Archive for December, 2006
Waiting for a Sign
Waiting for a Sign.
Have you ever noticed how a work of art which really speaks strongly to you , can seem to vibrate before your eyes ? A sort of tingly thing that almost follows you around the room ?
But as we pass the Winter Solstice, your perception isn’t quite so fresh and receptive somehow. You’ve become a bit jaded.
Your eyes might dim down a little in viewing art, as though they’ve had too much to eat and drink.
At this time of year, it’s almost as if the world were waiting, holding its breath. Waiting for a certain sign. Waiting for the sun’s return.
Does it bring out the pagan in you ?
It’s a slow motion version of the ocean’s tides. Right at the change, when the nadir is reached at low tide, it does seem as though everything stops for a split second.
But it never really stops.
There is constant motion even in the stillness before a storm. Between the storms, nature is gathering up her energy.
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On the surface, nothing seems to be going on.
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This is reflected in any artwork you do. It’s also reflected in what you see. Have a look at something outside in nature which seems to be completely still at this time. Try to x-ray it, feeling with your eyes to sense what is taking place deep within the heart of this dormant, living thing.
Everything in existence is in constant change, growing and disintegrating, then growing again. Even the tiniest particles inside a stone. Just like the sea’s tides, they are moving, swelling, withdrawing, rocking.
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There is motion in stillness.
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Though your artwork may look on the outside as if nothing is happening, totally still, asleep, in fact things are growing inside you.
Like an ordinary egg which appears to be inert, lots of changes are happening inside, in the dark. You are incubating creative expression to emerge in its own good time.
Knowing you are being productive in your resting, might reduce any tendency to feeling guilt at doing nothing on the outside. All the time you seem to be resting, you are also rejuvenating your mind’s eyes.
Your heart will let you know when it’s time to crack the shell, to let it out, if you listen to your heart’s whispers.
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What will emerge ?
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It’s always a surprise. That’s the thing about surprises - they aren’t predictable. No matter how much on top of things in your world you think you are, like every other creation, the birth of art is a mystery.
When a new birth comes for your art-making, I hope you will be a devoted parent. I hope you will nurture the new direction, however slight it may seem, and honour its appearance.
Let it show too. How will we know what you’ve made until you show us ? So don’t deprive the world of its part in sharing your artistic process. It had a major part in its creation.
The world needs your emerging expression. You are, after all, totally unique.
We’re all waiting for a sign. Some subtle sign that begins perhaps with a tiny stirring inside the heart. . .
Heartsong Studio and I wish you a vital and happy New Year !
No commentsDo You Rage Against the Dying of the Light ?
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“Do You Rage Against the Dying of the Light ?”
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Do you swear you won’t get caught up in the force
of consumerism every year, and then you’re swept
along in the holiday mood once again ?
As we move towards Winter Solstice, darkness
inches earlier and earlier and lasts longer and longer.
At least in the Northern hemisphere, north of the 49th parallel.
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Most religious traditions celebrate some kind of festival
with lights featured large. It’s as if we need reassuring
that the sun will return. How many times have you
witnessed the sun’s return ?
Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet wrote: “Rage, rage against
the dying of the light”. He was talking about old age, and
the approach of death. Could this be what drives us to
holiday madness, to chase away the hidden certainty of
our mortal lives ?
Dylan Thomas wasn’t writing about raging against death.
He meant that old men shouldn’t give up wholehearted
living because they are old, but should rage on until the
very end.
The sure and certain finite nature of life is one thing we
seldom confront willingly. But it shows in our artwork.
Sometimes by omission. Do you tend to avoid darl
colours, and utilize lots of light, bright colour ? Or do
you use dark as contrast ?
Light plays an indispensable role even for colour blind
artists. Maybe especially for those who work in contrast
of values, like charcoal, graphite, clay, wood, stone or
metal sculpture.
Sometimes you just need a little break from the business
of making art. The darkest time of year seems ideal.
Good time to clear your pallet and recharge your batteries.
But some artists are the opposite in this regard. They find
this the ideal time to get their creative juices flowing, when
the demands of summer activities don’t interfere with
prolonged, intense work time.
If you do need a break from your usual routine, how do you
handle the New Year ? As a chance to start fresh ? Do you
make resolutions, then promptly forget them in a couple
of weeks ?
Not wishing to be a wet blanket, you might resolve to do
some concentrated artwork at a regular time daily, or weekly.
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What’s that ?
You mean you only make art when the Muse is upon you ?
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Artists can’t wait around for beautiful inspiration to sweep
them along. They apply themselves to their art with discipline
if they are at all serious.
Masterpieces and even everyday, meaningful art don’t
descend from Heaven every once in awhile like a rare
snowflake for the lucky few.
Successful art is the result of long, steady work. It’s built on
lots of ‘unsuccessful’ works which pointed the way.
It isn’t the result of old artists who gave up working because
they were old.
You’ve probably heard fables of long-suffering artists who
could only work well in abject poverty and uncomfortable
conditions. This is like the one about ‘creative types’
being disorganized.
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Ya, right. Don’t you believe it.
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Like old-fashioned water pumps, your art-making talents,
if used regularly, and kept in good repair, will flow with very
little priming. You will rage on until the very end.
So take a well-deserved break if you feel the need.
Celebrate the returning of the light as the days slowly
grow longer.
And never doubt, that in the darkest night, the sun is always
shining somewhere.
Just as certain as it will return, so will your creative momentum.
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Your art work will still be wanting to be found.
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Every artist’s job is to find your own work over and over again.
Then, with an intrepid spirit, follow your heart’s calling with
due diligence. Go out raging with creativity to the very end !
What will feel right for you come January ? You might be in
need of fresh inspiration. Or you might decide it’s time to
chase that unresolved new direction you ignored recently.
Whether you do or not, you can trust your heart to never lead
you astray. Here’s to an even more meaningful year ahead,
filled with your totally unique contributions to art !
Whether they are paintings, carvings, sculpture, cooking,
child-rearing, music, dance, writing, cleaning, knitting, or
loving, may you emerge and soar with living, breathing art.
When you were born, you were crying and all those around
you were smiling. Here’s to living your life so that when you
die, you’ll be smiling and all those around you will be crying !
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All the best for a splendid Holiday Season to you and your art.
Celeste Varley
If a friend sent you this article, you may not know about my
newsletter, Fresh Horses. To subscribe for free, and also
receive a bonus copy of my guide: “How you can draw by
learning to see”, please go to:
http://www.heartsongstudio.com Â
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No commentsCan you turn a setback into a blessing ?
Can you turn a forced break into a fresh start ?
(When you have no choice in a situation that takes you out of your art-making routine, do you know how to turn frustration into a blessing ?)
Here’s a story that can throw you a life line, in this article:
“Can you turn a setback into a blessing ”
When your art-making takes an unexpected blow, do you know how to turn frustration into a blessing ?
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Sometimes things happen which change your day-to-day existence dramatically. Illness or accident can affect your family or you, and change your priorities in a flash.
The arrival of a new baby, though a happy situation, can put a prolonged hold on your art-making. Even the holiday season can be fraught with responsibilities and the overwhelm of too much to do.
Have you ever been thrown into a demanding situation which took you completely away from your usual routines ? Did your art-making get chopped off when all your attention was needed for more pressing things ?
Situations like this can put a gaping hole in your usual habits of art-making. Even when you are thoroughly convinced that art is a necessity, and not merely a pastime, it can be forced to take a back seat for quite some time.
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Recently, we had no electricity for 5 days and nights.
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Freak snow storms, high winds, subzero temperatures for this area, left everyone on this little island, either house-bound, or certainly cold and in the dark.
Nothing like 5 days and nights of sub freezing temperatures without electrical power to bring home your dependence on electricity, for heat and light, cooking and bathing. All the small muscles in my scalp, neck, and shoulders stayed tense in an attempt to preserve warmth. Even my hair hurt ! Constant tuque wearing.
There was no question of drawing or painting or any art-making during those cold, dark days. Just doing the minimum to keep yourself and your family going, between the very short daylight hours pretty much nipped any creative urges in the bud.
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At first, it was almost fun, like winter camping, romantic candle light, or pioneering. For maybe an hour.
No wonder the pioneers didn’t have much time for art-making. Maybe they made an art of their everyday survival tasks.
After a prolonged removal from your creative work, you start to lose something. Stopping your habit of personal expression, in time, can begin to affect your health. It can be very disconcerting to be deprived of this natural outlet. Especially in times of stress.
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Then, suddenly the unusual situation ends.
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And, another type of stress is added. Things don’t always easily return to normal. It took a few warm nights sleeping without hat and mitts, and a few hot showers before I could relax and trust the return of power. Many stops and starts - on an hour, off again for two. Resetting digital clocks, answering machines, and so forth. Burst water pipes all over the neighbourhood. Phones dead one day.
Returning to your art-making habits can be as difficult, after a prolonged absence. To overcome the inertia, and get yourself back into image-making can take quite an effort. But only at the start.
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One idea to ease yourself gently back into visual expression, is to remove the requirement to “produce art”.
Don’t make art. Not yet. Just play. Give yourself permission to be a child.
Close your eyes and let your arms move in their own rhythm over paper. Use a cheap piece of paper and some ready media like crayons to further reduce the pressure.
Like finally taking a warm shower, give yourself this loving care. Your inner artist will love to be cradled and played with.
A session or two of indulgent play will do the trick to get you back into the healthy habit. It could unearth some new possibilities ; show you a fresh path to explore as well. Much later, once you’re fully recovered, you can inch back into a discipline.
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Turning tragedy into a blessing is a long road.
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When absence from your art-making is beyond your control, eventually you can turn it into a fresh start. Though you may have no choice in the circumstances that limited you, you do have a choice , in the long run, of how you will view it.
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That’s a real choice that’s yours to make.
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Once you have exercised resilience of this kind, you’ll be that much stronger in the future. Think of the creative energy this will release ! There’ll be no stopping you !
May your heart sing and take flight !
Celeste Varley
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If a friend sent you this article, you may not know about my newsletter : Fresh Horses. To subscribe for free to more Fresh Horses, and receive the bonus of my free guide: “How you can draw by learning to see” please go to:
http:www.heartsongstudio.com
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No commentsDo you ever mistaken a map for a journey ?
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Does lack of training and talent, or the risk of making a mess hold you back from realizing your full potential ?
Are you afraid of getting it wrong ? See if you ever mistaken a map for a journey, in this article by Celeste Varley.
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“Do you ever mistaken a map for a journey ?”
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Have you ever planned a dream vacation ? Did you get a handful of
maps and brochures from a travel agent ? Then you may have
researched flights you could afford, and then places to lodge when
you got there.
Brochures set out an array of places you want to visit -
museums, galleries, seasides, resorts, natural settings,
old cities, market places.
Then came the actual trip to get to your chosen spot. If you had
never been there before, how did the reality match your
expectations ? Can a map hold the local smells and feeling of
warmth from the sun, or bite of bitter wind ?
Is your goal to follow the map, or is it to have an adventure,
to experience the foreign atmosphere, or to share the ambience
of a distant milieu ?
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When you set out to make a work of art, the “map” would be the
technical rules — how you handle the type of media you’re using,
for example. The rules are predictable, and safe.
The journey would be your process of feeling your way to find
what lies at the heart of your response to a concept or idea.
All things you cannot predict.
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An adventure isn’t guaranteed to be safe; that’s what makes it an
adventure.
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The rules are only to assist you in getting there.
If you make a picture composed of examples of perfectly followed
rules, it will look quite dull, like a two dimensional map.
It will also be safe and without risk.
I think you would be quite disappointed to arrive at a cardboard,
flat “play town” if you went on a vacation to the map of your
dreams. You would want the flesh and blood reality, with all the
local sights and sounds of a throbbing, exotic city or a wondrous
new landscape.
Do you cling to maps or rules like security blankets ? What is
holding you back from realizing your potential are self-imposed
limitations.
All the limits that seem to come from outside, like lack of
schooling, no talent, or any number of other variations are
only affecting you with your permission.
Limitations are like driving along, looking in the rearview mirror.
What’s gaining on you ? What’s hunting you down ? Is that a
police car about to pull you over ?
You know what is written on your rearview mirror:
“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”
So are your self limitations closer than they appear, especially
when you deny their existence, by blaming them on something outside
yourself.
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What is an antidote to the compulsion to follow the map instead of
your heart ?
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Making connection is what guides you safely to get to the heart of
anything living and breathing.
To make the connection which can free you from “map clinging”, go
inside, and look within your heart. Your heart is the doorway to
your Source. Sit or stand comfortably before you start making art.
Take stock of how you’re feeling. Don’t try to change what you
feel, or fix it. What if it were all right to be how you are,
physically and emotionally ?
When you are intimate with your feelings, ask to be shown what
beliefs lie beneath them. Do you feel, for example, that if you
don’t follow the rules, you will be wrong, or a bad artist,
student, or person ? Do you think you will “make a mess” or lose
control without a map for guidance ?
Staying in your heart, ask yourself : Are these beliefs actually
true ?
It isn’t necessary to force your way past any beliefs or fears, or
to deny their existence. They are there for a long time, and their
purpose has been to protect you. So, hold them with respect.
What is your actual goal here ?
Where do you want to go with this project you are starting ?
Can you shift your focus from your fears and limiting beliefs,
though they appear larger than life ?
While holding and cradling your fears, shift your focus to being
open to surprise.
If you can receive the support from your spiritual Source, to
follow your heart’s longings, then you can receive what you lack.
Solutions which are right for you are waiting within for the
asking. With practice, this becomes easier, because it’s the most
natural way for you to function.
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Any journey begins with a single step. Being patient with yourself
is a good place to start. Ask for help from within, and be willing
to be surprised at what you receive.
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Did this article help you to let go of your map for awhile ?
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If a friend sent you this article, you may not know about my free
newsletter Fresh Horses.
To subscribe and receive the bonus of my free guide book:
“How you can draw by learning to see” please go to:
http://www.heartsongstudio.com .
Celeste Varley
“Oh! for a horse with wings” -Shakespeare
Let our hearts sing and take flight!
celeste@heartsongstudio.com
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