On the Art of Life and Vice Versa

Inspiration via Michael Kimmelman's book The Accidental Masterpiece On the Art of Life and Vice Versa~ Eva Hesse (sculptor) said:

All my stakes are in my work. I have given up in all else. Like my whole reality is there - I am all there." It was and she was. That was Hesse's declaration of ardor and commitment, for which she was willing to bet the house. Sol LeWitt had encouraged that attitude in one of the great freewheeling examples of an inspirational letter from one artist to another. "Learn to say 'Fuck You' to the world once in a while, " LeWitt told Hesse. "You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying looking over your shoulder, wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, gasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, rumbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-trickling, nose-sticking, ass-gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding grinding grinding away at yourself, Stop it and just DO.

Salti & Soft Risk-Taking Along the Divine Feminine Highway

Not all of us choose to express our emotions on paper or on 2D surfaces, but I do although I'm not a schmoozer, or someone that can dress up my gifts and talents in frilly words and gushing diatribes. I tend to be overly literal and yet metaphorical and I like a bit of mystery and ambiguity too.

But, what I do care about is creating space for you, my dear blog reader to discover your own passions, gifts, talents and dreams. My job is not only to be a Creative Soul Guide, but to be a friend as we travel this Divine Feminine highway together.

Pictured above is a recent painting which I created under the influence of an almost Full Moon in Libra

"Libra seeks serenity, peace and harmony. She has a gift for relationships of all types. She sits in perfect balance seeing beauty all around her. She is the peaceful mediator seeking justice for all."

This week I'm inspired by Salti (my Creative Soul Card aka 'lefty drawing' of the week) to challenge myself EVERY DAY to be stronger, take risks AND find balance, plus hold myself accountable by blogging about it.

ps. can you tell that the painting to the left was done entirely with my left hand and the one above with my right?

Journey into Intimacy: Celebrating 1 Year of Process Painting

It's the one year anniversary of my Process Painting experiment - yahoooo! One year ago today I began a series of paintings to save my life...no joke! Getting started, I literally ran full tilt in search of painting supplies so that I could begin that instant. I HAD TO PAINT. There was no choice. It was either paint or explode and so I chose to express my inner passions through the medium of acrylic painting. This time I wasn't painting small, but instead put my whole body into lifting, painting, making marks and covering paper, then silk, and then masonite sheets that were 4 foot by 4 foot (48" x 48") .

I obviously had a lot to say but words just weren't cutting it. As an artist I had to get it all out there through color and movement expressed in big, broad, splashy, sensual strokes, gouges and scratches painted to loud music: Celtic, Industrial, Acoustic, African, French...a mix, depending on my mood.

As the months went by I continued to paint, explore and express my feelings through art and writing that accompanied the paintings. That combination was new for me; one fed off the other. I combined the two in part because I wanted my blog readers to see what I was going through as I painted.

My friend Ian asked me if these paintings came from a metaphysical, meditative place within my soul and I had to answer 'no,

this series is pure emotion.

For those of you wondering what in the heck Process Painting is, I'll explain. Process Painting is painting without concern for anything but the process itself. This allows one to really focus on being present and in the moment without concern for where the painting will go afterward or if it will ever be sold. It's not easy for many of us to let go of control over outcome, so it felt risky and strange at first, but I grew to love it and crave it as time went on.

What I learned

By experimenting with Process Painting I gave  myself permission to express my emotions out loud and in paint and how to be fully present.

I granted myself time, space and freedom for emotional outbursts and for believing in myself. I spent time just being and I spent time writing, painting, pondering, dancing and absorbing music. I could feel myself coming alive in every pore and I expressed that being-ness, that alive-ness through my creations; my paintings, my photographs of the paintings and my writing that accompanied each painting and finally through my blog posts which brought it all together.

Process Painting has put me back in touch with my emotions; joy and faith and strength and yes, pain.

I painted as if nothing else mattered but this being-ness, this process of painting. It was a reminder of what's really important for my spirit and my soul.

Painting abstractly encouraged me to translate my feelings very directly onto the canvas without worrying about depicting anything recognizable.

As for the future, I'm going to continue what I started one year ago today because frankly,

I am in love with process painting.

I created two slides shows (see below) documenting all the paintings I created between October 30th, 2009 and October 30th, 2010. You can check out the accompanying blog posts at Creative Soul Blog or read my original Art Mystic blog that was eventually abandoned half way through the year so that I could focus on my Creative Soul Blog instead (all posts are now on my Creative Soul Blog).

Let's not forget that this is also a 1 year BLOG PARTY so I encourage you to leave your comments below expressing how this post has inspired your creative soul. I plan to pick one lucky winner at the upcoming Full Moon in Taurus on Nov. 15th, 2010 and gift them with a card or two from this collection.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathycrabbe/sets/72157625176624687/show/

An icon: Julia Cameron shares her tools to develop Spirituality & Creativity

Why Not Start a Writer’s Group?

If you’re looking for a way to meet fellow writers, share your words, get on stage, get comfortable public speaking, meet interesting people, adjust to a new town and make new friends, why not start a writer’s group?

A few years ago I started something called a Writer’s Cafe and had a blast! A group of us, usually different, but with a few regulars would meet at a local coffee shop and read from works in progress,  inviting critiques afterward.

We heard stories of a lifetime spent wine-making and working in the Hollywood lighting biz, a zen poem from a photographer, snippets of Proust from a twenty-something student, tales of home repair from a retired accountant, new age shamanistic writings from an Irish fiance, a spacecraft script from an animation teacher, wonderful musicals from a playwright, composer who would bring her guitar or play the piano to accompany all of us as we read from her script, tales of war from a sociology professor and once a guest appearance from a published poet who sang and played guitar. I used to read  'Lefty' poetry which accompanied my left handed drawings and then have folks re-create a Lefty pose, give themselves a funny name and write it on a Polaroid I snapped using their non dominant hand (see below)! All in all it was a great experience and I highly recommend it  for that extra oomph to help push your writing/speaking to new heights.

Read the Press Enterprise article in full here.