Drawing Life 11
The festive season has arrived and we’ve canceled this week’s art class because one of our troupe must go out of town. As one must from time to time. Each person brings their great spirit to class so we will wait for our esteemed fellow artist to return. Meanwhile we keep drawing and adding inspiration to our sketchbooks. Drawing is something in and of itself—a means, an end. It can also be preparation for what comes next, like life is. What we do today makes our tomorrow.
Inspiration can be anything—a thought, a word, the way the sun hits a rooftop at high noon, the work of other artists. We’re pulling images out of various publications and from the internet, images that make us glad we’re here. It can be anything.
Sometimes we can’t articulate why something speaks to us. Sometimes we have no idea how or if it might bring anything to our own work. Some things do, some don’t, but it’s all there for us. Just looking at stuff opens us up to a whole stream of possibilities. We just need to catch hold of one of them.
It’s like fishing—we cast our line and wait to see what shows up. We don’t actually choose the fish we catch, we’re just glad we got one. The fish chooses us if we’re present, patient and very, very still. The big ones are smart. We have to be extra still to get them and we have to offer them a real worm, not one of those phony ones. We have to offer them our best.
Can you see in this image why I love Cy Twombly? The funny thing is I just spontaneously started drawing like this. I wasn’t thinking about Cy at all but I confess I spent time with his great paintings of the four seasons at the Tate Modern last summer. They must have seeped into my blood! Love them. And, have to say, I love my new drawings. But, then, all is vanity. Or fun.
Yesterday we hung the member’s art show at the Arsenal Center for the Arts. It’s a large show with an impressive variety of impressive work. Hope all you Boston people will come to the opening on December 6th, 6-8. There’s some good inspiration in it.
