Spring Is Hastening in Hastings

We are staying in a cabin outside of Hastings, Ontario, where spring is ready to burst at the seams.  Ice and snow are melting on gravel roads, causing them to ooze with mud. We also witnessed ice floes ~surface ice that had broken free~grind over buoys on Rice Lake. (No photos of that, drat!)

The frozen morning puddles, and last year’s leaves and branches melding with the mud, mesmerize me. The trees add subtle, soft-edged shadows into the visual mix.

The broken branch has formed a skeletal image in the mud.

Melding leaves

One small hole

Layers

Circular Ridges

Deep center

Undulating edges

I kept marveling, as I was snapping picture after picture, that there was so much beauty in such a short distance from the cabin. And every one of us, in this magnificent home called Earth, is provided with a myriad of ways to experience beauty.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.      ~ Rachel Carson

Joy is the best makeup.     ~ Anne Lamott

Mary and Max and the Struggle to Embrace Imperfection

I watched the movie Mary and Max this weekend. Twice.

This clay animated film (think Up) has some great narration, including Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Bethany Whitmore was incredible as the young Mary.

Voice actors have traditionally been so underrated, but celebrity voice actors are the “new sound of animation.”

This is not a film for children. It portrays a somewhat dark, even macabre outlook on life. But it is balanced by laugh-out-loud humor, and the crazy, quirky ways of human kindness. Do yourself a favor and watch this along with someone else who has a bent towards being disappointed because things never turn out as perfectly as they think things should.

Let’s face it: when it comes to whether we should embrace our imperfection, do we really have an alternative?

Forget Your Perfect Offering

This song tears down any defenses that may be temporarily erected in my life, every time I hear it.

Cohen has just nailed it on this one. I put the song here so that I can go to my blog, anytime, and remind myself that imperfection is the human condition ~ that it is, in fact, a boon. Obsessing about making the perfect offering defeats the very purpose for which offerings are made: to honor another.  It is our imperfections, the cracks in our imagined perfection, that truly let the light in. Imperfections allow the vulnerability and openness that make it possible to really see someone else.

Then there is Hallelujah, which k.d. lang emotes to the bottom of her shoeless soles (soul).

If my energy is ebbing, these songs open the floodgates and creative power gushes forth.

It’s a blessing to be so suggestible.

Beauty and Serenity That Shine From Within

The Creagers, members of The National Institute of American Doll Artists, have been perfecting the creation of art dolls for over 30 years. They have easily met the 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell estimates are required for achieving true mastery in your skill of choice.

Every doll they produce sprang from a story that Jodi and Richard became emotionally involved with. Often, the story evolved from a study of customs and traditions of “the world’s varied ethnic groups.” However the story developed, each doll has taken on a life of its own. This is obvious, from your very first glance: a desire is quickened to explore the story behind them. These dolls have presence.

Frida ~ art doll by Jodi & Richard Creager

Not only is each doll impeccably rendered, but a setting or context is often created as well. The result is a highly emotive, three-dimensional portrait.

Japanese Shinto Nun ~ art doll by Jodi & Richard Creager

The comment the Creagers apply to the Japanese Shinto Nun, pictured above, is that “Her Beauty and Serenity shine from within…”

It is a fitting comment for their own work.

Gallery I Gallery II Gallery III (Miniatures) Gallery IV (Haunting Halloween Art)

Proper Words of Caution

Lynn Powers, of Creative Catalyst, offers these words of caution, as she calls them, to artists:

Years ago, an instructor pointed out that more women than men attend [art] workshops. He then pointed out that more men than women enter shows. He wondered why that was. It was not due to lack of talent. I believe it’s because women are generally taught to be more cautious than men. This caution has spilled over into an arena where it has no place.

In other words, you have the talent, ladies. The proper words of caution, when you are considering whether to enter your art in a show, are “Throw caution to the wind.”

Byron Katie, life coach extraordinaire, tells us never to expect love, appreciation or approval.  They have to originate from within, because until you have appreciated, approved of and learned to love yourself, it is impossible to offer these rich gifts to another. Desperately seeking them from another only reveals your own lack. You cannot offer what you do not own.

It is time to drop the curtain of caution you have raised around yourself and your work. It is a great relief to abandon comparing yourself to anyone else, because if you don’t need anyone’s appreciation or approval, comparison is a pointless exercise. Focus, rather, on learning from others. And lavish yourself with love. Approve of all that you have experienced and attempted. Appreciate what you have become. Display it with joyful abandon: it is your gift to the world.

The wild freedom of these realizations is staggering.

PS: You didn’t really think I was going to urge you to be proper, did you?

Taking Risks With Jeane Myers

I’ve written about her before, and when I read on Artit that Jeane was coming to Ontario, I signed up right away for the class she will be teaching at Southampton Art School. It happens in the beginning of May.

Jeane uses oils and encaustic. I’m an acrylic lover. But that is inconsequential: I love her spirit, her attitude, her style. I am ready to take risks alongside this fearless leader, who continually demonstrates the “going deeper” with her art that she advises to others .

And, the truth be told, I want to cast my eyes over her dragon watch. I’m just putting it out there, Jeane. If you are not wearing that watch, I will have to work very hard at repairing my downcast expression. The cashmere jacket and saddle shoes would be a nice bonus, but that watch is a must see. If I’m having trouble with a certain risk, you could bribe me with another glimpse of the watch. I want to join the crowd that has gone, in your words, ga ga over it.

I have not been to the Southampton Art School, but it appears to be an amazing venue for making and seeing art. I spoke on the phone to Sharon Barfoot, the director, and subsequently explored her blog. Even Sharon’s profile is inspiring, which is no mean feat. And her art leaves you breathless.

I may require some resuscitation, what with the over stimulation of  both Barfoot and Myers occupying the same building. But I am bringing my sunglasses, my sense of adventure, and a great willingness to throw caution to the wind.

Wanna join the fun and folly, huh? I dare ya, I double dare ya! What’s life ~ or art ~ without braving a few risks here and there!

Your Hand and Spirit Are Partners

“Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.”
—Leonardo da Vinci

Direct the Torch of Your Imagination

If you are NOT subscribed to Robert Genn’s The Painter’s Keys, I think you are missing a lot. I have been receiving these letters for a number of years, and they provide much inspiration, as well as valuable teaching tips for artists. Here is a case in point:

For visual artists, directing the torch of our imagination is our main art. Art happens when alchemy is found. One, two and multi-step systems modify reality and create what has come to be called “style.” Art without style is yesterday’s laundry. Here’s how to direct (or redirect) the torch:

You need to see your art as a state of becoming. Vigilance and attentive observation during work-in-progress provides the opportunity. The process takes place with individual works, and over a lifetime of trial and error.

We are the clever inventors of ourselves. Opportunities include nuances, conscious and unconscious mannerisms, evidence of unexplainable magic, flinty zips and happenstance gradations, strokes, splodges, slubs, bumps, bubbles and colour changelings. They may be gentle or violent. They may be planned or accidental. They may be lines or they may be patterns. They can be fat or lean, thick or thin. You need to look out for elements that change in front of your eyes, things that become something other than that which they just were. The artist lives by awaiting these events; and they are expected. “Becoming,” said Paul Klee, “is superior to being.”

Doesn’t that make you want to rush to your studio and paint, encouraging a host of splodges, bumps and bubbles to accompany your lean, thick and thin strokes? Throw in colour changelings and accidental patterns, and the torch of your imagination will become a flame thrower !

My torch is fully lit ~ now I’ve passed it on to you.

Above the Blue ~ © Carol Wiebe

This is a double page spread from one of the art journals I am working on. It is done in acrylics, with collage and stitch. There are many splodges, bumps and bubbles on this piece.

And the winner is . . . .

First of all, I want to thank everyone who entered a comment on my giveaway for One World, One Heart. I will certainly be visiting all your blogs in the future.

Lisa Swifka had this to say on her blog, and I echo her words completely:

I would like to sincerely THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart for your participation, enthusiasm and willingness to ride the Magic Carpet through the blogging community. This 4th year has been the largest yet with many wanting it to continue.  We’ll see by the end of this year if there will be a 5th but in the meantime meeting and mingling doesn’t have to end. Have fun visiting or revisiting and getting to know one another.

Thanks to a random number generator, I picked True.

For True:

The One World, One Heart event was through.
It was time to choose, and the name I drew
Was a name that I liked the sound of ~ True.
Truth is something I purposely pursue.

“Seeking Clarity” will now imbue
Your being with emotions from which it grew.
And since you create from your heart, too,
I know those feelings will inspire you.

We jumped on the carpet, and joyfully flew,
Because giving is what we artists do.
Our spirits infuse every line and hue,
And underpin our points of view.

Art is not something I could eschew.
When things fall apart, it is my glue.
Like food and breath, it’s my life’s rescue,
And fully deserves this hullabaloo!

Painting Instead of Wallowing

I am an emotional painter.

I don’t mean that I weep and wring my hands as I paint or tremble with angst. I am more of a joy seeker, a happiness hound, a deep C diver (C for consciousness). So it may surprise you to know that, upon entering my studio, you would usually hear nothing more than brush strokes.

It’s inner work I’m performing, as I try to coax out the nuances of an emotion, to illustrate the way it feels with a brush and paint. I consciously attune myself to an inner voice that directs me to make this darker, add a touch of mauve, soften here with gesso, cover that over completely. It’s exciting when I connect that way, because it’s as if I am listening to the spirit behind the emotion, rather than being caught in the grips of intense feelings. In a way I am objectifying those feelings, treating them like a still life, trying to capture their essence. At the same time, I am often painting faster than thought, by which I mean that I am not being analytical as I paint. The “directions” that I hear are not the result of my deciding that something should look a certain way according to, say, the elements and principles of design.

This is sounding quite mystical and airy fairy, I know, but I crave that zone, and believe I do my best work when I am in it. I use the term “best” to describe the work that induces the strongest emotions, that elevates my mood, that tweaks my longing, creating a delicious current that courses through me and somehow translates into feeling more alive.

So what are you muttering now? “Crazy artist!” or “Amen, sister!”

Bright Window ~ © Carol Wiebe

This piece illustrates the bright mandalas of inspiration that are scattered across our existence, if we allow ourselves to perceive them. They can provide maps of meaning for us, make it possible to discern the bright windows in the midst of dark places and seemingly empty spaces. The painting evokes, for me, a glowing hopefulness. The pulsing umbilical cord of light signals new life, fresh possibilities.

Painting my emotions is a lot more fun than wallowing in them. More informative, too.