Turners in the 1930’s – Oil on Canvas 26in X 22in This is a painting based on a black and white photograph that was taken before the 2nd World War. My Grandfather and Grandmother are joined by my father and his sister.
During the creation of this painting,
I connected with the spirit of my deceased family in a new way. I was amazed that the more I looked at the photograph the more I could see within it.The practice of portraiture requires patience and an open heart.
Art quotes – mindset and being an artist
We all need to reflect and refresh our mindset. The different life conditions that we experience are mirrored in our environment.
Art celebrates with peculiar intensity the moments in which the past re-enforces the present and in which the future is a quickening of what now is. – John Dewey
A painting is the presence of a collection of moments combined with an expression of changing mood and emotion. While working in my studio at different times and seasons, I notice the constant change in how I experience light, space and relationship with paintings.
A session of painting is usually exhausted after a couple of hours. My senses become muddied. I have trusted paintings on the wall, and when they start to look peculiar, I know it is time to take a break. The advantage of a studio is that I can walk away and after many days and weeks, a painting will have a collection of these moments so eloquently described by John Dewey.
In time, confidence grows with a determination to complete a painting, however long that may take. Completing a commission has the challenge and so I try to map out the hours spent and take photographs of progress made. This has helped me develop a process that I can return to if there is a problem progressing.
I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart. – Vincent van Gogh.
Seeking and striving are action-based sentiments. Seeking can mean finding a way forward and striving is our daily perseverance to create. I am in it with all my heart can be what we are seeking and striving for. In modern marketing terms, we could be looking at mindset.
Are you trying to sell your artwork? Matching business with the making is a challenge. Perhaps you have been making for years and are qualified through University in Art. The more you know, the greater the challenge.
We know when being creative, we are continually learning that each endeavour sets new boundaries. Stretching and growing motivates me to continue. So how do we craft a business to support the selling of our work?
As an artist making that first mark on a canvas. The more progress you start to make, the more resistance you can feel. On a moment to moment basis, our ability to change our perception is remarkable.
Seeking could be something to strive for in itself.
Striving and seeking together with all our hearts. Our heart is our mind. Seeking is striving. Resistance is inevitable, and striving is to continue. Even with this understanding, we can still feel dissatisfied when our projects are making good progress.
I experiment and search for new ways to express myself. This practice begins to open the doors. I find that the resistance and its purpose becomes much clearer. The action of doing is a remedy to an inbuilt and inherent lethargy.
As a painter putting what I feel into my work is a challenge. To keep persisting develops belief in what we are doing, and the outcome will be of value.
The desire to reach a point of satisfaction, maybe. If I am not satisfied, the painting goes to one side for now. Targets and goals hold me back sometimes. I enter into a deeper understanding of the task at hand, and the sheer enormity of the work involved stalls my workflow.
Whatever we do consistently improves all the time. Especially if it is part of a long time goal.
“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall was a high-performance artist who worked across many different media. A fantastic and profound insight into how to work and break through barriers.
I certainly resonate with the creation from the heart and not the head. Intention and clarity of the spirit are found within our hearts and mind. Expanding the heart or mind and its capacity enables transformation.
The benefits of a creative path are apparent in transformation of negative feelings. I have recently experienced significant anxiety within my body. This can be attributed to the difficult time we have had on a global scale.
I spoke with a dear friend who advised me to stay with it and use the anxiety in my creative process. The action of creation immediately shifts the uncomfortable feelings to a new place in my body. Without creative work, these feelings become overwhelming. The outcome is nothing gets done. I begin a narrative that only encourages despair to persist.
-Patrick
