I just finished reading “Make the Impossible Possible” by Bill Strickland!
It is so inspirational to read about how making a clay pot back in high school allowed him to follow his passion for creating and helping others. He began a school to help others find the motivation and empowerment that he discovered… Bidwell Training Center.
What is so inspiring is that Bill followed his passion and keeps trying until he finds a way to make it work! Sometimes I find myself starting to give up when things seem like they are not coming together.(Alright, I am pretty persistent, but I have my moments!}
We all can get sidetracked by life and everyday mundane, tragic and happy moments. I am, however, now much more cognizant of the fact that persistence and daily reflection on my life course works!
I am currently cataloging my work ( which requires both of the above mentioned qualities!) with an incredibly organized administrative assistant who has been kind enough to spend a couple of hours a week of her time working with me.!This frees up my mind and my time to focus on my current work.
How have you made changes when faced with lack of movement towards your goals?
Apparently, “voluntary simplicity” is becoming a trend currently.There has been a heightened awareness of the enormous amount of things many of us own and don’t need.
I see the need to simplify, as is visually expressed in my series of veiled paintings. I see simplicity as a state of mind. No matter how much or how little we have, it is the attachment to the items that is distracting and burdensome to us. A calm and focused mind and soul can be the source of keeping things clear and simple.
Thus, to put this in perspective, I capture the gestalt of the translucent light and the volume of the objects as a united form. In this way I attempt to see beyond my personal attachment to each item.
Just working on the concept of ordinary moments taking on greater significance as I notice and record what is in front of me. Sometimes in the translation form daily course of events,such as wrapping up a room to be painted, and drawing and painting it, I see metaphors that I was never able to articulate as clearly!
When things are wrapped together under a translucent cover, their individual detail is embraced as it becomes a part of the greater whole. An ordinary job is viewed as ethereal. Perhaps things aren’t as concrete as they first appear!
…Just another expression for reflecting upon and readjusting priorities to suit where I am now! Looking at it that way makes it much more motivating to get to that seemingly mundane job. The bonus is that after having sorted my work by both size and medium, I can now find a piece in a matter of minutes instead of hours! This makes it possible for me to inventory and document both past and present work. Above is a my finished product.However, organizing is a process and needs to be addressed daily. I love it when it looks like this, though! (I read a lot to make my art, thus the library at my fingertips!)
I have been sketching as well,,,pen and ink in my journal. Daily skethcing and painting is my meditation on the world! Everyone has different ways of making time for reflection. What is yours?
I had the opportunity of going to MoMAyesterday evening. I was actually there for a lecture on economics! Hmmm… It was an opportunity to reflect upon “America and the New Global Economy”withthe guest speaker Lawrence H. Summers. He navigated through the complex financial challenges we currently face. As former United States Secretary of the Treasury and current Harvard professor, he certainly has spent a lot of his life reflecting and predicting economic fluxes and solutions. He sees a window of opportunity ahead in which we will be able to reshape public policy to maintain flexibility and fiscal strength as we practice inclusive prosperity and create systems of government to manage our global economy.
Concurrently, it was inspiring to take the opportunity to visit “Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibit! This link provides a great opportunity to explore the plethora of exhibits. The flexible thinking that was mentioned in the economic lecture was reflected in the visual explorations that we were immersed in as soon as we walked through the intuitive doors! There is so much to search through, but it is amazing how intuitive our designing is becoming. One of my favorites is sketch furniture.A chair and table are sketched in 3D and then created by computer data and lasers.
Another way of expanding thinking is found in TextArc using visualization and mapping to visually analyze patterns and concepts in texts. try Visuwords yourself! For a simpler version that I have used for a while, try Visual Thesaurus.
These are just two amazing embodiments of the human imagination for your investigation at MoMA.
I find this exhibit to be a stimulating companion to the economic and political lecture summarized above. They both describe the need for the elastic thinking necessary for us to flourish together on a global level.
Well it has been a day of playing with color, reading and making mini landscapes And it is all because my knee was in need of a rest. Sometimes when you slow down and focus on the now moment you can get more done and feel like you have all ofthe time in the world. I started reading a book called “finding sanctuary” by Abbot Christopher Jamison. the book inspires one to find spiritual space and peace in our everyday hectic and busy lives! Always interested in going beyond our day to day worries to the real reason of our existence, I search in books as well as in my artwork. Carpe diem!
It is early on a beautiful rainy day, dark and enveloping, chilly , yet I am fortunate enough to be able to wrap myself in warmth! I face the blank paper and draw out from my mind a memory of yesterday, a reflection on one small moment in time. Its importance lies in recognizing the dignity of each person and the need for allowing the spirit time and space for quietness. I am surprised at how much I actually recall! Remembering imagery and relationships between colors, shapes, lines and values seems to get better with consistent practice and and focused intention during each day. For instance, I “bookmark” key moments in my head as they happen and store them for future reference.
window shadows I have been painting … reading….meditating, and this is work in progress.Reading has included A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, an interesting summary of new age philosophy.
Walking and yoga are helpful to center the mind and balance the body and spirit. I find it a good discipline to articulate in imagery and then to reflect in writing, here.
Hearing Thomas Beale speak about his work at the Long Island Craft Guild last night reminded me how important it is to honor that small still voice inside of yourself. He saw something in his mind’s eye…a shape, and finally didn’t ignore it anymore, searching until he found a way to give it voice. His work is now reflecting that initiative. It evokes the concepts of patience, light and transformation.
Sometimes I will observe clothes drying on the line and see the complexity and fragility of our lives. I paint the ability to be moved by the wind and still remain whole. I encounter the utilitarian and ordinary only to realize the constant movement of light and shadow as it transmutes this moment and us in time. Suddenly, observing an image clarifies elusive concepts for me.
Sometimes i find a kindred spirit in the most unexpected places!
We came by a gallery exhibit in an open air studio in Chelsea last weekend! There were wooden sculptures that seemed to be shaped by the force of the breath within them. They were created by Thomas Beale, who was there to explain his technique. Capturing, forming and smoothing these forms is a “meditation” for him. It out that we had the same teacher, Ben Frank Moss, who taught Thomas drawing and painting at Dartmouth, and earlier taught me drawing when he was at the University of Iowa. On Long Island, there will be an opportunity to hear him speak about his work at a talk presented by the Long Island Craft Guild on Thursday evening at 7pm.
