Thursday, May 28, 2020

Lockdown = time to do things you've been meaning to do!!!

One day we might be aged crones (and bloke-crones! or whatever the term is!!) and the little ones will ask "what did you do in the time of the plague, dear crone?"




In reply, I shall hoist my half of Guinness and launch into my story!!

Well I did carry on with piano/painting/sewing/scrabble on line .....
but I was really happy about Death Cleaning!!!! I love getting rid of STUFF!
and it takes time!  It's something easily put off when "normal life" is operating.

I had a huge pile of International Artist magazines, which, of course could not be simply just thrown out!!  Against all one's principles!
So I found an artist neighbor to pass them on to but first re-read them all and came up with all kinds of nuggets!  gold !

For example an article  about the joy that comes from making art...for its own sake...not thinking about sales/challenges/workshops/social events connected with it.

While success is one thing, happiness is another.  Studies show that most  young people think that happiness is the result of getting rich and/or famous!!  ha!!! us old crones know better....it actually comes more from creative activities and from relationships.  However, creativity does require work - it's not just filling in colors....but solid internal work.  And then you realise that///

"Internal work - How to use your mind, how to motivate your actions - is far more important than external work because it is this that determines whether what you do becomes the cause of happiness or the cause of suffering".  (Lama Zopz Rinpoche)

And internal work leads to all kinds of discoveries that can be used  to make life and art better and more rewarding.

Creating art based on landscapes and nature - and we have had an amazing spring here in Georgia - brings one more in touch with it, deeper into the beauty and the complexity. 
And once you've spent time gazing, everything gets richer - the colors are brighter, or more subtle, the values really stand out, you enjoy the contrast between soft and hard edge...you really SEE!

Happy Lockdown!!
And, if you have been...thanks for reading.
Please comment!!!
Elizabeth




Friday, May 15, 2020

Illusion and ironing






...there is some evidence that if you see things as they really are, you'll probably get depressed!!
so at times like these, it's good to read Oscar Wilde's advice:

"No great artist every sees things as they really are.  If he did, he would cease to be an artist".

In the cat photo above see how the photographer has carefully angled the shot to create an amusing photo...one circle on top of another!!!   An interesting composition...but not as things really are.

Distortion and change are very important in design of any art work no matter the medium.
Feeling free to exaggerate or minimize, lengthen or shorten, double or halve.

Staying loose! And open to new ideas, new views.
 One of my favorite loosening up activities before I start a new quilt, is to iron the fabrics I'm going to use...I see them and feel them and smell them. (fortunately I rarely hear them!)
I see how they play with the others, what unexpected combinations of colors or patterns are new and fresh and lively.....


If this doesn't play for you - you can see it on:
https://youtu.be/1lmWz6nd-K0


so the main message of this blog?  Stay loose in times of stress, value your animals and your means of smoothing out the wrinkles....they'll take you a long way!

and, if you have been, thanks for reading!!!
and do please comment with your art processes that relieve stress and encourage creativity...I'd love to read them.
Elizabeth