Reply to Tony Kemp who requested permission to use some of my paintings for his book

Tony wrote:

G'day Jeff Neugebauer,

My name is Tony Kemp and I am currently writing a book about Creation and the Garden of Eden.

This book is also a compilation of the best of modern art. I believe your artistic work of "choices" would be a wonderful addition to this compendium of art.

I replied:

Hi Tony,

I'd be happy to contribute to your book and I'm flattered to be asked. I think the image "Trust" might also be suitable for the Garden of Eden theme and/or "In Your Image" for the Creation theme. I've attached them for you to see. I look forward to speaking with you further.

Tony wrote:

I was surprised at your quick committal to the book.  There are few artists who say yes so quickly - for a lot of artists I have to go to great lengths to explain where I am coming from before they agree to allow me to use their art. Is there a reason that you are so "free and easy"? Part of your philosophy?

I replied:

I think there's a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I put my heart into my work and I paint and draw to express ideas that I would like to communicate with others. Because my paintings communicate visually, it only makes sense that my images are made available to as many people as possible, so they can see them and hopefully they will think about them and maybe even experience something on a deeper level. What good is a painting that no one sees? It's kind of like that saying "If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Additionally, If I painted for monetary reasons, I imagine I might be more possessive and concerned about how the images were used. I could be concerned about the content of your book or what you might say about my paintings or associate with them, or even what other artists will be included and how that might affect people's perception of my paintings but I really don't worry about that. Each person's experience with my work is uniquely their own and I respect that for what it is. There is also the consideration that being in someone's book is flattering - so my ego gets involved. Maybe that's the real answer and everything I said before that was just a bunch of b.s.

The other reason is that, as an artist, I genuinely appreciate the spirit of cooperation. I know what it's like when I'm being creative and I'm trying to find resources on the web - like a picture of clouds that I want to use in a painting. "Perfect" I think to myself, "I found the perfect clouds for my painting". I do my best to contact the owner of the photo and hope that they'll agree to let me use it. So their creativity enables mine to be more. And hopefully, that photographer will feel inspired that their art was desirable as well. We feed each other in this way.

When you asked to use my images I wondered, "Should I be concerned about how my images are used?" and "Will someone else make money from my images?" "How do I feel about all of that?" Answers: I'm not concerned I'm pleased. I don't want to control how you express yourself creatively and I hope you make lots of money and are very successful with your book. Consequently, I enjoyed exploring my thoughts and feelings about sharing my images. Thank you for asking.

Best regards,

Jeff

###