trust

Madeline L'Engle wrote this in Walking on Water:

There is much that the artist must trust. He must trust himself. He must trust his work. He must open himself to revelation, and that is an act of trust. We trust as Lady Julian of Norwhich [a medieval Christian writer] trusted, knowing that despite all the pain and horror of the world, ultimately God's loving purpose will be fulfilled and "all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well." And this all-wellness underlies the true art in all disciplines, an all-wellness that does not come to us because we are clever or virtuous, but which is a gift of Grace.

an affair to remember

For the last month I have been having an affair with Picasso. I fell in love with his free living, his disregard for convention, his daring and courage. Every night I would read about him. I was amused by his humor.

And then it was time to take him in and learn from him. I started with abstract cubism. My preconceived ideas were smashed. The genius of his style, the difficulty was so challenging, the spontaneity that must be present, although I must admit none of this was easy. What I noticed first was, that it was not just my preconceived ideas about Picasso and his work. But these burdensom ideas proved to be more linear. I had just studied DaVinchi and Michelangelo and Goya, Rembrandt, Turner, Caravaggio, David. But Picasso brought me to my knees. It was like looking in a reflection pool and when I reached to touch the top of the water, my illusions cracked into a million pieces. Humility washed over me. I am learning about me. I will always be a student. I will always be learning. I will always be shedding the layers of pre judging.

I was head over heals in love....

Then it came to me that I was on the rebound, ohhhhhh, this is rebound love thing because just a couple of weeks ago i was in love with Turner, and before that Goya.

I just met Donatello and love is in the air.

canvas is calling

As many of you may have heard, the astrological community has reported drastic changes that apparently set astrology, as we have known it, on its ear. And me on shaky ground. I am not one of those people that every move is determined by the horoscope report in the newspaper or the Internet, but I definitely subscribe the the magnetic influences of the moon and stars.

I don't have television, so much of the current events come to me via the oral tradition. The other night, one of my fellow Gemini brought me the news about the astrological tremors rippling through the news. I'm no longer a Gemini? I'm now a Taurus? There is a new sign to fill in the gaps?

Recently I have taken up the study of great historical artists and writing about the influences of my studies on my creative journey. So by necessity, I have been delving into history in general. While I don't have the solution to the astrological problem of reconciling the shifted access of the earth and the effect that has on astrology as we know it, it is airily similar to the discovery that the earth was not flat, but round. The first conclusion was that the sun and stars were rotating around us, earth. But as we all know know that was a misnomer.

There is no way I am a Taurus, even though there are many traits I envy, and wish I possessed of the many Taureans I know and love.

I think they need to work harder at the solution instead of the easy fix, the instant gratification and use their imaginations to seek a deeper answer.

When I am painting, when I am creating, sometimes I have to dive deep to create what the canvas is calling out to say. At the point of execution, I have to reach deep into all of my experience to fulfill the destiny of the work, calling on history and experience and imagination.

Artistic Influencers

My study of great artists has gone from historical, to inspirational, and now transformational. The more I dive into the great artists that we all know and love, I am finding that there are more questions than answers.

I love questions.

I thought when I started this blog that I would be reporting to whoever are listening, the facts and facets of these many artistic influencers. I suspect I may end up sharing with you less about them and more about the journey it is taking me toward my own creative spark.

Today I had lunch with some of my woman Artist friends. Around the table at Lyses’ home, we shared food and conversation and humor with each other. We talked about our recent projects, our challenges and our triumphs. I always feel inspired when we get together.

I wish to encourage you to seek the questions that are posted on your path. There is something magical in all of our journeys.