ART INSIGHTS Creating Wealth as a Successful Artist - John Dahlsen

I remember telling the media during themid-90s that I hoped one day I would stopmaking art out of found plastics becausethe beaches were clean. Although thebeaches around my hometown are a lotcleaner these days due to communityeffort, on a worldwide scale ocean litter hasgotten much worse. Nowadays I would notbe able to create the kind of found objectworks from collecting plastics off the localbeaches here.My paintings of landscapes and seascapeswere not pretty pictures. They are ratheredgy and infused with a sense of urgency.These paintings have in a sense a kind offoreboding as regards the current ecologicalcrisis. We exist in a state of urgency. Wedon’t know how long we’re going to befortunate enough to have our planet as alife-giving place that is healthy enough tosupport life.I am now working with driftwood again.It’s great to not feel any restriction in whatit is that I create. I’m just enjoying going125