Thursday, March 18, 2010

DIFFERENT STROKES




It’s elementary… literally. We’re given basic tools as grade-schoolers. But in adulthood, sometimes these tools are forgotten. Reading teaches us there is much to learn and learning will literally be a never-ending process. Recess teaches us to play. Science teaches us to experiment. History teaches us about the past – some of which should be never repeated again, while understanding how far we’ve come. Math helps us add up numbers… and numbers don’t lie, only people do. Nap-time teaches us to rest. And then there is art…

Some people may think of art as construction paper, paste and crayons. But when I think of art, I reflect fondly upon my graphite, ink, pastels, charcoal and watercolors.

Today I heard an interesting story about a man who is starting his life over… completely over.

After an extremely long and successful career of 18-20 hour work days, a divorce, health scares and issues, with the reality that the world is changing, his career has changed, he has realized that after all he’s been through, that his perspective of life, creativity and passion has also changed. He is returning to a fundamental and elementary love in his life, the life of art.



Long forgotten, have been the simple pleasures rediscovered: the vibrant colors and viscosity of paint; the feeling of the slender wooden paint brush handle which surrenders its control to the desire of the artist; and the textured blank canvas which beckons ….”imagine, visualize, create, dream… let’s become one and share the story only we can tell together.”

This relationship between artist and materials is a unique, private and special one. It is the artist who moves the materials and initiates shapes, designs and carefully the layers of colors and shades into the story that is being told. It is the materials who surrender to the hand of the artist saying “I’ll be whatever you need me to be… YOU just be.”

Painting, drawing and expressing oneself through art is a raw, vulnerable act.
It is open, it is freeing and liberating with every line, shape and shade. People who understand art, are in the process of learning a whole other dimension of themselves. Part of an artists inner core of being can only show up on a canvas, on paper or even carved in stone or shaped in a sculpture.

When you become one with the art you create – it is beyond music, beyond acting. Art is both a conscious and unconscious form of creation… it comes out as it comes out, for all the world to see, appreciate, criticize, marvel at, and even judge. It is the artist’s hand. The artist’s line or brush stroke. It is not a script, not someone’s camera work or lighting. It is all … the artist.

Unlike a live performance which can be forgotten, art is a permanent, tangible creation which stays as it is and as it was created. It cannot be manipulated with editing, sweetening, lighting and lenses or even be erased afterward. Once it is final… its finality is what carries its original intent and message from the first line, the first brush stroke, the first sense of what it was becoming as it was becoming.

In the journey of life, we are left with impressions people leave behind.
And it is in art, we are left with impressions created by the people who dared to share and express.

I wish him well on his colorful journey and for having the bravery and courage to be vulnerable… to be an artist.

http://www.100percentrealwords.blogspot.com

Media Monster Communications, Inc.
Stacey Kumagai
http://hubpages.com/profile/mediamonster http://www.braingasm.com

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