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I have been thinking about music in the studio again because I have been re-reading Joe Fig’s book Inside the Painter’s Studio.  I re-read a lot, but this book I find so interesting.  During my recent bout of not being in the studio I listened to a lot of music – a lot of Leonard Cohen, actually.  As I was reading through these interviews again in Joe’s book, I became focused on the answers to the question, “Do you listen to music, the radio, or TV when you work?…” This question goes on to ask what, etc.  Anyway, so many artist said they do and the reason for it is that it empties their head, so they don’t think so much.  I found these answers perfectly resonated with me.  Music does that for me, as well, when I am in the studio.  Art is making way for more art.  I must have a clear head to allow the painting to develop.  Do you?

Are you listening to music now?  What is it?  Do you have a favorite line?  Leonard Cohen sings a song, Anthem.  In that song, the line,

There is a crack, a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in

This line has become my mantra.

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This seems to be representative of the weather we are experiencing along the eastern seaboard today.  It is the result of a tropical storm.  I am just calling it wind and rain. This is acrylic ink on a lovely watercolor paper I discovered when I was in Paris.

Here is the thing, I really did not want to talk about the weather today.  No!  I have been getting back into the studio every day this week and am having a blast. I am actually sitting here typing with ink covered hands, my new mobile phone has dry pigment bits stuck to it and I am in my old grotty painting clothes!  This girl is happy!  I have even set up a new, white canvas and started a fresh painting!  I have not done that since last year (that isn’t a joke).  At the moment things are drying up there and considering the weather we are having I should probably work on some of the other projects I can do outside of the studio because the drying time is going to be long today!

In a later post, I will talk about the things I have learned and the slow process I have used to come out of this one.  It truly has been an adventure and I am so grateful to you all for bearing with me through it.

Oh yeah!  I am feeling good!  How about you?

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So I tried to call my muse back to me by staying with my sketchbook.  She began to talk back with the words.  Muse kept prodding.  I think she really wanted to return, but she also wanted to make sure I was not going to abandon her again, so she kept testing me.  I found myself getting mired in the black and white, so she pulled back again a little bit, but she only wanted me to know this was the real thing and she wasn’t to be played with.  I had to do some harder work to get her back.  So I began to read (more about this in another post) and try to understand the hard work was to show up each day, as Elizabeth Gilbert says, and stay focused.  I had to not be so hard on myself and be open to the subtle messages wonderful people around me provided.  There are messengers in the least suspecting places.  In other words, I began to pay attention more and Muse started to come back again, giving me ideas and inspiration.  The color started to come back, too.  See…

I was overjoyed to see the colors again.  I did not want to loose them.  Muse reminded me all of this happens for a purpose and I had to evaluate what I learn along the way.  I had to really live what I knew.  I had to slow down, I had to show up, I had to meet my own needs, too.  Well, this is all fine and good, but how do I do this effectively?  Muse says there is a way which is just right for me, and I just had to figure it out.  I read more, began meditating more, did more yoga and one day an explosion happened.  I needed to do something which returned me to a child’s mind, so I began a left-handed sketchbook/journal (my non-dominant hand).  I really had to focus on each and every mark.  It has made a huge difference.  See, here are the first pages:

Yes, these are rough and they are weird (they are not abstract!), but the focus and concentration is like meditation and it connected me deeper with my right brain which is very important and very relaxing.  After I do these, I slip right into other art work.  It is right for me, for now.  Muse really likes it.  You know, it is just like when I begin to work with my left hand it is a signal to Muse that it is time to work and she comes around for a visit.  Here is one more page further on:

Now this one looks a bit abstract, but it was not at all the intention.  No, I am not going to begin to show you these silly drawings, but I did want to say how important it is to show up to work – just like anyone else.  Just because Muse takes a vacation, it doesn’t mean she will stay away.  Not like others, however, we have to be slow and methodical with our work and with our lives.  That is a great challenge in our world.  Muse doesn’t like speed, she will walk away from it every time.  Slow Living and Slow Art can be a truly Full Life.  Sometimes you have to bring Muse back gently and other times you have to send her away (if she starts playing with your head), but the key is knowing the right time to do each.  The Muse can be elusive, but if you treat her right, she is one of your best friends.  You have to treat her right, though.  She is human in that way!

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As I was looking through some of my paintings and sketches the other day I noticed something.  I have had a thing for finding my way through the forest or at least I seem to be making that analogy from time to time.  First I noticed this one which reminds me of a bamboo forest and someone (a woman) is trying to find her way with that darn flashlight (torch).

Then I found this in my sketchbook which is also about finding my way through the forest…

It is interesting to go back and look at some of these things from time to time.  I often just draw or just paint without thinking about it, but sometimes there are links.  I suppose I am just trying to find my way at the moment.  With all of this forest talk and door talk, I seem to be looking looking for something, waiting for something or just down right procrastinating.  If truth be told so far this year it has felt as though there has been change in the air.  I still have not been able to put my finger on it, but I feel as though maybe I haven’t been listening closely enough.  So I am working on that, too.  It is a slow process, but slow art is a good thing…slow living is a good thing.

It is all really quite exciting, really.  I am eager to get going with some serious work and looking forward to the snap in the air autumn brings.  I began a new project yesterday which I will be sharing with you as I get it settled in.  I also will be bringing out some more color around here.  It is about time…but I am not abandoning my sketchbook, either!

With that said, I leave you with this small gift of appreciation for bearing with me.  It has been a challenge and I appreciate your loyalty.

Please feel free to print this and use it as a bookmark or whatever you wish.  I hope you find simplicity and gratitude in your life each day.

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12"x6" acrylic on hardboard

The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust

…I will add, new landscapes never hurt, however

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image belonging to Peter Clothier

This is a series of essays Dr. Clothier wrote over a 30 year period for himself.  I, for one, am so glad he found a way to bring them all together for publication as I can’t seem to get enough of his words.  Before I found this book, I was consumed with the thoughts of what has gone wrong in our society that causes things like hideous amounts of oil to gush into our waters, the abuse of one’s profession to the point of causing economic collapses and the kind of thinking which make parents think it is a good thing to begin the higher education process with children before kindergarten.  What are we doing wrong and why do we keep doing it?  Now, I am no genius, but it seems to me we have forgotten the importance of the process of living.  In today’s world, we are so focused on the product, we forget the process.  Heck, so many even begin with the product and then consider how to get there only to keep focused on the product no matter what gets hurt in the process.

Consider this recent article in the New York Times which talks about teaching 5 year old children engineering so they will have a better chance of getting a job when they are 23!  Probably, by that time, the world is going to be so saturated with engineers they are not going to get a job anyway.  Why is it we can’t see that allowing children to become what they are meant to be will help the world balance out?  Who are we to push children in one professional direction or another?  It seems to me this is just teaching them to ignore their own instincts rather than encouraging them to be the best “person” they can be!  Now this brings me back to Peter Clothier who describes himself as a “recovering academic”.

So much of what Peter talks about in this book resonates with me, so this is only a part of what you will probably hearing about him in the future.  In his essay, “The Bandaged Place”, Peter says, “…it’s in our anger, in our pain, and in our grief – and our joy – that we find common ground.  So I aim to write the most intimate, personal words I can, in which everyone can find a piece of him- or herself.” This is what artists do.  We open up ourselves for all the world to see, we give a little part of ourselves each time we create, we often wear our heart and soul on the outside, leave a piece of it in each creation and hope something we have done will touch that place in someone else.  This is a part of the creative process.  Yes, it is slow, but we quickly learn that fast isn’t better.  Yes, it makes us utilize a lot of “inspiration” to get to the place of maybe a single sketch (reading, writing, travel, blogging, etc.), but we also learn from each and every mark because each time we give.  We come to understand keeping it for ourselves has no value.  Just like love has no value unless you give it away.  Maybe this emotion isn’t the same the creator had when they were laying bare their soul, but if it resonates in any way with the viewer or the reader, then it is successful.  Now, consider how different the world might be if educators, parents, politicians, engineers, bankers and other business types all did this?  What if they, even ever so slightly, stepped away from their industrial model (step one, step two, step three, etc. and don’t make a mis-step) and considered the importance of the process over the product?  I wonder if that spill in the Gulf of Mexico would have happened or if those in the financial sector would have been partying with the retirement savings of others or if we would be trying to make 5 year old children be 30 year old adults?  I wonder if our world would be a better, more thoughtful, more kind place?  I wonder if we would consider more and push less?  I wonder if we would be a happier society?  Well, there is little limit in what I wonder.

So now you know where my head has been lately.  I contribute this contemplation to giving myself permission to enjoy the process of living and creating, rather than pushing for the product.  Do you think this makes a difference for you – in your life and in your work?  If it makes a difference for the individual, do you think it would make a difference in the world if more individuals would be process rather than product oriented?  I am eager to hear your thoughts.

Have a Beautiful Day in your part of the world.

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the beginning of the fall

This morning we have the beginnings of the first snow of the season.  While it will not last long, it is lovely to have so early.

I tried to upload this video however it was not going to happen.  Use this link to watch.  I highly recommend it!

Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity on TED

Earlier this year, Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love, gave a talk on Ted.com which touched me in a profound way.  I have mentioned this talk before.  I revisit her talk with some regularity however, because it serves as a reminder of the importance of living up to my own expectations rather than the expectations of others.  When I first shared this video, it touched so many people and the email conversations went on about it for weeks and months. People found Elizabeth’s talk inspiring and a good reminder of what it means truly to live a creative life. I hope it spurs the same kind of conversation here.

As you may know, Miranda‘s comment in the last post reminded me of this talk and I thought it was a good follow up to what we were talking about as far as maintaining our creativity.  Elizabeth talks about how much strength it takes just to show up for creative work and how society really puts pressure on creative people to constantly perform at peak performance.  It hasn’t been like this forever and she contemplates if this kind of pressure is what gives creative people the reputations of being a little off in the head with those who choose not to live a creative life. You have to be fearless to be an artist.  The stories she shares sound so familiar to me.  I wonder if you find some idea of resonance in them?

If you have not seen this talk before, I think you are in for a real treat.  If you have seen it, I encourage you to watch it again (I hear new thoughts and ideas each time I watch it).  Do her thoughts help you see your work in a different way?  Are you turning your art around in your head and viewing it from different perspectives? Did you hear some ideas here which may help you manage all that happens in your creative life?  I am eager to hear what you have to share.

Have a Beautiful Weekend!

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a study piece

It has been a while since I wrote about Slow Art.  You can read that posting here.  This subject is never far from my mind and you can find some slow blogs and web sites in the list on the right column of this page. Recently, I have been thinking about the relationship of taking time to make art and taking time to view art.  Does it make a difference in one’s life?  One thing viewing art slowly does is give you time to fine the subtleties of the work, the depth of the layers and the richness created over time.  These are things that a quick glance cannot accomplish.

What does it take to create art slowly?  Slow is different if you are working with watercolors than it is if you are working with oils, it is different if you are working with clay than it is if you are working with bronze.  The materials obviously make a difference, but I am talking about something more.  Mark Rothko apparently was once asked how long it took him to create one of his color field paintings.  His quick response was, “57 years!” which was his age at the time!  He used work and life experiences to reach his goals of a single painting.  I think this was the right response.  I know I pull from a lot of experiences to create and to live.  It takes a great deal of work to “unearth” these lessons and experiences, too.  I find, reflecting is often the best way, although it takes a lot of tools to bring those reflections to the surface.

In my last post, Suki reminded me of the importance of contemplation and not to worry about if anyone else thought you were working or not, because you know the truth.  I knew she was right and was grateful for her wise words.   It takes a great deal to get to our personal truths, create a piece of art and then to expose those truths to a public who may or may not understand the meaning or take the time to slowly view what you have so laboriously created over the expanse of your life.  It seems to me, though, that with the slowness of creation the artist probably also recognizes many people cannot or are unwilling to really see.

In the presentation about Mark Rothko done by Simon Schama, I learned Rothko was also asked how far away someone should stand from one of his color field paintings and in a single breath, Rothko said, “18 inches”!  If you have ever experienced one of these paintings and stood in front of them at that distance, you will understand why he did not hesitate!  Last weekend I had the opportunity to do just that and was completely overwhelmed by the experience.  Truly, it makes all the difference and drives home the truth that it took him 57 years to paint it!

Creating Slow Art and Viewing Art Slowly seem to go hand in hand to me.  As many of you know, it takes me a long time to bring a canvas into its fullness as it has an incredible number of layers.  Some of the reason for this is because I think I gain so much in this act!  I wonder if these paintings cause people to slow down and really see any better?  Do you life your life slowly when you can?

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