I came across a quote by Henri Matisse who stated that his "aim was to create a calm and luxurious art that would soothe and please, and offer peace from everyday life." As I thought about his paintings and collages, I wondered if I had ever felt this way when I had looked at any of them. It made me want to learn more about his creative process, especially as I am discovering my own. I thought about how I might want people to experience my work and I wondered if anyone else had thought much about this. Right now I am in a place where I am trying to figure this out. I feel so fresh and raw, yet more alive than I have ever been. Every day is a gift that I am trying to embrace. I now understand how how people say that "their art is their life," as I try to use every moment to inform my work. I am eperiencing my work for the first time and I can only hope that one day I will reach the full clarity that Matisse did in his lifetime.
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THE ARTFUL GARDEN
"The Artful Garden" is a metaphor suggesting how we can sow seeds of creative ideas. Gardens start with small seeds, much like ideas and art. They both need to be fed, nurtured and loved in order to thrive. This "garden" is a safe place to be both inspired and inspiring to others. It is a way to share who you are and promote forward movement within your life. A way to realize that you are not alone. Please join our "conversation" any time by posting your thoughts, questions and ideas in the comment section of
"the garden."
"the garden."
Books to Savor & Ponder
- A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle
- Anything by SARK
- Art & Fear, David Bayes, Ted Orland
- Brave on the Rocks, Sabrina Ward Harrison
- Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
- Einstein's Dreams
- Ishmael, Daniel Quinn
- Living Color, Natalie Goldberg
- Living Yoga: Creating a Life Practice, Christy Turlington
- Spilling Open, Sabrina Ward Harrison
- The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron
- The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz
- The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
- The Secret Life of Bees
- The Time Traveller's Wife
- Turning to One Another, Margaret Wheatly
- Wild Mind, Natale Goldberg
- Wouldn't Take Nothing for my Journey Now, Maya Angelou
Movies to See
- An Inconvient Truth
- Coach Carter
- Dalai Lama: The Soul of Tibet
- Dan in Real Life (so good!)
- Ethics for the New Millinneum: His Holiness the XIV Dalami Lama
- Gandhi
- IL Postino
- Into the Wild
- Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
- Joseph Campbell: Mythos 1 & 2
- Juno
- Life is Beautiful
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- My Kid Could Paint That
- Rivers and Tides (Andy Goldsworthy)
- Robert Rauschenberg: Inventive Genius
- The Future We Will Create
- The Great Debaters
- Volver
- Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?
Posts
8 comments:
Beautiful. What you describe here is an incridible gift of awareness and knowing that comes to me only in spurts. It is those moments when I am in a place to embrace what is going on around me and to be mindful enough to see everything as connected in some way or another. It is as though all of my senses have been turned up and I see, smell, hear, touch and taste things that have always been there, but I was not in a place to experience them. The world around me truly becomes a place of wonder...and then I wonder why I lose that world as quickly as I embrace it.
On the one hand it can be seen as coincidence, but when I am in that hieghtened state of awareness...connections are all around me and it is all I can do to contain myself. My creative urges threaten to overtake me if I don't sit down and get it out in some way....
I don't feel I am being clear here...perhaps a story would be a better way to describe?
Lightening Bolts of Love
In our pursuit of ice cream for dinner, we found ourselves at an unfamiliar beach...or was it? North Hampton State Park across from the Beach Plum...home of the yummiest purple cow yogurt ever! Our goal, to walk the puppy and then get dinner in the form of a cup or a cone!
As the kids were frolicking in the waves and bodysurfing with Ruby (our two year old Golden), I heard what I thought was an enormous truck going by, that was until I saw the lightening shoot across the sky. "Get out now guys..there is a storm a coming!" We sprinted back to the car to watch the show.
Sitting there was eerily familiar to me and I realized that I had been to this beach before...it was over 5 years ago when I was on a field trip at Odiorne Point with Emma when she was in second grade. I left that field trip and drove down the coast and ended up here, in this exact spot where I called her doctor at Mass General and cried into the phone that I knew her leukemia had returned. I had been at this beach before...had I also chosen not to return to it as well?
I looked over and stared at this beautiful 14 year old woman and smiled. I then glanced at Zachary in the back and giggled to myself. Things were different now. The fear was gone. I had two healthy, happy kids and life was good...perhaps it was just the right time to come back to this beach...in the midst of the kids arguing all I could feel was calm.
As the windows fogged in we decided to get our ice cream and eat it while the storm was going on. We drove across the street and the kids got the ice cream and Ruby and I waited patiently in the car. As we crossed the street Emma shouted, "Look a rainbow!!" and there it was. The fullest rainbow that grew out of an enormous house and spread itself sheer across the ocean. We were ecstatic. And I smiled as a great knowing settled within me. This had been a beach of change and it was again. The last time I was here my life changed drastically and it was about to again. I was filled with a sense of hope that everything was going to be better than better if I would let myself let it be. I grinned and then started laughing. The kids nudged me, "What's so funny Mom?" And so I told them. I told them the story of this beach and how perfect it was for a rainbow to grace us with it's presence...the universe at work once again!
We lapped up the rest of our ice cream, took a ton of photographs and soaked in the sunset in the calm after the storm....
I came home after taking a ton of pictures and made it into a movie with music. There was that moment that I was overwhelmed with creativity and beauty and as you say Laura, it is as though you are raw...and more alive than ever!! I can still sense that feeling...but it has escaped me once again...and I can only wait for it's welcomed return.
Perhaps you should have thought twice before inviting a writer to this group!!
And yes Suzy, I do know Michelle!! And Hello to all of the Deerfield folks!
Tomasen
Tomasen~
I wondered if you still practiced yoga and if the "awareness" that you wrote about so beautifully about was nurtured by the mindfulness of yoga? I have gone to yoga several times myself and never really "got" what is was that people talked about until recently. I think that it forces you to be aware of yourself and then you can be more aware of what is around you. Do you find this to be true? This is not something regularly taught to us, so it is a bit foreign to a lot of people.
I could hear your calm, soothing voice as I read your story. It brought me to places that I hadn't thought of in some time... It reminded me of an afternoon out on a boat with some friends when an ocean storm came in. I couldn't help but feel nervous, scared and exhilerating all at the same time. The clouds had changed from their cottonly, white cheerfulness to a dark purple forboading in an instant. It was evident that we needed to get back to the marina quickly as lightning illuminated the vast water all around us. There was nothing to protect you from the miles of ocean around you. In this moment I felt how small I was in the world. Looking toward the shore, through the clouds you could see the a sliver of the sun and for some reason I was calmed by this. I don't know what it all meant, but I definately felt a deep connection to the world around me. My artwork is becoming more abstract and I think that is because there are no words or images for feelings like this.
I loved your story and look forward to hearing more. I connected to it on so many more levels than just the memory above. I hope that you share more and I am quite glad that we have a writer as part of our group!
"lightning bolts of love,"
Laura
Ahhh... the idea of living in the moment... truely seeing the beauty of life around you. That is something I have been struggling with for quite awhile now. I tend to dwell in past memories and worry too much about future events that it prevents me from being present in the things I am experiencing NOW! Tomasen... your story was absolutely beautiful. I related to it on many levels, and it also took me back to my home shores of NH (:
Today I was working on a stepping stone for my garden with my daughter Bella. It was a great "creative" project that I was looking forward to working on together. However, the challenge seemed to be more complicated than I expected, and the 110 degree heat did not help my patience. Then, upon sinking Bella's feet into the gooey concrete mixture to make her footprints, she set out into a full on fit (she didn't like the feel of the texture). I was hot, frustrated, and annoyed. But then I thought about years from now when I would look back on this stepping stone. I would not remember the frustration and annoyance, I would remember my little girl and how special she was as a one year-old. I tried to recenter myself and enjoy the moment of creating with my daughter rather than being overwhelmed by other factors.
So I continue to strive to achieve this sense of awareness, whether it's while driving along the beautiful California shoreline or taking in the artwork of the Getty. I feel it is a constant challenge, but one worth facing. I too, Laura, wonder if I will ever achieve the clarity that Matisse did both about my art and about my life in general.
Hey Liz~
What you described is what I would call artful living and those moments are what makes life more rich and meaningful. I was really inspired by how you were able to "recenter" yourself in order to enjoy the moment. Have you been to the Getty recently? If so, did you see anything that caught your attention? xoLaura
Ahhh...
so much to ponder, so little time in a day! It is refreshing to read what folks have to say and how their life's inspiring moments affect them daily! Laura, you have put out some amazing food for thought and I have been thinking for a few days on what to respond to because there is so much! I went to a Monet exhibit this summer in the Berkshires and what struck me first was the gardens and the lily pond outside the museum. the sun was hitting the pond in a magical way and it felt like Monet was personally welcoming us! I didn't bring my camera that day which was too bad because I really wanted to photograph the lilies!! I spent several hours at the exhibit and I was deeply moved by seeing his early landscapes and I could feel his intense connection to nature and it made me think about how art affects each person so differntly!
Laura, i was struck by what you said about experiencing your art for the first time. What were you doing before that? How is it different now? I also thought it was interesting what you said about putting your inner critic to bed and allowing yourself to make mistakes! The critic in me is probably more critical than it should be but aren't we all our own biggest critic? I have also thought about the connections we make to our art and what influences our next choice of whatever we create? I remember when I took the class you and Tommasen put together at DCS and I was questioning how children are inspired and how unintimidated they are by their own creative process! I often envy the ease in which they get their ideas and then proceed to jump right in! Ok... I am definitely rambling but thank you Laura for giving us all the opportunity to be able to share and reflect about ourselves as artists! I am also interested to know more about the book that was mentioned called Artists Way. Lori
Thank you Tomasen for that story. Lately, I have been "bumping into myself" much like what you wrote about in your story. These moments reflect where I have come from and where I may be going. It lets me know that I have not strayed too far off the path of who I truly am and what I care about. In my artwork I have just come full circle to where I was a year ago in asking my Big Questions about the world. I won't go into too much right now, but it all centers around the place we get to when we play and lose all sense of time. These moments of timelessness I observe while engaged in my studio practice, my children's undirected play time, kayaking, and time spent with my spouse and friends. Now, how to express this notion through my artmaking is what I am experimenting with now.
A wonderful philosopher and Buddhist monk is Thich Nhat Hanh who started Plum Village (in France) who speaks of "The Art of Mindful Living". It may be something interesting to check out at www.plumvillage.org I heard an interview with him on NPR that was very inspiring about living in the moment and moving toward a more peaceful life with yourself and those around you.
I will admit that living in the moment is hard. It is hard when the moment is tense with a three-year old having a tantrum or facing a moment of self-doubt...so I hear what you are saying Liz!
My hope is that my explorations in my studio will help me stay in that present moment...that moment of timelessness.
Tina
Hi Lori~
"The Artists Way" is a 12 week artistic journey. It takes a bit of dedication but was a great source and modivator for me learning about the creative process and more about myself. I think that it would be a great book for you. An idea might be to look it up on Amazon.com and read the reviews to see if it is something that you might be interested in. I have read it twice at different times in my life and got something different out of it each time. It requires a bit of soul searching I would say. Jess and I did it together last year, Suzy has worked with it and Aimee has just started it. Maybe one of you could speak of your experience with the book?
I loved your description of the Monet exhibit. I could also relate to what you said about "connections" and how that relates to your work. I am "experiencing" my artwork for the first time because I am slowing down for the first time and I am able to make connections to everything around me in a new way. I never gave myself the opportunity to really look at the world before, so my artwork was something different than it is now. When I was teaching I thought I was doing this as I tried to show my students how to to look at the world around them and express that in their work. Looking back now I can see that I wasn't TRULY doing this for myself. This was not easy to see at first and was a hard realization. I know that if I went back to teaching right now that I would be a better teacher. I would have more to offer and be able contribute in a different way because I have had this time to reflect. Although Goddard has made me reflect I do not believe that you need to go to grad school to do this. You can have these experiences in your daily life if you CHOOSE to do that.
Everything is relevant and part of our experience on this earth. I can't help but quote Jimmy Buffett when he sings:
"Some people love to lead, and some refuse to dance. Some play it safely, others take a chance. Still it's all a mystery this place we call the world, most are fine as oysters, while some become pearls". ~Oysters and Pearls
What this means to me is that you have a choice in this world how you want to live your life and how much you want to take in and embrace. Maybe your inner critic would like a long siesta or a trip to the tropics while you are out having fun?
Hi Ladies...
There is so much to think about after I read all of your amazing responses to what people are thinking about and trying to make happen in their lives!
Laura, I think I will try to find a copy of The Artists Way. Jess told me today that it is easy to find at Barnes and Noble. Making a commitment to a creative pursuit of any kind seems like an impotant step and one I should take!
Liz, your idea about making a quote book for your daughter is a great idea! A suggestion to add to that would be to include quotes from her as she begins to talk and make note of when she says them so that later in life she can look back and be inspired by her young fresh perspective on life! Maybe you could include photos too. By the way, the photo you sent to Laura to post of your daughter touching the mirror is quite powerful and visually stunning! Reflections in mirrors, windows and water are what first grabbed me and inspired me to photograph! Speaking of quotes, my 5 year old niece in Austraila answered a question her teacher asked her about what her dad does and she said he lost his job and he is still trying to find it! I just love the way children see the world, I always feel like we have so much to learn from them. Thanks again everyone for your willingness to share your creative journeys! Lori
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