Art about Art about Art.

I have, I guess what you could call a skill in that I am very good at seeing or linking images that look alike or may have been influenced by another. This quality has be pointed out to me recently by others in that I can see a work and then recommend another avenue to follow in the same vein.

This works against me at times in that I might start a work and realize that it is my take on a work or a style of work that I have just seen or read about it. Am I trying to gain a better understanding by emulating the work?
Classical academy tuition in art was to produce copies of the art considered to be masterpieces that was hanging museums.

Do we wear our influences in some shape or form in the work that we produce? Are we inspired by and then pushed to reinterpret the work that impresses us? Do the works of others trigger or start the process for you?

Does art become art about art which in itself was about art?

Does this happen across the arts be it music, literature, film?

London

It occurs to me that I don’t write about London despite spending a fair bit of time there contrary to what people think I don’t live there. Its always one of the first questions people ask when they find out you’re from Great Britain, England or the U.K:

“Do you live in London?”

I have in the past but the older and grouchier I get I find cities especially the larger ones to be places where life seems to be dominated by the pursuit of money and only enjoyable with money to burn. While that’s a somewhat broad and sweeping generalization, my London is pretty much limited to certain areas where I have favourite bookshops, museums or restaurants. To me my London is not that interesting but it might be to others. Which gives me the idea to one day take pictures of the facades of places I go in London and put those into another post.

I do wonder if I would be happier in any other city or would be it as simple as being happier if I had access to friends more often rather than travelling across the city to see people.

Also I have started to wonder if people only make the effort to see each other when you’re visiting their country because they know that they have a limited window of time to see you?

Or perhaps I need better friends that said I do like to go at my own pace for the most part. I am definitely marching to the beat of my own drummer and it’s not always in time.