HAPPY AUGUST
The last few days have seen me holed up inside doing ‘art business’ i.e. the dreaded artist statement/submissions etc—a nightmare- for me at least. Part of it though was researching other artists and I came across some really inspiring quotes from one of my my ‘art heroes’ Emily Carr. So I thought I’d share and have listed them below.
Also, an ‘August’ painting rendered a few years ago –the one that ‘got away’ so to speak.. I don’t know about other artists, but there are some paintings I wish I had of hung on to- this is one of them…
August, Remains of the Day
oil on canvas, triptych
36x36in, 2007
SOLD
EMILY CARR QUOTATIONS
How badly I want that nameless thing! First there must be an idea, a feeling... Maybe it was an abstract idea that you've got to find a symbol for, or maybe it was a concrete form that you have to simplify or distort to meet your ends, but that starting point must pervade the whole.”
“The spirit must be felt so intensely that it has power to call others in passing, for it must pass, not stop in the pictures.”
“There are no words, no paints to express all this, only a beautiful dumbness in the soul, life speaking to life.” “
I think that one's art is a growth inside one. I do not think one can explain growth. It is silent and subtle. One does not keep digging up a plant to see how it grows.” “
I was not ready for abstraction. I clung to earth and her dear shapes, her density, her herbage, her juice. I wanted her volume, and I wanted to hear her throb.”
Be careful that you do not write or paint anything that is not your own, that you don't know in your own soul.”
“There is a need to go deeper, to let myself go completely, to enter into the surroundings in the real fellowship of oneness, to lift above the outer shell, out into the depth and wideness where God is the recognized centre and everything is in time with everything, and the key-note is God.”
“Look at the earth crowded with growth, new and old bursting from their strong roots hidden in the silent, live ground, each seed according to its own kind... each one knowing what to do, each one demanding its own rights on the earth... So, artist, you too from the deeps of your soul... let your roots creep forth, gaining strength.”
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When I immerse myself into the physicality of painting it is in anticipation of the ‘endorphin’ high-where the painting takes over and transcends. For me the only way to achieve this as well as a meditative state in the studio is through guaranteed big- fat- chunks- of time—time with absolutely no interruptions other than bathroom breaks, food and water. ( I'd be fine in jail if I could bring my paints!) I always begin my workday with a long dog run in the field to inspire me -and to wear them out so I can work work work. I am hoping to have that, and the painting, finished (and approved) soon! Then maybe the air will cool and my schedule will clear and I can get back out for some fresh plein air.
