I just finished reading an interesting blog post someone wrote, about creating from your soul, and it got me thinking about this. What exactly does that mean? and do I do this? The author wrote that we are drawn to those that listen to their souls' voice. I believe this is true, I have come across artists that are special, they may not necessarily be the best 'technical' artist, but they have something extra that you perceive, even if you can't put your finger on it.
An artist I admire is Mystele, I have her on my blog list to the right. With everything she does you feel like she creates from her soul. She is a self taught artist, like myself, but there is a beautiful innocent feel to her art. There are many other great primitive artists, but I am drawn to her.
Another artist I love is Suzi Blu, an absolute creative genius, in whose work you can see her passion. She listens to her soul.
So, how does one do this? I feel like my work must be perfect, and I set about making sure there are no mistakes, sometimes scrutinizing a painting for days, looking for little flaws. What if the flaws are the things that would make it perfect? All I know is that I am happiest when I am in the midst of creating, and each of my paintings is a part of me. Sometimes I cannot bear to sell them. Am I painting from my soul? I can't answer this right now, and maybe it isn't up to me to decide. I can only continue as I am, breathing life into each new painting. Finding joy in the process. And hoping, that others feel the same.
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4 comments:
I read this post and wondered where you originally read about creating from your soul. I wrote about that on our blog and then I think I erased it but it's probably still at Google. Anyway, I like your question -how do you know you're painting from your soul? I can't say for sure but I do tend to believe that the work would be revealing. If you feel naked, it is definately soul level. If you're working for money, it isn't soul level. If you are an instrument for the divine, it is soul level. If you ask yourself a question before you create, "How can this piece bring me closer to you, God?" If you open and create from that space, it's soul level. If you are not concerned with how something will look/if you are not trying to please people/if you are telling the truth in your paintings, it is soul level. Whenever you are telling the truth, it's soul level.
Meryl Streep, the actress. You can't watch her and not feel like you're spying on somebody.
"Bridges of Madison County" -she was really in pain in that movie. You could hear her heart beating in that movie. And everything that she's in. I heard that she spends time actually breathing like the character would breathe before the camera ever turns on (she actually sets her breath the way the character would breathe and lays down somewhere alone until her breath makes her feel that she's inside the soul of the character.) That's soul.
Bono, the singer from U 2. You can literally hear his soul in his songs. Again, the breath. His soul rides on his breath. You can hear it when he says every single word. It's lost in most mainstream
"music." You can literally hear his heart in pain.
Dali, the painter. He painted surreal paintings. Anyone else would have painted over what came up for him. The same woman shows up in so many of his paintings b/c there are psychological issues related to her. He even painted feces on at least one of his paintings. It looks ugly but he refused to take it out b/c that is what he envisioned. He left himself open. That's soul.
Pablo Neruda, the poet. So much soul. His heart is layed out for everyone to see. That's why so many people could relate to him and why he is published in so many languages.
People in church who you know that are singing their hearts out and singing loud and cannot sing in tune -that's soul. You are willing to be naked on the canvas. That's soul.
Georgia O'Keefe -she drew flowers like nobody drew flowers. The flowers look like women's reproductive body parts. She was willing to go further than all those artists who draw flowers and never see the flowers. She saw the flowers deeper than everybody else. This is probably my best example. Seriously. If you look at an O'Keefe painting, it's almost embarassing if you're looking at it when other people are watching you see it b/c the flowers look like naked women. The landscapes of the Earth look like women's bodies. She went deeper. That's soul level.
I didn't say that the way I meant it re: the money part. Artists work for hire and still work from their soul. What I was referring to was doing it solely for the money. :-)
ps: You said you start with the eyes, right? That must say something about working on a soul level. Aren't our eyes like the gateway to our souls?
thanks for the comments Garlic. Yes I always start with the eyes, and then I can proceed. I never know what a girl looks like until the eyes are done, then the rest falls into place. I just hope as I gain more confidence, that more of me will come out in my art :-)
Love this idea of creating from the soul. I want to achieve that with every piece I do. Love the painting as well!
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