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.

Rembrandt masters me

Wikipedia-Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛmbrɑnt ˈɦɑrmənsoːn vɑn ˈrɛin], July 15, 1606[1] – October 4, 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and print makers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history.[2] His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.

This the skeleton of Rembrandt. While reading about him and viewing some of his work I discovered that his life was filled with loss and sorrow, as well as triumphs and joys. He experienced much of his artistic inspiration from the stories of the bible although he is best known for his portraits.
I found his work warm and sensitive, filled with emotion.

As I learn first about DaVinci , then Michelangelo and now Rembrandt I feeling richer and richer by the day. I am finding that my view of art is changing as well as my creative experience evolving. I liken it to the first time I felt the endorphins rise in my brain while exercise. My endorphins are rising and with each day that passes I feel a stillness and a hunger for this process that I have committed myself to.

Getting down to the nuts and bolts of my inspired work influenced by Rembrandt.
First of all I wanted to stay primarily on the warm side of the spectrum.
my pallet consisted of titanium white, azo yellow medium, cadmium yellow hue, azo yellow deep,cadmium red hue, rose quinacridone, azo red deep, alizarine crimson, yellow ochre, terre vehte, colbalt blue hue, and french ultra marijn.
When it came to decide what I was to paint, of course a portrait was tempting, I love faces. But I decided to go to the bible for my inspiration as did Rembrandt.

My mother gave me a bible for my fiftieth birthday, yikes fifty, that is hard for me still to comprehend. I don't feel fifty (something).
I went to the old testament and looked through the stories and found one that spoke to me.

The Book of Ruth. as the story goes, Naomi, her husband and their two sons moved to neighboring Moab to escape famine in Israel. Naomi's husband died there and her sons married Moabite women. In time, both her sons also died, leaving Naomi destitute and and alone, far from her relatives in Israel. Naomi decided to return to Israel. She went to her daughter-in-laws and told them to back to their families, there they would find security and safety and they were still young enough to remarry and have children.
verse 14 "And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. "Look," said Naomi to her, "your sister-in-law has returned to people and to her gods. You should do the same."
But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; where ever you live , I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death separate us! When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

This story spoke to me specifically about loyalty, love, grief and friendship. So I tried to put those feelings down on canvas.

studies

practice, practice, practice. it's all about practice

Ode to Michelangelo

As I look for you through my looking glass
colors and stone, folklore and wiki wield their testimony.
Who can deny your Angeloic gifts to us.
to use Marc's word, let me be your witness.


I imagine walking dusty path to Florentine churches.
Your mysteries manifested reside in the Vatican.
I tumble softly through
the cotton clouds with angels and God.

When will I see your face.
There are so many years between us.
Do the tender touches, mean you were.
Are there still silent secrets sleeping.

One can only look for the deeper meaning
Can i see you in me
In what way will you travel with me on my dusty path
that has brought me to you in times twisting tease?

6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
what is in a name.
Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect,engineer,
poet.