Someone asked about the value of comments on the visual arts from people who have no or little training. Here is my reply:
"From the very beginning untrained peoples have had their say and their experience of the visual arts. By a small flame they looked upon images on the walls of a cave and if they did not speak, at least they thought about what they saw and imagined from it. Today is no different and we are the same as those ancients. We look at a work of visual art and imagine ourselves the hero of the hunt or cringe at memory of the last failed hunt. In other words, we place ourselves in the context of what we see and experience it as if the running waters of our own life. Untrained people will always have their say and their thoughts. Most do not have the specialized vocabulary to bear witness to what they feel and are left with, "Awesome" or, "Amazing". But I am convinced that their experience is genuine and true according to their lives. The arguments, discussions and stories follow about what happened in the hunt or in the studio or over the sofa and they continue what should or could have happened. These are nevertheless our audience. Some of our works will elevate this audience to a higher pitch or leave them grumbling disappointed --but works of visual art -like the tides -will always touch the shores and leave more, or take sand away."