Thought for The Artist In You...

Subject: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Amos
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 07:55 PM

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into your action, and because there is only one of you at all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep the channel open."

"You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased... There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than others....."

Darrell Wood Artist

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: khandu
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 10:40 PM

Excellent! Thanks, Amos, for posting this!

khandu

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 10:46 PM

Amos, THANKS !!!~

My intention was always to keep the channel open but my prostate had other ideas. ;-)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: GUEST,Mary Anne
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 10:48 PM

An important reminder. I have been reading a book "No More Secondhand Art" which says the same thing--even for us folks who don't consider ourselves 'artists'. The thought that I am the only person who can channel who I am and what I've been given...wow!

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 01:35 AM

Thank heaven for that - I thought I was just crap!

LTS

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Cappuccino
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 03:13 AM

A 'blessed unrest' - I like that!!!

Thanks, Amos. - Ian B

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Kim C
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 10:22 AM

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's never pleased with my own work! ;-)

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Matt Woodbury/Mimosa
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 11:05 AM

I performed a solo concert in last week, still find myself going over it trying to work out how to do better, but, I made good art.
It was very frightening to expose my innner self the way I did, that channel, I had to refrain from all that self judgement, and just do it. There was about 5 seconds of silence after the final number, before the audience applauded. I don't know if they were that absorbed, or shocked and stunned, but now I do feel satisfied, in the way that i know I made art, and dissatisfied, because I can only refine and continue to create.

Thanks for the validation of my experience, Amos.

Mimosa

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: sophocleese
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 11:47 AM

A neat quote, the only niggling point about that gets to me is the asumption of being more alive than others. Apart from the obviously moribund (say George Bush or Stockwell Day to name two) how can you tell?

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 11:58 AM

It sounds like more patting-oneself-on-the-back which artists and poets are so good at.

Alex

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Matt Woodbury/Mimosa
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 02:33 PM

When I open my creativity, I feel more alive than when I don't, so I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that others who don't access their creative side are likewise less alive.

Mimosa

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Grab
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 02:55 PM

And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.

Not sure about this. I think everyone's got a set amount of creativity which they can partition wherever they want, and how they use it just depends on what they fancy doing. For example, I used to make and paint lead miniatures until I found the guitar - then all my self-expression was channeled through the guitar. When I picked up my fiddle again, the amount I played the guitar varied in inverse proportion to the amount I played the fiddle, and both suffer when I've got an interesting electronics project or when we need new plants or a new layout for the garden. Maybe that's just due to there only being so many hours in the day, but I'm sure only being able to put out so much creativity and imagination per day is a factor.

It is your business to keep the channel open.

Or as they say, "Even a blind pig finds a truffle occasionally." :-)

Graham.

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 03:56 PM

I thought pigs hunted for truffles by smell, not sight?

Alex

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: sophocleese
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 04:07 PM

Matt Woodbury, good to hear that your solo concert went well. It is a scary experience.

I think the assumption that others are not living as fully as yourself is a little arrogant, and that's what turns me off the quote. Those who love physical risk and endeavour can also show a similar arrogance. The picture of an accountant as a boring, grey person with little or no life is popular, but I suspect that some accountants at least get satisfaction out of their jobs and feel that they are alive when they wrestle with figures and use their mathematical skills.

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: MMario
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 04:07 PM

Grab - all your instances the channel is open - however - you probably know, as I do, people who do not create...who always follow a recipe each and every time, who cannot even make a decision if they don't have guidelines or policy to follow. Who follow a routine that never varies. They may play an instrument - but they never intentionally play a variation that isn't written on the paper in front of them.

IMO - that's not living - that's merely existing.

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: MMario
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 04:19 PM

adventurers are creative in their actions - and their choice of "entertainment" (I think they are nuts!) - And accountants have be known to be verycreative...*chuckle*

not all creativity is apparent at first glance - but I bet you can still point to someone you know and not find anything creative about their life at all...

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Matt Woodbury/Mimosa
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 04:23 PM

sophocleese, I think we're on the same wavelength, here. as I read the quote, it could apply to a clerk, accountant, or grocery checker, pretty much anyone who has problem solving at their job, or who finds creative expression in their off time, even if it's in checkers.

I like the quote, because it reminds me that be open to creativity is the thing that makes me feel life. I sing in a professional opera chorus, and we can phone in a performance as if it were assembly line work, and it can be as lifeless as my answering machine's digital voice, but that's not really art. It's the presence in the creative flow, which I can also apply to answering telephones at the day job.

Mimosa

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Amos
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 05:13 PM

I reckon that you have to look a bit beyond the social machinery to find the real measure of someone's aliveness, because meatheads can imitate aliveness convincingly at first glance while being as dull as re-used dishwater inside, while the quiet but alert are sometimes highly creative. But I do feel there is a constant porportion between aliveness and creativity, even though the crreativity may be channeled into the art of life, or the art of loive, rather than the more formal art of song or canvas. In fact I suspect that aliveness and creativity are au fond synonyms.

That said, I understand the annoyance that self-congratulatory tone can evoke, and share it. In my private book, if someone is living fully they don't have time to go around seeing if they are better than other people, aside from the occasional celebration of wins which is a very different thing. Making others look wrong is no part of the creative life in my opinion, even though I guilty of resorting to it on occasion!! [g].

A

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Jul 01 - 05:34 PM

Amos, I'm not familiar with the art of Loive. Do you have a website I could visit to learn more?

Alex

Subject: RE: Thought for The Artist In You...
From: Jande
Date: 20 Jul 01 - 04:31 PM

Thanks for posting that, Amos. It, or perhaps the original, has long been an inspiration for me. I might be wrong but I believe it was originally stated by Martha Graham (sp?), the dancer, in an interview. I sent copies of it to all my friends, but I think the original is in the only computer I don't have hooked up right now.

I am often guilty of judging my work and getting hamstrung by the process. Her way of saying "forget that crap, just keep going because it's what you do and what you need to do, only Time and History can judge" always humbles me and sets me back on the path.

I figure I'll be long gone by the time Time or History has anything to say to me...

Thanks again, for the reminder. I needed that.

~ Jande