Blog

When you are sitting in a dentist chair, about to undergo a lengthy procedure, do you ever go to your "happy place"?  Whenever I am undergoing something unpleasant, sometimes even painful, or boring,  I try to go to a place mentally that makes me happy and relaxes me.  Some folks might call that meditation, but I am not clearing my mind, I am focusing it.  I shut out all the distractions of the moment, the tedium, the unpleasantness, and gather all my attention to the image or experience I am having in my mind.  The technique has served me well on a number of occasions.  

As artists, we have the ability and power to alter our consciousness in creative ways that don't depend on drugs or other artificial means.  We have the blessed gift of "seeing" mentally what is absent physically.  Not to say that other people don't have the same ability, but for visual artists, it already part of our natural process of creation.  Most of us are masters at it.

Sitting at the easel, I often don't really have in mind what I am going to paint...I have a general idea of subject matter, but other than that, I let the painting evolve (the exception is in the case of commissions with rigid requirements - technical skills needed there).  I begin to block in the major colors, and go from there.  It's like being at a general area you know, but starting down a path that is UNknown.  There are bound to be details and scenes that are only down that particular path.  Mentally, I begin to add the details my imagination sees.  Before you know it, the scene is before me, and the technical side of my mind kicks in, correcting values, adding colors to emphasize the depth of the work.  While I am actively analyzing the work, I am also experiencing the scene -- as if I am there, feeling the marsh wind on my face, and the warmth of the sun on my shoulders, hearing the birds chirping in the distance and the lap of the water along the creek. 

Mental creation is a major part of being an artist. Creating art takes us to a happy place in our minds that we control, that we create.  What a profound blessing it is!

One of a series of palmetto works....this one has some jazzy colors! One of the great gifts of being an artist, a painter in particular, is that you can create a world where Nature doesn't get to call the shots -- if you want a multicolored palmetto, then paint away!  Every season inspires another view of the same subject, as you can see here -- same subject, different approach:

or even this:

Each has beauty, a life of its own.  

Anyone on Facebook these days is exposed to little quotes and verses meant to make you think (or laugh), and I'm like anyone else.  Some are a bit sappy, or sentimental, and others are deep, philosophical queries.  At any rate, I typically give them a cursory look, and move on.  One caught my eye the other day, a story about an emperor who offered riches to anyone who could make a statement that was true 100% of the time.  Upside - riches, downside - death.  Not many took him up on the offer.  But at last someone came forward with the phrase: "This, too, shall pass".  The emperor deemed it worthy and the person was rewarded.

A simple phrase, but one so true and eternal, that it speaks to the heart and soul of all we are and do.  Nothing stays the same, nothing is so bad or so good that it lasts forever.  Each moment is precious.  It is up to us to make the most of it.  Artists in particular are called to seize that moment in time and capture that thought, that splash of color, or precision of line.  Who knows when that inspiration will come again, or that particular stroke of paint will be re-created, if ever?  

Another side of the saying is that all we do IS transitory, and we are challenged to look around us and embrace the reality that living brings.  Be it pain, or joy, or beauty, or horrible ugliness...all are part of our human experience, and we learn from them.  In light of the recent news of cruelty, insanity and loss, we can take comfort in the fact that this, too, shall pass.  Better moments are coming, better days are coming.  They are there to be claimed.  Artistic experiences are to be explored, clay to be molded, glass to be cut, paint to be applied.  The end results may not last forever, but for a while, they speak to others, bring a smile to a burdened soul, inspire or quiet the turmoil. 

Make each moment your own. Be led to create something positive, or be part of something wonderful.  After all, this, too, shall pass.