BLISSFUL-BOHEMIAN

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Musings on Art


 Art is, after all, only a trace — like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely and in great happiness. -Robert Henri 

I have many projects going on, all labor intensive, so I really have nothing to show, but wanted to check in and say hello.
I think about art all the time, if I am not making it, I am looking at it or talking about it or dreaming of it.
Art is my life, and a huge part of my spiritual practice.
Making art helps me not think and thinking is the main reason we suffer. It has taken me many years to learn this. I don't mean problem solving, that is a wonderful use of the mind and it is also a part of art making.
What I mean is that worrying mind, that goes over things and never is satisfied.
When I make art that part of my brain stops. Art is my door way to being awake.
I love art so much. And the world inspires me, mostly nature, but really everywhere I look I see a color, or texture or shape that inspires me, my eyes are very greedy. Other artist inspire me too, I love art that is not cookie cutter and  pushes outside the norm. I am not hugely fond of safe art, though I know it has it's place and can be very beautiful.
Art is healing, it is beauty, it is needed in this world.
What kind of art do you like, what inspires you, I would love to know.
XOXO

16 comments:

kj said...

annie, this is so well expressed there is nothing i can add to it . my art is colors and words, separate or together. someday i may learn how to draw instead of just winging it and trying.

my current mantra, as you probably know: wait to worry. boy has that eliminated a lot of unnecessary fretting for me. because i wait and then the trouble may well be gone.

i am so glad art is such an anchor and a love in your life. you're wise.

love
kj

Annie said...

Kj, I thank God everyday that I am an artist. You are an artist too.
xoxo

lynne h said...

annie, you said everything just as i would. i feel exactly the same!

xoxo

Annie said...

lynne, You are my soul sister, so I am not at all surprised :-). xoxo

Judy Shreve said...

Inspiring post! Yes art is all there is - right?
xoxo

Annie said...

Judy, Well, spirit and family and friends and nature, but after all that art is all exists...xoxo

Sharmon Davidson said...

Annie, I know exactly what you mean about stopping that 'worrying brain' when you make art. It is a spiritual practice, a very vitally important one for me.

Annie said...

Sharmon, it is likely the main reason we do art, don't you think?
xoxo

Houseelf said...

Hi Annie I like that phrase "greedy eyes", it is how I've felt ever since starting patchwork. I get inspired by the colours I see together. 2 buildings for instance can inspire a whole project whether it be the colours or shapes, or textures. I have noticed 2 negative types of my own thoughts. One is sun shaped where I am trying to picture every eventuality and problem solve it before it has happened, and the other is spiral shaped where a problem can't be solves so I go round and round and not get anywhere. Just spotting the shape of a thought has helped me get a bit more of a rein on them.

Annie said...

Melanie,Very interesting that your thoughts have shapes.
I just want to stop all thought unless I need to solve something, it is hard, but it is my practice, and I keep at it. xoxo

Joe Madl said...

you have lifted my heart today with this exploration of what art is to you! when i stop to consider it, while i am creating, my worrying mind is quiet, too. i am awake and in the moment. something i've been struggling with a lot lately. perhaps it is no surprise that i have created very little lately as well.

thank you for this post. perhaps it will serve quite nicely as my proverbial 2 x 4!

Annie said...

Joe, So happy to see you here today!
I don't get around the blogs much, but I do miss you. So glad I could help.Giant hugs. xoxo

Friko said...

Art is what makes life worth living, wether it’s the art of nature or the art produced by man. I wish I had it in me to create visual art, but I don’t. So I try to create words and sentences that hang together and give an idea of the internal furniture of mankind.

Human nature is my canvas. Observation is the tool I use.

Annie said...

Friko,
Writing is an art and can have the same effect as visual art. xoxo

ZenDotStudio said...

yes, art is part of my spiritual practice, such a deep part and sometimes to mischievous mind comes prowling there too. I learn a lot about myself and the world by making art. I am not sure I would know how to be in the world without making art.

Like you I love art that is outside the box. The heart knows what makes it sing.

Such a lovely post from your heart to ours. Thanks Annie! Happy Spring!

Annie said...

Carole, Thank you. Happy Spring to you as well. xoxo