Sanctuary
Maybe it’s just the fantasy nut in me, but for some reason I imagine great works being accomplished in some quiet, out of the way inner sanctum. It hearkens me to the very image of a wizard within his laboratory laboring over some great work, hidden from prying eyes until it’s ready for public consumption.
It’s probably not always true, though. I know writers who can write anywhere, from a cafe table to the kitchen table, and everywhere else in between. A lot of artists I know detest the very thought of being constrained to a studio, and go out of there way to keep their craft as mobile as possible.
For me, I need a sanctuary.
It’s been like that since I was a kid, and I don’t know why. My first oil painting was done in a poorly lit garage, in a small space next to the family washer and dryer. Since then, I have always needed a quiet, dark room in which to focus my mind on a painting or drawing. One of the contributing reasons for my decade long hiatus from artwork was due to a lack of adequate space for that purpose (Face it, there isn’t enough room to do much in a military dorm).
Fortunately I once again have the ability to carve out a space to call my own. It comes to the forefront of my thoughts now, since I spent the better part of a four day weekend moving out of my studio downstairs, and into my new space in the garage. While it sounds like a downgrade on the surface, it’s a move I was planning to make for a while. I don’t like keeping solvents and other toxic materials in the house, and because I wanted/needed the extra space. While I liked my downstairs room, it just wasn’t big enough.
OLD
NEW
I guess the question for the masses is this: Do you require a special sanctuary that helps fuel creativity, or are you a “have pen, will travel” kind of person?
Weekly Tweets for 2009-05-03
- g’morning twitterverse… I return to you older, wiser, and (if possible) grumpier… #
- My brain has gone AWOL, and has taken my motivation with it… If any of you find either of them, please do me a favor and send them home… #
- reeling from an unexpected “creative suckerpunch”… scribbling down notes like a madman… #
- Holy cow, that’s what I call a LOT of rain…. #
- I love it when one little idea gives birth to like 7 more… #
- OK, this is getting serious… too many handwritten notes.. had to open StoryMill to make sense of it all… #
- seeing a dark, cloudy morning through deep tinted windows makes the world appear to be dead #
- is wondering if 50k+ words is too far along to consider scrapping an old writing project… it somehow feels… wasteful… to me.. #
- yesterday’s “creative suckerpunch” began as an artwork idea & turned into a writing one… Now it’s a graphic novel idea… *whimper* #
- Question to all writers: do you write a super detailed outline, or just a basic one and then go with your gut? #
- I have to admit, @BrentSpiner recent tweets have been some of the most entertaining I’ve ever read on Twitter… #
- this is what happens when I should be writing code, but my hands want to draw… http://twitpic.com/4a9s1 #
- finally DeviantArt came out with a shirt I’m willing to buy: http://tinyurl.com/cufugx #
- two weeks, and still no smoking or fatalities… who knows, I may actually manage to do it this time… #
- About to declare a Jihad against people who take the last cup of coffee and don’t make a new pot… #
- oh, and a hard learned tip; if you have to sneeze, its a good idea to put down your freshly poured cup of coffee first… #
- todays movie line of the day is: “Nobody leaves this place with out singing the blues ” – Albert Collins, “Adventures in Babysitting” #
- No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself. – Thomas Mann #
- more lunchtime doodling… http://twitpic.com/4cd8g #
- an older lunch doodle (I never really know what to do with these)… http://twitpic.com/4cfet #
- ugh, its the slow half of the day… time to que up some Joe Bonamassa and Otis Taylor on the ol’ iPod… #
- Slowest. Day. Ever. #
- For the love of pete, is it EVER going to stop raining??? #
- All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind. – Aristotle #
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Weekly Tweets for 2009-04-26
- oh man, today is going to be a LONG day… *whimper* #
- wonders: just what is it that spam followers hope to accomplish on Twitter? #
- listening to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and James Darren… somehow it just seems fitting for today… #
- g’morning, and happy Tuesday everyone… I for one, want to go back to bed… #
- whenever I listen to Miles Davis, it inspires me to write a neo-noir detective story, in similar vein to “Out of the Past”, or “Chinatown” #
- this is one of those days where every time I turn around, I find myself hungry and needing to eat something… #
- “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” – Robert Heinlein #
- ok, I’ve gone 5 days without smoking… It’s the longest I have ever gone and so far, I haven’t killed anyone, so that’s a good sign… #
- G’Morning all… It’s a new day, and still no smoking… Enjoy the day as much as you can, because I may have to kill you all later… #
- in honor of Earth Day: http://tinyurl.com/c6o4b4 #
- my “prize” for quitting smoking: http://tinyurl.com/5upys6 #
- Just for the record: Coffee/Caffeine is no friend to the Nicotine deprived…. #
- RT @Artician: 20 Amazing photos of Earth for Earth day http://bit.ly/U1w1O #earthtweet #
- Final book of “Wheel of Time” to be 3 volumes… http://tinyurl.com/cmuf87 I say again, I would NOT want that mans job… #
- Oh for cryin out loud… I. cant. stop. eating…. #
- oh thank god… its the end of the week for me… 4 day weekends rock… #
- Serious question: Is Amazon’s Kindle worth the money? #
- Listening to the “Star Wars Radio Dramas”… I’m beginning to like them better than the movies… #
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Weekly Tweets for 2009-04-19
- so far the #1 sentiment I’ve seen on twitter/facebook after easter: everyone’s tired… from my own experience, I can see that being true. #
- getting mentally prepped for another class tonight… #
- wacky weather canceled the class for tonight… sitting here wondering what I can be doing… #
- OK… seriously… whoever is in charge of Burger King’s advertisement department needs to be FIRED… #
- I cant help it… there are times when she is too cute… http://tinyurl.com/cvbw78 #
- http://twitpic.com/3ahhl – my little princess… #
- getting sleepy… may be an early night… #
- g’morning all *mumble mumble, grumble grumble*…. *reaches for coffee…* #
- RT @wilw: @mc_frontalot came up with the most awesome way to quit smoking I’ve ever seen. He made it a freakin’ D&D game. So clever! htt … #
- oh for crying out loud…. can this day go any SLOWER?! #
- sneak preview of current oil painting project titled “It followed me home, can I keep him?” http://tinyurl.com/d7dbav #
- going to the land of Sun, Sand, and Seafood in a couple of months: http://watersedge-fl.com/ …starting to get impatient… #
- feeling the need to make a gumbo this weekend… #
- and now I am thinking about making a Shrimp Etouffee…. man I am hungry… #
- If there was any justice in the world, today would be Friday… #
- I am severely deficient in motivation today…. #
- OK, I’m all psyched up now… Just talked to Mom, got some pointers on Gumbo making… this is to be my weekend project… #
- thanks to @NataniaBarron, I’m now trying to determine the airborne velocity of an unladen Swallow…. this is going to dominate my who day.. #
- oh thank god… the work week is OVER…. *sighs in relaxation* #
- holy friggin cow… “Cajun Napalm” burns hurt like nobody’s business….. *owwwwww* #
- it’s been a full day: went to farmers market, gave an art lesson, & made a gumbo… now time to relax and enjoy the smell of it simmering.. #
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Fingerprints
[quote id=80]
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
Sorry, force of habit….
A long time ago, there was this kid. He was an awkward, introspective kid whose perspective always seemed to be out of step with everyone else’s. He didn’t know where he fit; only that he knew he didn’t really fit anywhere. Like so many others like him, he eventually wound his way down the path of investing himself into something that he knew would never betray him, something that was his. He became an “artist”. It became his way of saying “If I don’t fit in with you, let’s see you fit in with me”.
Problem is that he wasn’t that good. Sure, he could do a fair job of drawing something and make it look pretty close to what he wanted, but that isn’t always an accurate yardstick to measure skill. While he might have been better than the average Joe, among other artists, he sucked.
However, art was “his”, so he stubbornly plodded along, effectively forcing a square peg through a round hole. Like so many other aspects of his life, he resorted to learning what he knew the hard way. He struggled, he reached, he chased that Unicorn to the point of exhaustion. What art teachers there were to be found, he chose to go to war with, hating being told what he should or should not do with something that was “his”. As a result, he made his way without the benefits of guides or mentors to point out the holes in the road, the less rocky paths to take.
Now that kid is an adult, and he’s figured a lot of those things out, but it took him oh so long to find them on his own.
Yeah, in case you haven’t guessed it, that kid was me…
I’m knocking on the door of 34 years old, and art is still something that I consider “mine”. It’s the way I leave my fingerprints on the world. Among other artists, I’m still not all that good, but I have passed the point of caring about things like that. My creative mind and the process by which it works are like sanctuary, or the anchor that holds my sanity in place.
However, one aspect of growing older from those beginnings is the ability to spot it in others who are treading that old, familiar ground. When I see it, there’s this compulsion within me to step forward and be that guide I didn’t have. Never mind whether I have the skill or qualifications to do so, there is something about the benefit of experience that I feel has value.
I have a fourteen year old niece who is showing some of those familiar signs. While she isn’t as awkward as I was, the beginnings of a passion for the arts are very much present. She is interested in learning, and I am willing to teach what I know, so I have taken her on as a student.
This is an unexpected chapter in a life that has always been unpredictable. I am fairly certain my former teachers would either faint from shock or die laughing at the notion of me being a teacher in any capacity. At any other time before now, I probably would have been right there with them.
However, I cannot shake this feeling that as an artist, this will be one of the most significant things I do, or largest “fingerprints” I make…
