Art exhibit-finally up and running!!

Seeing the watercolors all together in the space was inspiring!                                                                                                                           Below are a few photos of the art crowd at Michael Peter Hayes‘ Art Salon in  Locust Valley last night.It was so wonderful to share my work and hear responses to the work!!

It has been inspiring to carry on a dialogue with others about working with the effects of light as it changes over the day. I have utilized the structure of  the “liturgy of the hours” used by so many religious orders for daily prayer. This helps me to organize my vision and  awareness and document the effects of light and shadow on my perception. I reckon that a tradition of discipline that has encouraged heightened awareness and mindfulness in prayer would help me to attain that in my visual meditation of painting.

Any thoughts on that?

Painting the hours of the day…

I am continuing my exploration of daily hours, by observing the light on objects and places that I inhabit.

I find patterns in the images themselves and then again in my repeated actions and routines. I document the hours, based on the times of the day remembered with prayers in monasteries, to find meaning and express gratefulness for the richness of my life. 

The more I observe the moment that I am currently in, the richer and multi- layered my painting sketches become.

I see things I never took the time to notice before. Does this occur in your life and if so, how do you create the space to see more?

Because of this attention to the sacredness of each moment, I love to visit the site Gratefulness.

lauds

vigils

Creating within a ritual of space & time

Consciously searching my room as I lay awake before dawn, I create a ritual which I find comfort in following. I look while still quiet.  Get up and stay warm, perform morning rituals and then meditate and do a few yoga stretches. It allows me the space and  peace of mind to allow the brush to follow the memory of vigils more closely. Vigils is the time before dawn, when it is still dark and all the world is quiet.   I am  inspired to  put down the colors and shadows that we see and focus on the moment in color and shadow. I paint by candlelight to be sensitive to the tonal quality of my brush strokes. 

vigils2a work in prog

 

 

Vigils 1a in progress

Elizabeth Gilbert’s observations and rereading Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit” have bolstered me as I wade through this period of time when I find no familiar landmarks in my working. This structure of my practice seems to allow an easier flow. 

It is sometimes difficult to balance inner and outer life, but maintaining a balance seems to aid the flow of ideas. I guess what I’m saying is that world responsibilities sometimes trump the inner call until finding quiet time and space allows that inner spirit to be.

Life as Art

 

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Drawing and  painting  has always been  an insightful and energy producing adventure in my life.  The process of creating it is as fruitful as the product!  I  have come to realize that all creating uses the same skills as making artwork….. including shaping my life! Using the process of creating can give  a template  to transform your life.

So what is “art” anyway?  According to Eric Booth, in the  extraordinarily insightful book  the everyday work of art

“At he birth of the word”art” it was a verb that meant “to put things together.” It was not a product but a process. If we can reclaim that view of art_ as a way of looking at and doing things, as a series of experiences and experiments_ all of us gain a fresh grasp on the proven practical ways to construct the quality of our lives.”

So let’s look at the definitions of both work and art to divine the process!

According to the Visual Thesaurus the verb “to work” is to 

“exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity; apply through; think through”

and defines”art”   as

“the products of human creativity; works of art collectively; the creation of beautiful or significant things; a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation”

Michael Kimmelman, art critic for the NY Times and author  of the book, “The Accidental Masterpiece; On the Art of Life and Vice Versa”  clearly articulates the process of art making in our daily lives! He integrates stories of artists in his book, demonstrating how their way of working  can easily be applied to our lives.

“…art provides us with clues about how to live our own lives more fully… creating, collecting, and even just appreciating art can make living a daily masterpiece.”

 I have come across blogs that are created with the attitude of an artist.   “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin is one.  Her journey into the ways of attaining happiness share depth and  balance. I always leave her site with at least one new perception. It is definitely worth checking out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

the process of creating

I will be posting my sketches form my daily journals to get a perspective on how I work.

I also need to work fairly regularly, so this will facilitate self reflection. I will also post work that I am producing concurrently. Together they will reveal dialogue within my work.

These are some journal images I am working with and some of my photos that explore wind and light.