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Be True and Enjoy
It has been a while since I posted. The summer has been a whirlwind of workshops, new endeavors, shows and of course painting. A theme has shown up over the past month or two. Of course there are the comments from viewers at shows, those are always welcome, sometimes insightful and often strange. At a workshop I was advised that my genre was long gone and I should stop it working in it and change to theirs. Then I was told that my brushes were wrong, not the right type, change them. Some folks thought my colors too bold and the images not representational enough. Bear in mind not all comments were negative. For the record, I love my brushes, enjoy my style and vision and change is not an option. I just want to point out that with all of that and more my work has been accepted into three national shows so far this year and I have sold nine original works in the past two months. Bottom line. Do not let anyone tell you to change your work, your ideas or anything that you feel in your heart is true. Stay the course and keep at it. Get yourself and your work out there. This spring I joined a group of local artists in my community that shows at a beautiful park each weekend until late fall. What a wonderful and positive experience it has been. There is something special and uniquely inspiring about showing your work amongst other artists. The support is very helpful in maintaining a bright outlook and is encouraging to keep up the pace of creating. Meeting a diverse group of tourists and locals alike is great fun and broadens your outlook. My recommendation for a marvelous summer is work like you never have before, show your work and share with others. You will come out a winner every time.
The Past is Now
Lately I have been doing some personal housecleaning. Reviewing old files, remembering times past, shredding and letting go. I do not only mean old bank statements or scrubbing floors either.
We all carry a great deal of our past with us. Some of it is baggage and others are lessons learned or changes made. There are things we discover in reality were differant than we have remembered. Since I have moved many times durning my lifetime I am not a big saver of things. What I found out recently is that a bit of what I do save has a heavy emotional load that should be released. Not to say this will give us an internal clean slate. Whether we keep the bits and pieces of our past or not. Who we are and what we have become stays. We are who we are as a person and as an artist because of where we have been, what we done, or not done; and the interactions we experienced. They are the layers of our lives. We are the past, present and our future all at this same moment. So keep your old art works, sell them or throw them away. A few old masters used to burn thiers. But never loose sight that for good or not; who you are and what you will create today could not exist if you had not taken the paths you did. Embrace that. Rejoice and give thanks for surviving all you did. AND MOVE ON! Put paint to canvas or pen to paper and start creating your tomorrows.
We all carry a great deal of our past with us. Some of it is baggage and others are lessons learned or changes made. There are things we discover in reality were differant than we have remembered. Since I have moved many times durning my lifetime I am not a big saver of things. What I found out recently is that a bit of what I do save has a heavy emotional load that should be released. Not to say this will give us an internal clean slate. Whether we keep the bits and pieces of our past or not. Who we are and what we have become stays. We are who we are as a person and as an artist because of where we have been, what we done, or not done; and the interactions we experienced. They are the layers of our lives. We are the past, present and our future all at this same moment. So keep your old art works, sell them or throw them away. A few old masters used to burn thiers. But never loose sight that for good or not; who you are and what you will create today could not exist if you had not taken the paths you did. Embrace that. Rejoice and give thanks for surviving all you did. AND MOVE ON! Put paint to canvas or pen to paper and start creating your tomorrows.
Emotions
Emotions. They rise and fall. Come and go. Own us. Drive us and even control us. They can lead us into bliss or destruction. We do it all the time; action begets reaction. How many times has a person done something to us; or something happened to us that has sent us simply ballistic? It is human nature. We are momentarily thrown into the flight or fight response. Most times we get through it. Understanding creeps in and calm prevails. Not always.
Case in point. Years ago I carried a hate for someone that had hurt me. This went on for a very long time. It took up a place in me that left little room for joy to enter. I thought this was the opposite of love. Little did I realize this was only perpetuating the harm that was done to me. What a concept! Why did it take me so long to come to that realization? A hard lesson. During that period those feelings deprived me of personal growth and put a filter through which I saw the world. I will never know what I lost during that time or who I affected with my attitude. Thankfully a time came when I did not care anymore. How did that happen? Continual review of the past situation brought understanding. Healing began. I even forgave myself. The personal power I gave away by carrying the anger returned to me. I do not claim to know the definition of forgiveness but I am betting that it encompasses empathy, sympathy, understanding, and freedom. The realization dawned on me that the opposite of love is not hate; but apathy. I was free. Think about it. If hurt and anger have a hold on you the one being damaged is you. Let it go. The past is indeed over. The colors of your art and your life will be brighter. The muse will visit more often. Your work, your friends and family will benefit. When hate and anger turn to apathy you win.
Case in point. Years ago I carried a hate for someone that had hurt me. This went on for a very long time. It took up a place in me that left little room for joy to enter. I thought this was the opposite of love. Little did I realize this was only perpetuating the harm that was done to me. What a concept! Why did it take me so long to come to that realization? A hard lesson. During that period those feelings deprived me of personal growth and put a filter through which I saw the world. I will never know what I lost during that time or who I affected with my attitude. Thankfully a time came when I did not care anymore. How did that happen? Continual review of the past situation brought understanding. Healing began. I even forgave myself. The personal power I gave away by carrying the anger returned to me. I do not claim to know the definition of forgiveness but I am betting that it encompasses empathy, sympathy, understanding, and freedom. The realization dawned on me that the opposite of love is not hate; but apathy. I was free. Think about it. If hurt and anger have a hold on you the one being damaged is you. Let it go. The past is indeed over. The colors of your art and your life will be brighter. The muse will visit more often. Your work, your friends and family will benefit. When hate and anger turn to apathy you win.
Fierce or Focused
What a month was May! My work was out there in 4 totally differant venues. From a national show to a welcome sale during an exhibition in a cafe. And there was little time for rest. As the mind never sleeps I had a great deal of interactions with fellow artists, gallery and business owners, organizers and clients which led to a host of things to think over. The most prominent was the realization that art is my passion and I must be fierce. This does not mean an in your face, brash, rude or pushy demeanor. Not in the least. It made me realize that this passion must be solid, unwavering and therefore fierce. Regardless of the comments I hear from patrons at shows; be they positive or not; I must remain relentless in my committment to be honest with myself and what I put out there. My art is the representation of who I am, my vision of the world around me and represnts my dreams and inspirations. As a central part of me it is a core I must remain faithful to. It is not always easy. There are distractions, opinions of others, setbacks, deadlines and even even some downright nasty people that can show up to thwart me. At the end of the day we all must remain true to ourselves, our principles, visions and goals. If we are not focused, success will not fall into our laps. It does not matter if we are artists, accountants, business owners, bakers or parents. Staying true to our inner selves with a burning fierceness will see us well in this life. Without focus we will flounder and end up on that wheel of mediocrity. It will not be the easy path and sometimes it will not be any fun at all. But it will see you through with a satisfaction that comes with a peaceful glow that burns bright and true. You are creating your history and defining your future every single day. Be fierce and stay focused.
Dissatisfaction
Woke up the other day and looked at the pieces art in progress on my worktable and thought; good grief what am I doing. I was not sure if those works were the result of repetition or trying too hard. Regardless, they obviously were not happening. So I got to thinking about my current dissatisfaction and figured I was in a rut. My work was becoming predictable and I was bored. Being full of the need to create and not wanting to make the same old thing I figured that it was time to banish the fear of using oil paints. The universe kindly shoved my nose into doing just that when I attended a demonstration by a marvelous painter who uses oils who just happened to have one spot left in a class the following week. Thus, the abstract painter who thought the apex of my drawing ability was on a par with 4 year olds doing stick figures, suddenly had a not so bad looking bunch of trees on a canvas, in oil paints!
My very fulfilling journey with creativity has taken me through art history, a demanding 10 year cycle of making black and white photographs, discovering the ethereal nature of pastels and watercolors. Then finally into the no rules genre of mixed media abstracts in acrylic. But, always lurking in the back of my mind was the glaring absence of using oil paints. My nasty self critic kept silently whispering to me through the years that I was not really an artist because I did not produce paintings in oil. This thinking definitely has had a negative effect on my ability to freely express myself in my current media.
I can not fully express the pure joy of feeling those debilitating thoughts finally dissolve into the mists to be gone forever. I am not sure if I will embrace painting in oils as my primary means of expression, I am still working on that. But, I have to say that trying something new that I was apprehensive of and conquering it has been a very liberating experience. I can now create freely in any media and not have any nagging thoughts interrupting the process with loud choruses of it would have been better 'If only I did it in oil'.
Art positively reflects life. We have to stretch ourselves even it is uncomfortable at first. This is true of our bodies, minds and spirits. It is certainly better than living a life filled with woulda, coulda and shoulda's. That is definitely not a life well lived. Existing in a state of lingering dissatisfaction is not an option; and it leads to bad art too.
My very fulfilling journey with creativity has taken me through art history, a demanding 10 year cycle of making black and white photographs, discovering the ethereal nature of pastels and watercolors. Then finally into the no rules genre of mixed media abstracts in acrylic. But, always lurking in the back of my mind was the glaring absence of using oil paints. My nasty self critic kept silently whispering to me through the years that I was not really an artist because I did not produce paintings in oil. This thinking definitely has had a negative effect on my ability to freely express myself in my current media.
I can not fully express the pure joy of feeling those debilitating thoughts finally dissolve into the mists to be gone forever. I am not sure if I will embrace painting in oils as my primary means of expression, I am still working on that. But, I have to say that trying something new that I was apprehensive of and conquering it has been a very liberating experience. I can now create freely in any media and not have any nagging thoughts interrupting the process with loud choruses of it would have been better 'If only I did it in oil'.
Art positively reflects life. We have to stretch ourselves even it is uncomfortable at first. This is true of our bodies, minds and spirits. It is certainly better than living a life filled with woulda, coulda and shoulda's. That is definitely not a life well lived. Existing in a state of lingering dissatisfaction is not an option; and it leads to bad art too.
More on Redirecting
Musing on creativity took me back to the topic of redirecting the urge to create. Last time I covered the instance where a lack of materials prevented the creation process. Today I would like to mention there are also times when that is not the case. When all the paint and paper in the universe can not compel you to pick up a brush. Think about it. There are so many other creative avenues to pursue. Sometimes I bake bread. The process of gathering ingredients, mixing and waiting for the hopeful rise of the dough is meditative and magical. Performing this simple and ancient task grounds me in the now and slows down my mind. It often will lead me to the studio as the house fills with the aroma of baking. Many ordinary tasks are creative in nature. Shopping for food, cooking a meal to share is creating a time and place. Working in the garden, whether weeding and cleaning to make room for new growth or planting small fresh starts. All is preparing for creation to take place. As I gather up my recent pieces of art and drive them to my local frame shop I am thinking about that next piece of art that is germinating in my mind. I love creating art. It is where I create the future. If only for an instant when I work on a canvas there is a future crystalizing where people are seeing it for the first time, emotions forming, talking about it with friends or becoming inspired. Creating the future is a wonderful thing.
The Letter
Spring is here and there are many 'Calls to Artists' coming to my inbox and mailbox alike. Artists who are primarily painters are possibly struggling with cameras that suddenly cannot hold a charge, or desktop PCs that are insistently requesting updating instead of uploading their current jpegs to various sites. Seems like this is an IT rite of spring. In any event, I am out there in the melieu creating CDs, filling out forms and rushing to the post office. A few weeks later is the day when The Letter arrives. Yes, the much anticipated letter of acceptance or even a dreaded rejection. This is true in many instances we have all been through, college admissions, art shows, job interviews and more. If the letter is thin, containing one page in a business envelope we do not even have to open it. We know it was rejection. If thicker, we rejoice and do the happy dance! It has instructions, good news and a new experience to look forward to.
Back in the old days when I was a active photograher we had ratio that held true. If one photo out of a role of 36 shots was a keeper it was a great day. Recently, while watching an art show a nationally known and respected artist was addressing this very theme. His take on the letter was that about one in twenty entries was accepted and was the average needed for one acceptance to a show to come in. That shocked me for a minute because he is a very prolific artist who is represented in museums across the country. Bottom line, we have to not be so thin skinned. There are so many extenuating circumstances involved in getting into a gallery or show. Sometimes our work is not on point with the theme; or the juror prefers watercolor to oil, or has a preference for portraiture; or god forbid, thinks abstract art is a useless waste of paint. We have to let the rejections go; not take it personally and keep applying. I believe this is true of all aspects of life. We do not know the state of mind of anyone else out there. Their bias filter is thier own. Keep going. Don't let it get to you. Be kind to yourself, you deserve it. Give the inner critic a holiday. The fat happy letters will come. I am going to fill out another application today.
Back in the old days when I was a active photograher we had ratio that held true. If one photo out of a role of 36 shots was a keeper it was a great day. Recently, while watching an art show a nationally known and respected artist was addressing this very theme. His take on the letter was that about one in twenty entries was accepted and was the average needed for one acceptance to a show to come in. That shocked me for a minute because he is a very prolific artist who is represented in museums across the country. Bottom line, we have to not be so thin skinned. There are so many extenuating circumstances involved in getting into a gallery or show. Sometimes our work is not on point with the theme; or the juror prefers watercolor to oil, or has a preference for portraiture; or god forbid, thinks abstract art is a useless waste of paint. We have to let the rejections go; not take it personally and keep applying. I believe this is true of all aspects of life. We do not know the state of mind of anyone else out there. Their bias filter is thier own. Keep going. Don't let it get to you. Be kind to yourself, you deserve it. Give the inner critic a holiday. The fat happy letters will come. I am going to fill out another application today.
Avoid the Wheel
In art, as in most anything in life we go through appraisals, reviews and more. Perseverance and focus play an important role in putting your work out there. Being apathetic, lazy or bored is not an option. It is not always easy and sometimes not very pleasant either, to have someone express a negative, offhand or even hurtful comment about your work or disrespect you personally. If we break down, hide under the covers or try to change our inner vision we fail on a grand scale. When this happens repeatedly and becomes a way of life I call it 'being stuck on the wheel of mediocrity'. No one who has achieved greatness was a quitter or a slacker. I am sure you all know of people from Einstein to those in the arts who have been through this. If I have moments of doubt that phrase comes to mind and kicks me out of it. I would rather make my mark, or even attempt and have to try again than live a life stuck on the Wheel of Mediocrity.
The Helping Hand
The past few days have been filled with ideas, gathering new supplies; and yes painting. As an abstract painter I do not sketch, draw, or do an outline when I begin a piece. It starts with the simple act of facing the blank, stark, terrifying emptiness that is my canvas. But begin I must.
Lately, an incident from my childhood has been echoing in my head. I cannot remember exactly when this occurred, except that it involved my father and myself. So there I was, around 10 years old, doing some chore and having a very hard and frustrating time of it. Getting more and more angry and petulant by the minute. Since I am nothing if not stubborn; it took me quite a while to go and ask for any help. Finally I did; and was told "Figure it out. The helping hand is only at the end of your own arm." And he walked away. Well, you can imagine the hurt, tears and tantrum that transpired. I was crushed, and so angry I could not see straight. It took a long time for me to calm down and return to my project and finish it. I carried that advice as a hurt for many years until I realized it was some of the best guidance I have ever received. As an artist, this is the ultimate truth. No one can teach you talent, dream for you, or show you the future that is your next completed work. You have to do it yourself. So go out and practice. Acquire knowledge and technique, daydream. Visit galleries. Read art books. Nurture your own creativity. To quote the poet Yevushenko: The most beautiful, aching work in the world is to be yourself.
Lately, an incident from my childhood has been echoing in my head. I cannot remember exactly when this occurred, except that it involved my father and myself. So there I was, around 10 years old, doing some chore and having a very hard and frustrating time of it. Getting more and more angry and petulant by the minute. Since I am nothing if not stubborn; it took me quite a while to go and ask for any help. Finally I did; and was told "Figure it out. The helping hand is only at the end of your own arm." And he walked away. Well, you can imagine the hurt, tears and tantrum that transpired. I was crushed, and so angry I could not see straight. It took a long time for me to calm down and return to my project and finish it. I carried that advice as a hurt for many years until I realized it was some of the best guidance I have ever received. As an artist, this is the ultimate truth. No one can teach you talent, dream for you, or show you the future that is your next completed work. You have to do it yourself. So go out and practice. Acquire knowledge and technique, daydream. Visit galleries. Read art books. Nurture your own creativity. To quote the poet Yevushenko: The most beautiful, aching work in the world is to be yourself.
Mulligans
Last night I worked on a piece that I started months ago. It never made the cut. So I got out my trusty jug of gesso and covered the whole thing with a nice coat of white. What a cleansing experience! Gone were the negative thoughts of failure and the damn I am an awful painter refrain. When I started in on it there was creativity and joy in the studio. In a few hours a new painting was born. Thinking on this I believe that we tend to forget that there are no mistakes. Only opportunities to learn, grow and improve. A while back I had a piece on a really superior gallery canvas. You know the type, 2 inches thick, gorgeous canvas that had been prepped with 5 plus layers of matte medium and gesso. In the end, the resulting piece did not make the cut. So it sat and gathered dust for months. One time I covered the whole thing in a creamy chinese red. Then it sat again. You know what is coming. Yep, one day it was thrown on the easel and in an hour or so there was Bilss. (You can see that piece on my website). It won at the Southern Oregon Artists Society juried critique in January. Bottom line. There is no wasted time in the studio. Take your discarded canvases or watercolor papers and have at it. Try a new technique, use colors you hate, cut them up and try collage, stand and paint or sit and get close in. Do the opposite from your usual routine. You will be surprised what can happen because you freed yourself from caring. It was destined for the trash anyway so have at it and let the joy come out. Mulligans Rock!
