This is what I worked on this morning. (With a lot of help from my "assistant"/evil twin. This afternoon,
I've been texturizing canvases...I'm working on adding texture to my
Undersea one that didn't sell. I figure that I'll play around with it
some more and then release it back onto Ebay. (BTW- it seriously pisses
me off and hurts my feelings when a painting doesn't sell- I usually
end up re-working it and building more layers- or paint it out w/ gesso
and make something completely different on top of the ashes of the old
one.) Fed-ex just dropped off 20 more canvases today and I have
to start putting texture on those
too....AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....business as usual. Before getting my
hands covered in gel medium and other textural goop again...I thought I
would make a post that I've been wanting to do all day long, so here
goes-
The Creative Soul Lives In The Shadows-
"For me the soul of creativity lives in the shadows and must be
continuously mined, embraced and expressed. I see those of us in our
culture who take creative risks in art making as
trailblazers, cultural symbolic steam valves, blood letters, permission
givers, inspirational leaders and visionaries. But we pay a high price.
I believe the health, emotional stability and prosperity of artists in
our culture have suffered because of the subtle societal sanction and
fear of this essential shadow material, which artists are naturally
called upon from within to express.
Art is the embodiment of raw material into a work of soul. A
transformation occurs. The absolute necessity of embracing the shadow,
of what appears to be the hideous monster, for transformation to occur
is depicted throughout history in myth and fairytale. The best known is
"Beauty And The Beast."
There is a Beauty and a Beast in each of us. The Beast started out as a
helpless, misunderstood child, our honest, emotional, out-spoken side
that through repeated sanctions went underground. That naturally alive,
creative, honest , sensuous child remained in our unconscious, under a
spell, never dying , but growing uglier to get our attention in
nightmares and spontaneous flareups, addictions and symptoms. Then one
day, maybe because of a crisis, we are face-to-face with the now ugly
fearful monster. We are locked in a castle-or in front of a canvas-
face-to-face.
The act of painting the Beast as it is- not making it pretty- is your
liberation. Looking into the eyes and heart of your jailer beyond the
mask will unlock the true gift hidden within. Your original creative
soul has been hidden within the monster, and acknowledging and
expressing this part of you allows you and your art to heal and
transform so that the true prince (or princess) is born.
So, the more you make conscious and welcome with compassion the
unconscious aspects of your self, the more free and versatile becomes
your creative expression. The more you creatively express these hidden
aspects, the more soul and authenticity enters your art. The less fear
you have of revealing anything, and the less energy you spend in
inhabition, the more energy is available for free expression. In the
Twelve Step program, there is a wise expression: "You are only as sick
as your secrets." I would say, " Your creative limitations are only as
great as your unexpressed shadows."
-Aviva Gold- Author of- "Painting From The Source" Awakening The Artist's Soul In Everyone"