If you are an artist viewing this website, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you enjoy most about creating art.
The anticipation, the preparation, the actual creation or the final contemplation? (sorry… I got kind of caught up in how those words wove together). Or do you enjoy some other aspect I haven’t considered?
Often when I see a beautiful sky of awe-inspiring clouds, or sunlight and shadows moving across the lawn, or an especially graceful pear, I wonder if I could capture part of those multiple dimensions of light and color and texture and atmosphere onto a flat surface ~ a second of existence held in a more permanent form.
And often when I do begin to attempt capturing that moment, what begins to emerge is not what I saw in actuality or even what I envisioned, but a different thing altogether. And that is exciting in itself.
During this process, my mind forgets that my dog is ill, or that I need to pay bills or go to the grocery store. I don’t worry for a while, nor stress about duty or money or the person that I am.
For those moments, my mind rests. But my soul sings.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Jo Castillo // Nov 4, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I’m not sure why I paint and sketch. Sometimes it feels like a chore. I love it when I am doing it and usually the action of painting is more exciting than the result. I have seen paintings I did years ago in the home of someone else and don’t even recognize them.
2 Kellie // Nov 9, 2008 at 8:48 pm
My favorite part is the actual creation, for sure, even thought the other aspects you mentioned are pretty wonderful
So far as the why…. it seems like I’ve got this compulsion to create, and so I just try to make the most of it, I suppose. Love watching your blog, btw!
3 Regina // Nov 9, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Jo – I agree that often the action of painting is more exciting than the result. I guess maybe we paint for just ourselves…
4 Regina // Nov 9, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Kellie – Thank you for commenting, and I love your work!
I feel a compulsion also, but a guilt too, in that I’m not doing something practical, like cleaning house. Wonder where that comes from? Maybe a previous life as a Calvinist?
5 Sherry Thurner // Nov 24, 2008 at 7:33 am
I think the part of creating art I like best is the act of painting, drawing, or cutting and pasting. I get very caught up in the moment, the little decisions about what to do next, what is working and what isn’t. At the end I love the surprise of results. I’m always a little let down when I finally step away from a piece.
6 Kathryn // Jan 7, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Hi
I am not an artist, but a chaplain. (I am an amateur photographer though.) I found your blog while looking for the answer to this question: why art? why do we do it? I do a bulletin board every month at my workplace touching on a spiritual theme. This month, I decided to feature one of my colleagues who is a painter. http://www.innerkingdom.com/
and so the question is (not “what is art?) but rather why do we do it?
From what I have read, art is created because there is some compulsion to express something from within. To express some thought or idea versus saying look at my talent.
Do you have further thoughts on this question? (Despite the fact that you originally posed it months ago.)
7 Regina // Jan 7, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Kathryn – Thank you for your email and your question. I draw and paint primarily landscapes – I think that is because I am grateful for the beauty that is around us every day. It is in every kind of weather and terrain – amazing ancient live oak trees that have seen more history than I can imagine, flurries of dry leaves spinning across the lawn, tall gold grasses bending along the roadside, a beautiful emerald green beetle crawling across the patio.
Seeing these examples of God’s grace every day help me to simply make it through the day. They give me peace. And that is what I would like to share, to whatever degree I can, in my art.
In other artist’s work, I see where they have chosen a small capsule of God’s creation and used their talent and vision to capture that image for others to appreciate. In their work, I think they are expressing a combination of God’s creativity and their own.
One of my favorite quotes is: “Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.”
Andre Gide, French critic, essayist, & novelist (1869 – 1951).
8 Kathryn // Jan 9, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Yes!! I so agree. In “researching” my project, I have found the various quotes. Art is for the artists.. in that we create, in my opinion, out of some need to express what we have seen in God’s Creation, and art is for the viewer, so that those of us who cannot create, are able to appreciate the beauty that exists in the world. While I realize that different people will say that they create for reasons unique to each individual, using their own style and method, I think that in the end it all is as you say “expressing a combination of God’s creativity and their own”.
Love your work. Especially the latest blog entry. Keep up the beauty, as draining as some days may be.
9 Regina // Jan 9, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Kathryn – I like your statement, that Art is both for the artist and the viewer. I am often in awe of the beauty someone has created on paper or canvas or fabric – and also, my favorite part of being an artist is when I am creating something. If someone else enjoys the final piece, that makes the experience even better.
I’ve spoken with many artists who feel that they are not the sole creator of their work. I’m glad.
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