Paint Like a 4th Grader

Paint Like a 4th Grader

I’ve learned more from my students, friends, and daughter, than any of my attempts at introspection have been able to deliver.  2022 has been a year of wonder. I traveled, painted, and taught. I’ve even been caught dozing off to the blissful droning of a bedtime story or two.

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” – Maori Proverb

My daughter Iris loves to write stories first thing in the morning before I’ve even crawled out of bed. She’s an excellent writer and she’s told me so.  Some of the themes in her stories echo books she’s recently read in class and share plots with the stories we read before bed, but all of that is irrelevant. Her choice to write in the morning is enough. It’s the first thing that she wants to do when she wakes up.

Somehow, over the years, I have managed to make the thing that I love most into my profession. The word painting feels light and exciting.  The word profession brings with it a different kind of weight.  Some days thoughts about painting are as far as my creativity gets.  Instead of leaping into my paintings as a story written in the morning, I assign painting to the hum-drum category: JOB

Gabriel Painting In Paris

This crazy world is full of people going to work. We all do it.  I even know a few people without professions who wake up and go to work.  Sometimes only in their heads.  But what if we choose to wake up eager to write every morning?  Instead of the “what if’s” and “I shoulds”, we can choose “I get to”.  “I get to” brings with it a feeling of awe. It comes with discovery.  It’s that quiet place that inspiration fills with the sounds of our accomplishments.

Iris has shown me that a shift in my perspective might be just the thing I need. If we are afraid to get started, we’re living in a future that doesn’t exist yet.  If thinking about our paintings makes us sad, we’re stuck in the disappointments of our past.  This year, let’s paint like fourth graders.  Unafraid to learn, unapologetic about our mistakes, and fearlessly in love with what we get to create.

What did your year teach you?

What inspirations caught you by surprise?

What makes you wake up in awe?

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How do you stay creative through the Holidays?

How do you stay creative through the Holidays?

Being a painter is only one symptom of a greater malady.  What it hints at, is a creative and restless mind. The mind of an artist. Some artists express themselves through music and song, others, write weekly blogs, and even others find themselves baking gingerbread cookies with their grandchildren.

“I think – I have often wondered if actually – being an artist in any way – any nature is a kind of a sign of a certain kind of dysfunction, a social dysfunctionalism, anyway. It’s an extraordinary thing to want to do, to express yourself in such – in such rarefied terms.” – David Bowie

The trick for many of us “creatives” is to get through the Holiday season without cracking under the infinite creative possibilities that present themselves.

This can be a time of great joy and celebration, but it can also be a season where my painting takes a backseat. Navigating the demands of social commitments, errands and family can feel big.  It can be difficult to eke out even a little bit of time let alone the energy to be creative with my art.

Inspiration Fridays How Do You Stay Creative Through the Holidays

For me, this used to lead to a feeling of overwhelm, followed by dualistic sensations of guilt. An undisciplined wrestling match between my art and attention to those that I love would rage as Christmas drew nigh. Painting regularly triumphed, throttling my relationships in a vicious headlock, and I threw myself into my work. Irrational and Herculean efforts followed, willing me forward to meet self-imposed deadlines before Christmas arrived.  This inevitably led to a kind of lean creativity. There was a desperate aura of lack surrounding my pre-holiday work, and the most important people in my life were left to decorate the tree without me.

Inspiration Fridays How Do You Stay Creative Through the Holidays? Is it OK to put the paint down?

Fortunately for all of us, there are sleighs full of creative solutions to help us stay inspired through this holiday season. I’ve touched on one already. Gingerbread cookies.

Who are we kidding? If you haven’t got it done by mid-December it can wait until January. These lightless hours offer us up an opportunity to put the “push“ down. Do you have a friend that needs a visit? Maybe a couple of kids who need to be peeled away from their iPads? Is there a version of Santa Clause that still makes things by hand?

If we don’t show up for our art, we can’t be inspired. But sometimes, showing up for our art might look like a couple of pine cones discovered on a brisk walk with your estranged cousin, or half-mad kitchen experiments with cinnamon, nutmeg, and maybe a bit of ginger.

How do you stay inspired during the Holidays?

Does your studio call out to you from the dark?

Is it OK to put the paint down?

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Inspiration Fridays! Who Are Your People?

Who Are Your People?

Artists always go to New York. New York, the center of the art world. Long before Art Basel in Miami or my recent trip to Paris, in my mind the New York art scene reigned supreme. But instead of moving to New York, to tough it out with the rest of the “Bohemians”, I retreated to a small town in southern Oregon, where I have lived ever since.

“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.” – Erol Ozan

End of story? No! Of course not. Life has a way of bringing things full circle. I’ve worked with a lot of wonderful people, travelled a great deal, (even to New York) and generally had an amazing time. Small towns can be wonderful for community but they just don’t have the numbers and so this has often left me feeling like I was creating my art in a vacuum.

Of course, that’s never true. But what is true is that when I begin creating the Learning to See Course, the direction of my art, my community, and my life, changed radically. All of a sudden, I was working with artists from all over the world. Some were beginners, and others were professionals, but the passion we shared for art was and is, electric.

Gabriel Mark Lipper - Seclusion - Mixed Media on panel - 48”x 48”

Gabriel Mark Lipper – Seclusion – Mixed Media on panel – 48”x 48”

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The life of an artist can be isolating, especially if you feel surrounded by a community that doesn’t understand what you are trying to say with your work. Through Learning to See, I finally have a community that speaks the same language I do. We have similar goals, similar hang ups. We can all agree on the importance of purple. For us, purple can be a feeling, a memory, or even a shadow…. It’s the Learning to See community that spurs me on and challenges me to go farther and I am grateful to all of you who have supported me along the way.

I’ve never moved to New York, but the global community that I’ve discovered from my studio in Oregon has and continues to, change the way I see. I hope that I have been able to contribute to your journey as well.

Does your community support your art?

How do other artist contribute to your creativity?

Who are your people?

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