[Tom Edgerton]

I think that Thomasin has a real point here.

I'm grateful that there are artists and manufacturers in the world who consider themselves to be "keepers of the flame" in regard to sound choices in artists' materials and sound painting practices. It's knowledge that needs to be researched, documented and passed on, partly because a lot of it was very nearly lost.

But there lurks in the discussion sometimes an implication that painting materials--especially in the discussion of oils--are fragile and delicate creatures and that if one is to use them one needs to walk on eggshells. Oil painting is an extremely robust and resilient medium, forgiving of experimentation. My fear is that some potentially transcendent images will remain unexpressed because we engender in artists an unnecessary timidity about procedure. Reasonable care with archival procedure will produce a hardy and durable result.

To Marvin's point, the art that belittled or ignored sound procedure in the past doesn't survive and I agree with that assessment, but I also resist the implication--not necessarily Marvin's--that there is an extremely narrow line that can be walked in regard to materials and application. It's more complex than that; I would submit that the really great art that survives today was created by a wide spectrum of both artistic attitude and approach to technique and materials. And I would also agree with Thomasin that part of the reason that the great art of the past survives was that the images were transcendent and moving enough that someone valued them and saw to it that they were protected.

I once heard Burt Silverman say, "Concentrate on making great art, and if it's good, someone will be around to take care of it." This makes a lot of sense to me.

I don't believe we ought to be oblivious to sound procedure, or that experimentation and innovation depends on ignoring it. This is the conceit of a childish iconoclast that prizes rebelliousness for its own sake. But sometimes on this forum we get inquiries that sound like there are neophyte painters out there who are paralyzed with fear about technique and the "rules," and I'd hate to see the next "Juan de Pareja" go unpainted for this reason.

By now you know that I'm a Centrist in most things, so I expect that my moderate attitude toward this discussion will be unsatisfactory to artists on both ends of the spectrum. I'm comfortable with that.

(PS...I've occasionally cooked with flaxseed oil. It's really not bad.)