Our lives are a flood of images and as artist we are the creators of collections of moments that create those images : moments of extreme emotion, pain, beauty,
and fear.
Be creative and collect today.
"You have to know the past to understand the present." Carl Sagan
Today use your chosen medium to express the emotion of a moment in time so that others can learn from it and build the future on it.
Normally this is a place where I talk about being an artist and try to move you to express your creativity, however today I can not ignore this story so please excuse me as a step away from artistic expression to spiritual expression for the day.
Recently in a church in the United States the religious leader took out a restraining order on a 13 year old autistic boy and his family rendering them unable to attend service where they had done so for several years each Sunday. The leader says he did so because he was in fear for the safety of others in attendance. The majority of those knew nothing of the concern or the restraining order. Semantics could be looked at (the family already sat in the very back so as not to be a distraction) is there an overflow room or somewhere else that they could have sat. That appears to not even have been considered.
For me there are two points of deep sadness here. First is spirituality (no matter the religion) not suppose to be a place where the broken, bruised, unwanted and crushed are accepted and embraced? Second who is to say that what the boy was doing was outburst, who is to say this was not spiritual expression for him?
I myself am a very spiritual person, however I have been estranged from organized religion for sometime now due to the very two things mentioned above. Organized religion in the United States appears to have become nothing more than a social and political club shunning the very people that they should be ministering to. As long as this child was not a physical threat to anyone why could it not be even considered that this was his expression of worship and everyone look for the beauty in that instead of focusing on the ugliness of their own comfort.
No matter what the situation ART is present, in war, in oppression, in freedom however while some would say that in trouble times the greatest art is produced in times of freedom all expression is allowed in unconfined creativity. Please remember those who have given life, limb and emotion for your ability to express yourself the way you want to through your medium.
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
By John McCrae 1915
Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's
metaphysical value-judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of
reality which represent his fundamental view of man's nature. -Ayn Rand
All artist are influential in shaping our culture, some rage in the face of others and some quietly in the shadows. Who are you influencing today with your art?
"The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web." Picasso
So what makes us artist? Is it our ability to feel all emotions deeper? Is it our eye that sees things from different perspectives? Is our ability to freeze a moment in time?
Today find what that definition is for you.
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."-A. Einstein
The first rule of art is expression of your thoughts, feelings, dreams and ideas. The second rule does it take the viewer to a new level of thought, emotion, etc?
One catalyst to do that is the mystery. Mystery comes in various forms like fog, shadows and dark.
The photo above might take a viewer into thought about the state of politics, or the economy.
Use of natural elements that create mystery can stir all varieties of emotions such as wondering, uneasiness, uncertainty or even fear.
Emotions provoke thought, creativity and change. So take someone to a new level today with your creativity.
Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations. R.W. Emerson
How many times do you walk by the same scene everyday? Do you realize that with every moment it changes?
As creative people we must learn to look at the same scene with different eyes as nothing truly stays the same. This is not only true with artist expression but with life, are you in a rut doing the same thing over and over again? It is time to break out of that rut by looking at that same scene with different eyes, look for the change, the shadow ,the light, the depth, something that makes you smile. Find the different and you will have new from the same old same old.
It is a challenge to make yourself look at things through different eyes, but you will reap great benefits in your creative expression and your life as well.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.- anonymous
When was the last time you had a life moment that took your breath away? Did you take that moment of breath taking beauty away with you by creating an artistic expression of it?
As artist we should be capturing those breath taking moments in our medium as well as taking ordinary moments and creating breath taking moments with our creative expression.
Today when life takes your breath away, capture it, remember it and express it to share with all.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
- Helen Keller
Are you living life or are you just reacting? Are you truly setting your own goals, pursing your own dreams or are you blindly stumbling down someone else's path? Most would say there are but two certainties in this existence, death and taxes. We build our comfortable and what we think are stable lives and the biggest risk we take is trying a new kind of latte' but then one day it happens, the unexpected, the tragedy that shatters our security.
We were meant to live life not just exist!!! There are three certainties in this existence, death, taxes and the unexpected.
Why do we think of the unexpected as a horrible thing? Don't get wrong there are certain things I like to plan in life especially having enough money to pay the essentials (shelter, food and the internet) but as a whole I want to welcome the unexpected because it can provide me with creative inspiration and motivation.
We were made to be creative so why not use the unexpected to inspire and motivate you to create something in your medium today?
Live life, have an adventure, smile, laugh and find your inner artist.
