Honoring Paul Reynard: Insights on the creative process and the hidden possibilities of art

Last Friday January 23rd, the French painter and art teacher Paul Reynard died in his New York home. He wasn’t particularly well known for his art in the United States (in fact I couldn’t find any images of his paintings on the Internet.) However, I loved something he once said about the creative process:

“…there is a deep necessity in man to express himself…all arts respond to the same need, the need to express something which could never be discovered in any ordinary way, something that needs to be sought for, that doesn’t come by itself…[art is our] attempt to find this possibility, which is really a hidden possibility.”

I love the line: we are seeking something…that doesn’t come by itself.