A writer – and, I believe, generally all persons – must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given […]
Category Archives: creativity
World Full of Magic
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. – William Butler Yeats The other morning my neighbor woke me up at 4:00 A.M. I was unable to go back to sleep. Before dawn I grumbled to myself through my morning coffee and breakfast. Setting out, I did not […]
Art and Magic
Without magic, there is no art. Without art, there is no idealism. Without idealism, there is no integrity. Without integrity, there is only production. – Raymond Chandler A child’s world is lit by magic and filled with fantasy. The imaginary manifests like the wind – unseen but there nonetheless. Fanciful thoughts lead to imaginative creations. […]
How You Take it
Life is 10% what you make it, and 90% how you take it. – Irving Berlin Change is at the heart of all things. We are constantly planning for what’s up ahead, using information from what’s behind. But Past and Future are constructed atop the timeless flowing NOW. Your responses to the infinite dynamic moment […]
Art is not What You See
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. –Edgar Degas Artists don’t look for beauty fully formed. Art is the summoning of the fantastic with effortless action. Planning out the brushstrokes would result in lifeless creation. I was taught to sketch the general idea and to let the work emerge from […]
Hidden in Unlikely Places
And above all watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. – Roald Dahl When I was a little boy, I spent every moment I could with my beloved grandpa. He lived […]
Art has Two Constants
He realized more vividly than ever before, that art had two constants, two unending preoccupations: it is always meditating on death and it is always thereby creating life. –Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago The spark of life within us glimmers and shines, and occasionally adversity or blessing fans the spark into a bonfire. That animated nucleus […]
The Mark of Wisdom
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. – Emerson Not a day passes when I do not witness something miraculous. Since I was a small boy I have marveled at this world of ours. My earliest memory was retrieved through meditation. I was only a few months old lying […]
Ripples of Hope
Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of […]
The Eternal Present
In Art, the Present is the eternal – Kakuzo Okakura Art impacts deep inside our soul. The artist’s energy rolls and twirls across their medium – canvas, stone, fabric, wood…. and charms their work with life. Captivating attraction connects the viewer across time until both the artist and the audience join in the eternal present. […]
