So often I am asked by a student to help them loosen up. They tell me they are perfectionists or "Type A" and have a hard time not controlling every detail. I guess my work can be described as loose. But I work at that look. I have a tendency to work very tight and detailed. You have to be practiced in a craft and skilled to even loosen up! So before you go beating yourself up for being so perfectionistic or "type A", look at things another way.
First you must take the time to be disciplined and get your skill set down well before you can even begin to express yourself artistically. It begins to happen each time you take a step to practice your craft. So since you are type A, you are way ahead of the game. Those of us who are not, lack the discipline and order to get those things accomplished as quickly.
It's that Yin-Yang thing again. Balance kids! Yes, some of us are born neat and tidy. Others of us are born loose and messy! But all of us need to find the Yin to our Yang! And that means we need one another. You can learn to loosen up from me, but I can learn to be more organized from you. If you think about it, it's really a win-win.
I used to feel that my lack of order and tendencies for clutter were a bad thing. And when you cant find your keys and your late for an appointment, it surely is. But the good in that is that I have a lot of room to improve. And you know, I'm not all stressed out if a pillow out of place or there is a hair on the sofa! I used to want so bad to be like my father, who is very disciplined and orderly. I am more like my mother who was just organized enough that she knew which pile something was in! Not a total disaster, but an orderly mess. Dad trimmed all the bushes into neat rows, mom's spilled over and flowered in bowers that arched onto the lawn. There is beauty in both ways of doing things.
An article I read recently said "Brain Chemistry is tied to Creativity. Creative people may think broadly and make unusual associations because they are less able to filter out information." This has something to do with fewer protein's in creative brains! Who knows? So I say, love the genes your born with! Embrace that side of you that is dominate and work to bring the other extreme into a balance. My motto has always been that you'll get where your going if you have a plan, but you have to be open to the detours that make life so extraordinarily exciting! It's about the journey.
So if your too loosey goosey, tighten your grip. If you are a little too tightly wound, practice letting go. In the end, it's just that. The end. Embrace your strengths, work with your weakness and enjoy the ride!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Plein Air and World Peace!
Another reason I love it is I do it with some really fun and talented friends. I don't get to do it as much as I'd like. Time, finding a free friend, and weather (I'm a fair weather painter. I can take the heat but loath cold weather. Rain is bad for watercolor too!) are all things to consider. I won't paint many places alone anymore. Just last Monday evening a group of us were painting at Goodale Park downtown. The pond is lovely with water lily pads and lotus blooming. We were all positioned quite close to one another just next to the pond.
While I was painting some guy came by and started to watch and then engaged in conversation. That’s distracting anyway when they don’t move on and you can’t paint and talk at the same time- like me. He was asking a lot of informational questions and was really in my personal space, making me uncomfortable. I turned to face him and get a good look at him in case I needed to identify him in a lineup! He commented that drawing/painting is a gift. You know me, I don't believe that, I told him it is largely learned. THEN: (wait for it!)… He says he’s been in jail twice and there are guys in there who have no training and can draw like a photo. Oh, but he’s not a murderer or anything, just DUI convictions! (he could have led with that!) I think he was just messing with me, and I didn’t go running out on the lily pads or anything! But next thing I know, my friend is standing on the other side of me, with his 6 foot plus frame and say’s “can I watch you paint too?” The guy moved on. And thanks John!
Now in my fertile imagination I can take care of myself. In my mind I am a tough, ass kicking, Karate expert. An ex FBI SEAL sniper who packs a glock. Kind of a cross between Clint Eastwood, (my friend Sly) Sylvester Stalone and Dolly Parton, (they are a distraction which gives one the advantage!) - who does the vigilante thing on the side.
My mind is a wonderful place! I think very creativly. My body on the other hand has betrayed me! I couldn't do a one armed push up if my life depended on it. My dad's in better shape! I don't own a gun and don't know any marshal arts. So the reality is I have to embrace that and be careful.
All humor aside, that is not the only reason I paint with friends. I am a social person. I love people. They energize me. You know those quizzes in magazines that tell you what kind of dieter or exerciser you are? What kind of creative are you? Do you like to create in solitude and order? Or do you like the buzz of activity? Do you do best side by side doing your own thing or in collaboration with others? There are many such questions and the results can help give you personal insights that get you where you want to go.
It helps to know yourself. Then you can play to your strengths. I bet you can guess what type person I am. But knowing these things about myself means that now I make sure I take a class or paint with others regularly. Not just to get the work done, but to learn from them and to energize my own work. I also spend a lot of time alone. I think that's all the more reason to make it a point to do what I love with people who share my passion. A shared passion connects the human spirit. Now if we could all just realize that we are all connected! World Peace- Yeah baby, and all from my plein air group!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Yin Yang of Creativity
Last winter I wrote quite a bit about being blocked as an artist, because I felt blocked as an artist. I read volumes about creativity and unlocking or unblocking it. I tried a lot of things to unblock it. The most recurring theme that presented itself was that negative energy blocks creativity. Negative situations, thoughts, actions/behaviors and so on. While I agree with this, I also have to disagree.
Eastern religion teaches balance. The yin yang of life. Though I practice Christianity, the duality of man is still the overriding idea. So while I agree that negativity might block our creativity, I have to say I've learned a huge lesson from the eastern philosophy. A surprising lesson.
As I was trying desperately to rid myself of my "negative energy" and to unblock my creative self, I became very aware of the negative. It was as though in my attempt to exorcise it, I amplified it. That's a bummer! And try as I might, hard as I could, as focused as I was on being positive-right behind was the negative! Ouch!
But the yin yang idea teaches me that although the negative might be perceived as bad (and I'm not saying it's not here-believe me) the two are, well...They just ARE! My understanding now is that I need both to make me who I am. That the two exist as one. I don't know if I'm stating it right, but I am the artist I am-the person I am- because of both the negative and positive. And I can learn to work with and be productive in and with both.
For example, where would country music be with out the dysfunctional relationship? Without troubles who would sing the blues? Many of the worlds greatest masterpieces were created by tortured artists working out their angst! And lets not even go there about literature... I have to tell you, the books that stand out in my life are not the ones I've read that had only positive things in them. The human experience, the good, bad and ugly are what make for good reading! (I don't know if you can translate this to my Foodie friends, except to say-without the failed or experimental dish gone wrong we would be eating oatmeal every meal world wide!!) Sometimes we have to embrace the negative and deal with the fact that it just "is" to unblock ourselves. To just relax and accept that we cant control what is. From that has come some of my best insights and consequently my best art.
I think the current trend is to "positive think" yourself where you want to go. While I do believe that, I have found great comfort in my failures lately. And I am accepting all of me. The good/bad person I am. The good/bad artist. The artist who doesn't make a masterpiece with each attempt even though I've been at it for years. I am forgiving myself. And others. For being human. For the universal yin yang factor.
Does that mean I sit back and not try to be more positive? No. I think making the negative a positive is still my goal. But without the negative, where would the struggle be? How would we grow?
Just another thought.
Eastern religion teaches balance. The yin yang of life. Though I practice Christianity, the duality of man is still the overriding idea. So while I agree that negativity might block our creativity, I have to say I've learned a huge lesson from the eastern philosophy. A surprising lesson.
As I was trying desperately to rid myself of my "negative energy" and to unblock my creative self, I became very aware of the negative. It was as though in my attempt to exorcise it, I amplified it. That's a bummer! And try as I might, hard as I could, as focused as I was on being positive-right behind was the negative! Ouch!
But the yin yang idea teaches me that although the negative might be perceived as bad (and I'm not saying it's not here-believe me) the two are, well...They just ARE! My understanding now is that I need both to make me who I am. That the two exist as one. I don't know if I'm stating it right, but I am the artist I am-the person I am- because of both the negative and positive. And I can learn to work with and be productive in and with both.
For example, where would country music be with out the dysfunctional relationship? Without troubles who would sing the blues? Many of the worlds greatest masterpieces were created by tortured artists working out their angst! And lets not even go there about literature... I have to tell you, the books that stand out in my life are not the ones I've read that had only positive things in them. The human experience, the good, bad and ugly are what make for good reading! (I don't know if you can translate this to my Foodie friends, except to say-without the failed or experimental dish gone wrong we would be eating oatmeal every meal world wide!!) Sometimes we have to embrace the negative and deal with the fact that it just "is" to unblock ourselves. To just relax and accept that we cant control what is. From that has come some of my best insights and consequently my best art.
I think the current trend is to "positive think" yourself where you want to go. While I do believe that, I have found great comfort in my failures lately. And I am accepting all of me. The good/bad person I am. The good/bad artist. The artist who doesn't make a masterpiece with each attempt even though I've been at it for years. I am forgiving myself. And others. For being human. For the universal yin yang factor.
Does that mean I sit back and not try to be more positive? No. I think making the negative a positive is still my goal. But without the negative, where would the struggle be? How would we grow?
Just another thought.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Doing
Photo: Me-Plein Air Painting
Most of my students lament at some point that they only do their art in class. Because there is always something more important that needs their attention. I still find that I have more to do than is humanly possible and that I need to do it all or a lot of it before I "play" (that is make art). I would not call myself a high energy person, but I would say for the most part if I am upright I am in perpetual motion.
There is always something that needs to be done. I feel guilty watching TV (even though I do it practically every night ) or reading a book or taking a nap. Relaxation you see, is reserved for when all the work is done. But the work is never done! So you either never relax (or create) or you feel guilty? The only out you have is a vacation-where that's what you are supposed to do-relax. (Unless of course, you married to someone who thinks relaxing is doing!) And we use that idea that work is more important as a reason to feel that creating is not.
Two students have said to me recently - and what am I going to do with all these paintings?? It seems that we think it's only valuable if it the art will then do something! I understand having a pile of things that are dear to your heart, but are just sitting around collecting dust. Why add to that? But do we use that as yet another reason to not create, so we don't add to the pile?
Reasons like these abound. For some reason, maybe because we enjoy it (which is another subject), we feel it cannot be as important as getting something done. But why can't getting a painting done be as valuable as getting the laundry done? Why is your job more important to you than your creativity? Aside from the fact you have to eat? I believe we place value on things according to what people will pay for them. My day job is more important because I have to eat! While that is true, does that really mean your music, writing, cooking, painting is less valuable?
Love, happiness,a child's laughter, a rainbow, a purring kitten, a breeze, your health. All these are things that have no monetary value placed on them, and yet they are what makes life worth the living. Ask yourself, are these things that bring such joy "doing" something?
So, if you only have time to create in a class, take one. And keep taking them! If your worried about paintings piling up, shift your thinking. Make it about the process and getting better and not about the piling up factor. Give them away, sell them on Etsy.com or give them to a charity. Free art will always uplift someone who hasn't the funds for real art. And you can recycle. Paint over not so good paintings. Recylcle watercolor paper.
But most of all, challenge your ideas about how your time is spent and what is valuable. How dull would be a world without the arts? I say soak them up, like a sponge. Make it more valuable in your own life and perhaps others will shift their thinking as well.
Not everything has to do something. It can just be.
There is always something that needs to be done. I feel guilty watching TV (even though I do it practically every night ) or reading a book or taking a nap. Relaxation you see, is reserved for when all the work is done. But the work is never done! So you either never relax (or create) or you feel guilty? The only out you have is a vacation-where that's what you are supposed to do-relax. (Unless of course, you married to someone who thinks relaxing is doing!) And we use that idea that work is more important as a reason to feel that creating is not.
Two students have said to me recently - and what am I going to do with all these paintings?? It seems that we think it's only valuable if it the art will then do something! I understand having a pile of things that are dear to your heart, but are just sitting around collecting dust. Why add to that? But do we use that as yet another reason to not create, so we don't add to the pile?
Reasons like these abound. For some reason, maybe because we enjoy it (which is another subject), we feel it cannot be as important as getting something done. But why can't getting a painting done be as valuable as getting the laundry done? Why is your job more important to you than your creativity? Aside from the fact you have to eat? I believe we place value on things according to what people will pay for them. My day job is more important because I have to eat! While that is true, does that really mean your music, writing, cooking, painting is less valuable?
Love, happiness,a child's laughter, a rainbow, a purring kitten, a breeze, your health. All these are things that have no monetary value placed on them, and yet they are what makes life worth the living. Ask yourself, are these things that bring such joy "doing" something?
So, if you only have time to create in a class, take one. And keep taking them! If your worried about paintings piling up, shift your thinking. Make it about the process and getting better and not about the piling up factor. Give them away, sell them on Etsy.com or give them to a charity. Free art will always uplift someone who hasn't the funds for real art. And you can recycle. Paint over not so good paintings. Recylcle watercolor paper.
But most of all, challenge your ideas about how your time is spent and what is valuable. How dull would be a world without the arts? I say soak them up, like a sponge. Make it more valuable in your own life and perhaps others will shift their thinking as well.
Not everything has to do something. It can just be.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Caught in the Rain
It was a brutally hot weekend. It's a wet week! I appreciate the rain, until the 7th straight day. But for the most part, I really love the dark brooding skies. I love to turn off all the noise and listen to it's rhythm as it hits some metal thing on the chimney.I find rain calming. A break from the heat. I really, really love a good lightening show!
But like most things, rain has both a Yin and Yang aspect to it. On one hand the rain waters the dry soil and plants, cools the heat, takes down the humidity (sometimes) and best of all-brings pollen and other allergy makers down a notch.
But it can be destructive as well. Flooding, hard rains and hail ruin crops and the occasional parade and picnic!
This morning I took off to walk thinking I would get it in before the rains that were forecasted. That didn't happen! About midway through my usual route, it started to sprinkle. No big deal, I don't melt! In fact it was cooling since the temperature had already reached 70 degrees. So I kept going. Lo and behold, the downpour! Needless to say I picked up speed eventually jogging. Now, I know that you get just as wet no matter how fast you go. (some fact I picked up from one of my children studying something I don't understand- I'm sure!) But you get it over sooner is my reasoning! So sad to say, running is not my thing. I peter out after a few short blocks! Still probably a mile away, I had to slow down and walk in the rain.
I realized I could embrace the rain that covered every inch of dog and woman and focus on the good in the situation. Or I could be upset that we were soaking wet, that I almost brought an umbrella and that it would take more time to dry them off and get into the house and on with my day. And the lesson began to sink in. You can make the best of the rain and your situation, or you can fight it. You can run and try to escape it or get it over quicker. And being an action oriented person I prefer "running" at a problem. Or you can choose to embrace the whole of it and let it teach you something.
I've been fighting some situations in my life. I think all the mental strife and boxing air takes my creative spirit away. Who has time to think creatively, let alone actually create when so much energy is being used to fight what is? It's a reminder that if my creativity is slow to come I should take a look at my circumstances. Am I accepting of what I cannot change? This is a lesson I guess I have not completely internalized, but I'm grateful for getting caught in the rain! If your human, it's going to rain. How can we use it to create? What can our trials bring to the process? We need to create both in good times and bad. And its cheaper than therapy. And eventually, the rains must end and we can see the rainbow!
But like most things, rain has both a Yin and Yang aspect to it. On one hand the rain waters the dry soil and plants, cools the heat, takes down the humidity (sometimes) and best of all-brings pollen and other allergy makers down a notch.
But it can be destructive as well. Flooding, hard rains and hail ruin crops and the occasional parade and picnic!
This morning I took off to walk thinking I would get it in before the rains that were forecasted. That didn't happen! About midway through my usual route, it started to sprinkle. No big deal, I don't melt! In fact it was cooling since the temperature had already reached 70 degrees. So I kept going. Lo and behold, the downpour! Needless to say I picked up speed eventually jogging. Now, I know that you get just as wet no matter how fast you go. (some fact I picked up from one of my children studying something I don't understand- I'm sure!) But you get it over sooner is my reasoning! So sad to say, running is not my thing. I peter out after a few short blocks! Still probably a mile away, I had to slow down and walk in the rain.
I realized I could embrace the rain that covered every inch of dog and woman and focus on the good in the situation. Or I could be upset that we were soaking wet, that I almost brought an umbrella and that it would take more time to dry them off and get into the house and on with my day. And the lesson began to sink in. You can make the best of the rain and your situation, or you can fight it. You can run and try to escape it or get it over quicker. And being an action oriented person I prefer "running" at a problem. Or you can choose to embrace the whole of it and let it teach you something.
I've been fighting some situations in my life. I think all the mental strife and boxing air takes my creative spirit away. Who has time to think creatively, let alone actually create when so much energy is being used to fight what is? It's a reminder that if my creativity is slow to come I should take a look at my circumstances. Am I accepting of what I cannot change? This is a lesson I guess I have not completely internalized, but I'm grateful for getting caught in the rain! If your human, it's going to rain. How can we use it to create? What can our trials bring to the process? We need to create both in good times and bad. And its cheaper than therapy. And eventually, the rains must end and we can see the rainbow!
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