Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road. -Dag Hammarskjold
Happy Friday Y'all!
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I tend to overthink things. A lot. Sometimes so much that it impedes my progress. The author/ orator of these words is unknown, but I think these words fit nicely in the carpe diem pantheon of things I need to remember. Happy Thursday Y'all!
There is a lot to unpack in this quote, but my brain is muddled from the cold I have been fighting all week so I will leave you with: Happy Friday Y'all! May your weekend be full of stillness, awe & wonder in the midst of this holiday season.
Here are two shells for your Tuesday. They each approach the question of "What makes a complete drawing?" differently. Both succeed in giving a significant idea of shell without throughly representing a shell in realistic detail. It reminds me tangentially of the R. Buckminster Fuller quote, "When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." Somehow removing the superfluous lines makes it a stronger solution. Happy Tuesday Y'all!
I came across this quote this weekend, in an advertisement for bags. It made me want the bags; not just because they had fun patterns, but because of their connection with this quote which seems to illustrate concisely the role of emotion in the work. When I work I am not thinking about emotion(most of the time). I am lost to the world of water, salt, oil, & pigment: watching water colors blooms happen, & salt morph paintings. Thinking about it I work with a sense of peace & anticipation, excitement over what I am going to learn next, what the pigment is going to do. However sometimes I go to my studio to calm my mind, & when I do that I am mostly disappointed with the work as it is too tight & jagged. So I think Tolstoy was correct, "art... is the transmission of the feeling the artist has experienced." Happy Monday Y'all!
I wrestle with this concept. I want things to be black & white, clear cut, but the reality is textured & nuanced. The Chagall quote reminds me of the Emily Dickinson line, "Tell the truth, but tell it slant." We must have an expansive vision, something that incorporates multiple perspectives, because with each narrative another facet of the truth comes to light. I think this is part of the artists work: finding ways to display the whole truth.
I don't know if I agree with this quote as I think it is very important to be found with your paintbrush in hand steadily working away, but it is an interesting concept to think about.
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