This past weekend, I went to see some Open Studio artists in Oakland. I did not participate in the Pro Arts venue this year for various reasons, but I was eager to see what others are doing. One woman's work especially appealed to me, as I guess it had a similar feeling and orientation as my own - that is, her work was magical and spiritual, with dreamy subjects and images. I loved it, and felt inspired to work more intensely on my own new pieces.
One thing about this artist's work was that it was almost all very positive - no decaying ruins, dark figures, etc which populate my own work. I've had lots of new inspirations recently, and so this morning I was thinking about them and my work in general. I started to think of not allowing the darkness to seep into my pieces anymore, to keep things positive and shiny like the work of the artist I'd just met and admired.
But, we are living in dark and dangerous times, let's face it. I won't go into all the myriad ways in which this is true, but I will say that it's natural for an artist's work to reflect some of that darkness. How can it not? So there are ruins in my paintings, storm clouds, dark figures. But there are also the angels, the High Priestesses, the magnificent horses, the jesters.
So, silly as it sounds, I realized this morning that despite the dark tapestry my work is set into, its heart is a positive affirmation on the power of us, the bright, magical, and powerful lights we all are, even if we don't always know it. It reveals in the darkness, the magic that lies just underneath the surface within and around us. My way of expressing this truth is different from the artist I met this weekend, but our message, I know, is the same. Anyway, there is no light without the dark, right?
One thing about this artist's work was that it was almost all very positive - no decaying ruins, dark figures, etc which populate my own work. I've had lots of new inspirations recently, and so this morning I was thinking about them and my work in general. I started to think of not allowing the darkness to seep into my pieces anymore, to keep things positive and shiny like the work of the artist I'd just met and admired.
But, we are living in dark and dangerous times, let's face it. I won't go into all the myriad ways in which this is true, but I will say that it's natural for an artist's work to reflect some of that darkness. How can it not? So there are ruins in my paintings, storm clouds, dark figures. But there are also the angels, the High Priestesses, the magnificent horses, the jesters.
So, silly as it sounds, I realized this morning that despite the dark tapestry my work is set into, its heart is a positive affirmation on the power of us, the bright, magical, and powerful lights we all are, even if we don't always know it. It reveals in the darkness, the magic that lies just underneath the surface within and around us. My way of expressing this truth is different from the artist I met this weekend, but our message, I know, is the same. Anyway, there is no light without the dark, right?