Create & Destroy

My fellow Fusionartist Diane Bulgatz painted this thought-provoking and serenely engaging work. It is called "The Quest". I was looking at Diane's painting this week and was struck by the fact that it captures my own recent journeys of the soul. My quest has been one of letting go.

This week my life has been a case study in letting go of the past. I had a garage sale and sold off numerous old, unwanted items. Why I had felt the need to keep them, I don't know. The sale made me feel complete with parts of the past. I cleaned my studio and shredded papers. Fixed my computer and deleted old files that were cluttering my hard drive. I cleaned my closet and even washed my car.

Creation starts with letting go. You have to surrender a little bit to the realization that in order to create art, something has to be released from your spirit. My mentor, Rassouli, says that art is about creating and destroying. Paint something and then destroy it by painting over it. Keep making it new; be in the space of getting rid of old habits, ideas, and obstacles. This keeps you prepared for the new and the next.

It doesn't always have to result in a painting. We are changing the Fusionart International website, creating and destroying, to better showcase the awe inspiring talent of our artists. Change is the only thing constant in life, and art is the perfect medium to reflect change. As artists we are trusted with the responsibility of capturing the moment and creating the future on the same canvas. We channel creativity through our soul and into our work as a demonstration of the Universe's infinite possibilities. This opportunity is both a gift and a heavy responsibility. As we go about our creative process, we must stay true to the authentic inspiration and not let too much "thinking" take over the project.

This week I invite you to let go and create your most spectacular example of you. Have fun and joy in the process. Remember, if you are not having fun, you are thinking about it too much. Let go, create, destroy, and transform your art into a true expression of your soul.

When Inspiration Eludes Me

There are times when I just don't feel like painting. I don't know what to paint, and I lack the energy to commit creation to canvas. These times can last from a day to two months.
My mind starts to wonder if I have lost the desire or the talent to paint. My mentor, Rassouli, says that I am building up bewilderment. It feels like a teakettle. You don't sense much happening as it simmers along on the stove. Then all of a sudden things burst forth with a trumpet blare and a release of imaginative action.

In the beginning, I worried about how long my creative juices would lie dormant and when the teakettle would sing. Now I just go with the flow. I have seen these down times as periods of major growth in my technique. While I continue to create and develop myself, I know I will never arrive at what some may call perfection. I choose to define mastery as the art of seeking perfection knowing that you will never get there. The soul must be willing to pursue the destination as well as the result.

This has been the first time in my life that I have given myself permission to let the work come at its own pace. In my business, I drive and direct and take constant action to make things happen. In my painting, art is in the driver’s seat. It’s as though I live in two different worlds that each run parallel in my existence. They must have been there my entire life and I just didn’t know. I think often of Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled”, and I feel that both those roads exist within my spirit. Sometimes I choose the one less traveled, and that fuels my creative side.

I am so grateful to have found access to the other side of myself, to my inner road less traveled. It gives me the freedom to express myself without having to meet a standard or reach a goal or be good enough. I really don't even have to have done my best.

This week, look for your own road less traveled, and take a few baby steps toward your artistic destiny. Relish the rest and rejuvenation that comes with not knowing what to paint. Allow yourself to be led by your spirit, and let the journey inspire and delight you.

Art in Art's Time

The process of creating is not exact. Art occurs in its own time. When you create something, you begin to fall in love with it before it ever exists. The creative process; the thinking, the experimentation, the starting over – all these are part of the joy of artistic endeavor. Sometimes inspiration comes fast and sometimes it comes slow. The trick is to not impose your own expectations on the result.

As an artist, you are merely the vehicle for the creative process. What I love about my art is that I never know what it is going to be. Even after it is done, I resist the temptation to categorize or judge it. I paint until the painting tells me we are done. Then I stand back and discover what it is I have created. Sometimes when I paint, I even take my glasses off so I cannot see the canvas very clearly. I have done entire works with my eyes closed. These techniques liberate me. When I free myself from my thinking mind and let go of the expectations, I see that I have created my best works.

The Universe is the ultimate creator, and we are all expressions of that creation. We are each and every one of us a unique creation with the ability to use the creative process to express our own individual voices. This way of thinking allows me to let the work flow and not live in the expectation that I am in charge of making something happen.

Without expectation, and with no blueprint, I have access to truly amazing results. Give your soul a chance to express itself. Paint without judgment, without concept of time. Be open to what occurs, and let your spirit be the artist.

Don't Shoot the Messenger!

When I started learning to paint, I spent a lot of time and energy analyzing what I was doing wrong. I continually focused on what was missing, how the painting wasn’t good enough. Fortunately I had mentors who encouraged me to break free of these negative thoughts and judgments. My work flourished and so did my enjoyment of the process.

Over time I have noticed that when I paint, I am completely free. As an artist, I do not ask myself: Why? When? What? Where? How?The reason I don't ask these questions is because I know the answer is always "It is perfect the way it is." That is what I love about art. No matter what it is, or where it is in the process, it is always perfect. Art is about the process every bit as much as it is about the product.

This photo is a perfect example. I could not figure out what to paint so I painted the canvas black. Before I finished I stopped, and it was perfect the way it was. With art, you never make a mistake because it is always perfect. You can do no wrong. You scratch the work and the scratch is supposed to be there. Art is always growing and changing. It has no right or wrong. No good or bad. No up or down. I love that. It gives me such freedom. I paint something, and if I don't like it, (which is not wrong because everything is perfect) I just paint over it. To live in a world where you can make no mistakes is nirvana.

I once did a painting, and while it was still wet I took it to the car to take it home. I stood it up by the car and while I was not looking, the Universe caused the paint to slide down the canvas. Upon my return my first reaction was upset (this was in my early days before wisdom set in.) Then I realized that it was perfect the way it was. That painting has become one of my most admired paintings. You never know how the masterpiece is going to emerge. You are the vehicle for the canvas to expose the painting that already exists. You are merely the messenger that facilitates the process.

So go out today and liberate your art from all right and wrong. Allow the Universe to create through you. Think of yourself as the messenger for your creative expression. And don’t shoot the messenger!

The Everywhereness of Art

Yesterday I was in the kitchen making a berry smoothie. As usual, I was on the phone, multitasking through my workday. You guessed it – I left the lid off the blender in my haste to do three things at once. Purple goo flew everywhere, including all over me. My first reaction was irritation at my own mistake. Quickly, the artist within me began to transform my interpretation of the situation, and I started admiring the colors and patterns that now adorned every surface in my kitchen.

Art is everywhere and art is anything. A canvas can appear when you least expect it. The artist must then decide to paint or not to paint.

Before I embraced the power of art, I would see a tree and think “Green Tree.” Now I look closely and marvel at the hundreds of greens that shift and change in the breeze. I see the shapes of leaves and the movement of branches. Everything is more alive now that I can appreciate the world through the context of art. A “Blue Sky” is now imbued with shades of gray, white, rose, and copper. A flower garden? Unlimited possibilities and passion. I see so many colors and I yearn to understand them. How would I re-create that red? What is that exact shade of yellow? The universe around us is the original artist, and she holds the ultimate paint box with the most diverse palette.

As I mopped up blueberry smoothie, I became uplifted instead of annoyed. The colors were inspiring, and I figured the blender was simply trying to express itself!

Allow yourself to be inspired by the everywhereness of art. In a dropped pile of papers see a collage. Celebrate the sculpture in that broken lamp. Savor the colors of your garden. You may not want to willingly remove the lid from your blender, but even when calamity happens, let your relationship with art transform each moment into personal inspiration.

Has serendipity had an impact on your art? I’d love to hear your story.

Ralph White