Inspiration Fridays! Stay on the Line
Stay on the Line
Community keeps us accountable to our creativity. We don’t get answers from a one sided conversation.
“It may be that the deep necessity of art is the examination of self-deception.” – Robert Motherwell
Do you know what I miss about land lines? I miss the cord. When I lifted up the phone to make a call or answer one, there was no where left to go. With the receiver tucked between my ear and shoulder I’d relax into that asymmetrical posture, reserved only for conversation. There was almost always a notepad near the phone, or at least some typed on bits of paper. While talking, our words would inevitably inspire or bore me, and I would begin to draw. Freeform doodles in the margins of utility bills or abstracted designs on sticky notes. Sometimes even tiny masterpieces would emerge in ballpoint pen over the surface of yellow lined notebook paper.
Have you ever been on the phone with someone who is content to have a conversation without you? We can stand there attentive with the phone to our ear, or set it down on the table and walk away to make a sandwich. When we come back, we will hear that same jocular monologue unaffected by our wordless absence.
In many ways, My easel in the studio is very much like that landline. There is nowhere to go. I stand there, tethered to an invitation to create. Just me, the canvas, and a conversation with the infinite. That conversation can sustain me for long periods of time. But then, one day, it doesn’t.
Infinity – 36″x72″ – acrylic on panel – On display at the Grant Pass Museum of Art through July 28th
As much as I relish my artistic connection to the infinite, I’ve learned that I need to check in regularly to make sure that the line hasn’t gone dead. Art is connection. Without it, we begin to repeat ourselves. We are no longer having a conversation. We are limited by the comfort of our own ideas and end up regurgitating the familiar. This leads to bad repetitive art. Echo chamber art.
The Learning To See community has changed the trajectory of my work. Last Friday was our final live call and I’ve been reflecting on what this community means to me. The deep learning that’s taking place throughout the course, the hard questions that I’ve been asked, and the myriad of different artistic perspectives, changes the way that I think. It changes the way that I see. I have seen more growth in my art over the last three years than the ten years prior. And it appears to be across-the-board. My teammates and students are winning awards, selling work, and continually pushing the envelope of creativity. It feels like a renaissance.
What has changed is the connection. There is a cord that now connects me to a bigger world, full of amazing ideas and wonderful artists. It pushes me to grow and be better. It pulls me out of my ruts and into the game and it keeps me on the line.