Transmutation of baser metals into gold" has always been my favorite.  It is of course a metaphor, baser metals being the material body and the matter we use in expression of will and "gold" being pure spiritual consciousness.  Herein lies the basis of the age old image of the starving artist, who is the one driven to create above all else.  The one for whom the will to express in ones chosen medium is like breathing... it simply must be done against all opposition.  A commentary in the I Ching states; "thus the superior man stakes his life on following his will".  This of course has meaning only understanding that the "superior man" recognizes his interrelation with all and the basic principle of moral conduct.

Mastery of life recognizes consciousness to be a spiritual thing with a transcendental quality over material being.  Such concepts are totally incomprehensible to people who spend their life energy exclusively chasing fame, fortune, power over others, and amassing a great heap of material posessions, all of which they will inevitably lose before it is over.

Just about everyone knows this at least subconsciously, which is what gives objects of art their commercial value.  Objects of art carry the impulse of their creator through the process of "telekinesis", which materialists dispute because they can not recognize it.  Very wealthy people stuck in materialism frequently pursue the impulse of art by amassing collections of works from famous artists, never realizing that their insistence on the monetary value and importance of a famous name is a manifestation of materialistic obsession which creates a veil over their ability to pick up on the telekinetic value of the embodyment of the creative impulse behind the work.

Throughout history, there have been people who, although not artists themselves, have a closer realzation of the creative impulse and recognized that it flows through living beings during the process of creation.  These are the ones who are and have been "art patrons", choosing to support an unknown living artist over collecting works of famous dead artists for the "investment" value. The vast majority of Fine Art throughout the world has been and is being created by unknown artists.  This has always been so and will remain so throughout all eternity.  After all, the greatest artist ever is the One who has no name and whose true identity can never be known by any mortal human!

Thank you for reading,
Steven Lee Van Ronk

For adventures of SVR, read topics from the menu "SVR Artist Background" to the left.

For a chronological summary of life and work experience; read below.

To see current and past works of art, return to the Main Menu

To purchase art works (help the starving artist) see one of the "Art for Sale" menus.

To commission something contact me from the "Contact" link in the Main Menu