The image of the tortured artist is cliché because it’s often true, and, more so, because we talk about it a lot. In fact we love it. It may be that it appeals to a strange human craving for martyrdom: we love those who suffer for their passions. But not all artists fall on their swords or mutilate their ears; for a whole bunch of them the creative process reflects an earnest desire to bring a burning passion or drive to create into harmony with a good, even calm life.
Dino Liddick is one of the seekers of calm. Dino’s exhibit, “With the Eye, For the Mind” is currently hanging in our Market Square location, and the work that comprises the show is built upon a foundation of mindfulness and kindness. Some of that is a reaction to an emotional life, and some is related to sheer practicality.
Certainly the artist has responded to emotional crises in his work, but for Liddick, the art isn’t merely a kind of therapy: it’s a statement of being. “Sometimes somebody will ask me how I feel, and I say, well, look at that painting – that’s how I feel.” On his website, he writes, “Rather than pulling ideas from the mind to produce ‘art,’” he, “practices clearing his mind through the process of a piece.”
Rather than formulate a work, Liddick hopes the piece will come together intuitively without too much conscious involvement. It’s an effort to feel rather than to think. When he’s moved by a subject or situation, Dino tries “to go home and reach that feeling, and let that feeling come into shape. I try to paint the feeling and then put in the shapes – I don’t try to the paint the shapes and then put in the feeling.”
In addition to his sensory exploration and mind clearing, Liddick has a practical side that comes with a sense of humor.
Often, he says, when the creative urge hits he’ll “usually have an abundance of white or an abundance of blue [paint]. I’ll 
be thinking of new painting so I’ll follow the path of least resistance. And I say, ‘Hey you got to love this color! Why not make it easy on yourself and make a nice blue painting,’ instead of saying, “Oh no! I’m an artist with this idea for red so I’m going to go out and spend $200 on red!’ I try not to be stuck up with myself.”
There’s also a Zen element to Dino’s conversation and art, and accepting the path of least resistance is part of his overall search for balance in the chaos that life can easily become.
“Whether I’m doing red or blue painting it’s up to me. If I get stuck or caught up in making a red one when I’ve got a lot of blue, I’m not taking the path of least resistance… I’m going to take this hard way. I see people struggling through their day, and they say l’ve got all this I’ve got to do… I slow down and just go home and chill and think be happy with your day instead of putting your happiness at the end of this long hard exhausting road. It’s almost like we Americans say you’re not happy unless you practically kill yourself today.”
“With the Eye, for the Mind” by Dino Liddick will be on view at the downtown Knoxville Tomato Head on Market Square from June 5th through July 2nd. The exhibit will display at the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from July 4th through August 3rd.