I am listening to the still, small Inner Voice. Look for the royal color in future blogs and see where I venture.
"For all artists the problem is one of finding one's own authenticity of speaking in a language or imagery that is essentially one's own, but if one's self-image is dictated by one's relation to others and all one's activities are other-directed, it is simply not possible to find one's own voice....The painter cannot expend their precious energy in polemic.... Every painting by anyone is evidence of a struggle...." from The Obstacle Race by Germaine Greer.
Eowyn Wilcox maintains a nice art blog with numerous links to other interesting resources. One of her entries provides the above-mentioned quote. That last sentence is a great insight. I enjoyed surveying her blog and links in my early hours over the last few days. She seems to like the Van Gogh story as well as I. She got the Greer book for three dollars so she is a bargain hunter too. A kindred spirit. Her melodius name from the Old English means "delightful charger" as in "joyful horse". She also located a great Vincent quote about the Artistic Endeavor in the early venture....
"Do you know what has come into my mind, that in the first period of a painter's life one unconsciously makes it very hard for oneself - a feeling of not being able to master the work - by an uncertainty as to whether one will ever master it - by a great ambition to make progress, by a lack of self-confidence - one cannot banish a certain feeling of agitation, and one hurries oneself though one doesn't like to be hurried. This cannot be helped, and it is a time which one must go through, and which in my opinion cannot and should not be otherwise. In the studies, too, one is conscious of a nervousness and a certain dryness which is the exact opposite of the calm, broad touch one strives for, and yet it doesn't work well if one applies oneself too much to acquiring that broadness of touch. This gives one a feeling of nervous unrest and agitation, and one feels an oppression as on summer days before a thunderstorm. I had that feeling again just now, and when I have it, I change my work, just to make a new start." from Vincent Van Gogh letter to his brother Theo, February 1883
"For all artists the problem is one of finding one's own authenticity of speaking in a language or imagery that is essentially one's own, but if one's self-image is dictated by one's relation to others and all one's activities are other-directed, it is simply not possible to find one's own voice....The painter cannot expend their precious energy in polemic.... Every painting by anyone is evidence of a struggle...." from The Obstacle Race by Germaine Greer.
Eowyn Wilcox maintains a nice art blog with numerous links to other interesting resources. One of her entries provides the above-mentioned quote. That last sentence is a great insight. I enjoyed surveying her blog and links in my early hours over the last few days. She seems to like the Van Gogh story as well as I. She got the Greer book for three dollars so she is a bargain hunter too. A kindred spirit. Her melodius name from the Old English means "delightful charger" as in "joyful horse". She also located a great Vincent quote about the Artistic Endeavor in the early venture....
"Do you know what has come into my mind, that in the first period of a painter's life one unconsciously makes it very hard for oneself - a feeling of not being able to master the work - by an uncertainty as to whether one will ever master it - by a great ambition to make progress, by a lack of self-confidence - one cannot banish a certain feeling of agitation, and one hurries oneself though one doesn't like to be hurried. This cannot be helped, and it is a time which one must go through, and which in my opinion cannot and should not be otherwise. In the studies, too, one is conscious of a nervousness and a certain dryness which is the exact opposite of the calm, broad touch one strives for, and yet it doesn't work well if one applies oneself too much to acquiring that broadness of touch. This gives one a feeling of nervous unrest and agitation, and one feels an oppression as on summer days before a thunderstorm. I had that feeling again just now, and when I have it, I change my work, just to make a new start." from Vincent Van Gogh letter to his brother Theo, February 1883
Photo Courtesy: Artist on the Road to Tarscon - Van Gogh 1888 - Internet Commons Fair Use
So we shall struggle along in this Artistic Endeavor. Knowing that other's greater than us have gone before us in the same manner. Weigh the anchors. Set the sails. Look for favorable winds. Charging forward to find the momentary joy. Focusing the nervous agitation and unrest of precious energy expenditure in a purposeful direction to the extent that we can. A new season may be emerging. Spring forward.
Thank you Germaine Greer. Thank you Vincent. Thank you Eowyn.
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