And by "beauty therapy" I am not eluding to anything a salon can provide. We just got back from 8 days down the NSW South Coast (2.5 hrs south of Sydney) and I am feeling fit to burst with beauty.
I've spent about 20 summers on this beach and was always entranced by the downright beauty of it. Going there in Autumn with the low light and Banksia and Waratah in bloom was heart-hurty beautiful. The girls and I frolicked on the beach morning and afternoon, delighting in the rock pools, sea shells and radiant autumnal sunshine. We would wander around past the island to the lake and play in the sand dunes along the way.
My four year old summed it up: "... the trees and the flowers,... the lovely day... mum, it breaks my heart."
Of course there is an Intelligent Design.
I am becoming fanatic about low light! The highlights and shadows provide a chorus of captivating harmony for the eyes! I was desperate to do some painting plein air but alas, timing and weather were in disagreement.
Rock pools are microcosmic worlds of wonder.
Where the ocean feeds the lake. (Pigeon House Mountain in the distance.)
Even the bush is fraught with magic.
The spirit of this place lives deep in my guts.
Thank you, Intelligent Designer.
Pe
ople often comment "I don't know how you do it... Three little kids and still finding time to paint!"
Well, I have this couch that features a perpetual pile of washing. It may give one clues as to the state of the rest of the house! It's not that I don't enjoy cleaning and tidying. At this point in time I'd rather put more time into thing that don't get undone- like painting. Doing things that don't get undone is great for sanity maintainance.
I also trade a little bit of my sleep time now and then. Don't cope so well as a tired person so I don't do it often, but I got four hours of painting in last night using that method!
The other thing I keep in mind is that in a year's time it won't matter that my house was in disarray. What will matter is whether my creative cycle is fit and healthy and I have a good, fat body of work on the go.
Priorities.
By the way, I find messes very frustrating.
Not as frustrating as not having time for painting.
My first "real" exhibition is booked for the 11th of the 11th, 2011. The date was unintentional. I really had no say since it was the only week left during November for me to put up my stuff.
The body of work I've settled on is the aerialscapes. This grew from the absolute ecstatic buzz I get from looking on Google Earth. Hours fly, and it may sound odd but the beauty of the landscape from this angle takes my breath and gives me tears. The textures, shapes, lines and colour are just plain entrancing. Many of my previous abstractions already looked like aerialscapes, so it was a natural progression to draw inspiration from actual geographical locations that yield a fine composition. Although the trick for me is not to get "bogged down" in simply reproducing the picture, as I find this extremely laborious and exempt from the joy that keeps me courting canvases.
This is an Aerialscape of Catherine Hill Bay, NSW, Australia which is indicative of the body of work I am currently birthing. This painting happened rapidly as an outlet activity after becoming "bogged down" in reproduction which sometimes happens inadvertently when working from an image. This one was like a relieving sneeze where I was free to play and indulge in the colours I am often caught fraternising with.
The painting below was the aforementioned painting I "bogged down" with.
You may notice that the first one is a zoom-in of the bottom middle section of the lower painting. I'm not so happy with the composition of the lower one. It's all too "middley", as in, it dissects the painting in half horizontally and vertically. I may crop it, but it is on stretched canvas so it will all depend if I need it for the exhibition or not.
Anyway, that's what's going on. So I've been thinking a lot about joy and process and How Good Things Happen.
over and out.
Gives me rage, thinking about all the artists who sustain the idea that making art is something to be conceited about. Sure, everybody has their own unique way of expression. Sure, some people seem to just "have it" while others don't. I feel sad to hear of people with inklings for creativity quell their urge because of the notion that art making is an ethereal, inaccessible feat. And the weight of import placed entirely on the product is a stage set for great discouragement.
I so often hear this sort of comment:
"oh I'd love to be able to draw! I couldn't draw a stick figure to save myself."
or "I can't even draw a straight line!" (not sure why the ability to draw a straight line should be a prerequisite for art making)
What we need is a revolution. Because learning to function creatively teaches us vital lesson after lesson for functioning well in life.
Picasso once said "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
Children are free to immerse themselves in process. They learn very quickly though, to become precious about the product. Discouragement follows. They cease to create for fear of the impending inadequate product.
I'm not saying that anybody could be another daVinci. I do believe that as creatures we are inherently creative and benefit holistically from a healthy creative cycle in one form or another. I believe that those artists who are currently immersed in healthy creative cycle have obligation to dispel the common myth that art making is only for the "chosen ones".
that's all then.
... a group of starving artists is like finding a perfect spot for the vegie garden. They long to grow but feel all dry and weedy. All the potential is there. Just needs a bit of a dig, some poo, a handful of seeds and a sprinkle. Or, in this case, a bit of a dig to find out the nature of the "weeds" that would prevent the flourishing. Some materials, the media and the inspiration to feed on. Seeds. Ideas and inklings to nurture. Sprinkle with the Hose of Encouragement and stand back to watch them and all the boom-shizzy-nizz that ensues.
We talked about the importance of the process over the product. Also quantity over quality. These ideas release us from the burden of the Product. The force and labour of it. The joylessness. The arrogance. There is no room for creativity there.
Creativity. Process.
It really is all about the unfurling.
