Random Meanderings

Joy & Grief

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:30:01 -0800

An unfinished sculpture has been languishing on my dining room table for months. If you've come to my house for dinner in the past six months, you will not have eaten at the table. The body and head have been in pieces, disconnected because I kept changing my mind, attaching, detaching and re-attaching parts like an orthopedic surgeon. Or Dr. Frankenstein, as the case may be.

I've learned that if it doesn't come, don't push. Be quiet and listen. Do something else.

Life. Death. Joy. Grief. It’s a work-in-progress. My beloved college girl on Thanksgiving and winter break, another trip to Texas during the holidays, a New Year, gardening, and rain. My 15 minutes of fame, having won 3rd place at the 8th annual Southern California Open Regional Exhibition.

I had a breakthrough this week. Suddenly I knew what this piece was supposed to be, and I've made great headway on it. Today I'm finishing construction on the piece, and then I'll apply underglazes to it. Then it needs to dry very, very slowly.

That's a good thing, because I'll be busy painting a minimum of 2 hours a day in preparation for my Master Class with Michele Cassou at the end of the month.

I love when one thing dovetails into the next, and I’m walking around in a permanent state of gratitude these days.

Charles Sherman

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:21:04 -0800

I met Charles Sherman at VIVA Gallery during the opening of the Southern California Open Regional Exhibition.
Charles is an internationally-known, award-winning artist who has worked in the media of painting, printmaking and sculpture. His work has been shown in more than 50 museum, gallery, and art fair exhibitions.
An active member of the Los Angeles art community for over 25 years, Mr. Sherman has served on the board of the Visual Artist Guild, the Graphic Arts Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and was president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Artists Equity Association, an organization dedicated to artists' rights and equity in artist/dealer relationships.
Charles is also an expert witness in fine art litigation and has worked for galleries and numerous insurance companies as an art consultant. He is a fine art appraiser and was a pawnbroker in Beverly Hills, specializing in fine art loans. A specialist in the history of twentieth century and old master artists, Mr. Sherman has uncovered art frauds and recovered stolen art, garnering a reputation as an art sleuth. Mr. Sherman has lectured on various topics from art law to the business of art to the spiritual in art.
Why are you an artist?
I always wanted to be an artist but thought when I retire from business I will be an artist. When I was 34, I realized I was a failure and was never going to be rich enough to retire from business. So, I turned my life inside-out and instantly committed myself to a life of art. It is the most natural work and lifestyle for me.

How separate are you from your art?
Part of my philosophy is that I don't separate myself from my art. I am primarily interested in two things in life. One, becoming a better human being and two, becoming a better artist. They overlap. However, sometimes it is important to separate the art from the artist. Picasso was a misogynist but we overlook that because he was a great artist. Richard Wagner was a rabid anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic and anti-Gypsy but his music rose above his bigotry. I believe that art, not politics or religion, is the universal language of healing.

What are you trying to do to people with your art?
Ideally I want my artwork to elevate the soul of the viewer. I want my artwork to inspire chills up and down the back. I want my artwork to make people laugh and cry. I want the viewer to look at it and say, "Wow."

How would your creativity express itself if you couldn't work with clay?
Painting. I am also a painter. Sculpture is a very physical activity and the body can not sling thousands of pounds of clay around the studio forever. Creatively, I also invent wonderfully strange foods and strange exercise habits. Yesterday I put anchovies in pasta with pesto sauce. Try it!

Do you believe artistic creativity is innate, generally and personally?
Although a person can be creative in anything they do, artistic creativity is not part of everybody's persona. Some people are right brained and some people are left brained. Some people's brain hemispheres are perfectly balanced. Being an artist is a curse and a blessing. Bi-polarism, narcissism, ego-mania, and the like are some of the curses. The ability to create beauty is one of the blessings. I am both cursed and blessed and wouldn't have it any other way.

Where do your ideas come from?
My greatest ideas are inspired by the work of other artists. I look at art and it hits me like a brick how I can improve what I see and make it my own. I am also inspired by nature, love, music and my own silent creative process. Silence creates a vacuum from which an explosion of creative ideas erupt. But it doesn't matter where creative ideas come from, what matters is that they do come...and they do come!
Favorite artist in another medium? Why?
Marcel Duchamp because he changed the consciousness of art from that of a noun, to art as a thought process, and thinking outside the box and into the urinal.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to pursue a career in the arts?
Fully understand that the essence of art is that it is a verb. Most artists fail because they think that they are making art for the market place. If that's the case, you may as well be selling soap. The number one priority for an artist should be to want to become a better artist and work at it.
A deep understanding of art history is fundamental to creating the future of art. Go for spiritual depth, not career heights. Career heights will take care of themselves.

How important is “craftsmanship” in your work?
It’s equally as important as creativity in my work. Many artists are high on creativity and low on craftsmanship. Many are high on craftsmanship and lack creativity. I am inspired by great art that has a perfect balance of craftsmanship and creativity.

If you could have a one-on-one apprenticeship with an artist (living or not) for a week, who would that be and why?
I never met him, but it would be Paul Soldner because he is contemporary and I think I can learn more from him than anybody else.

Skeptics & Cynics

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 23:26:46 -0800

"Cynicism is a self-imposed blindness. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things. Saying “yes” is how things grow. Saying “yes” leads to knowledge."
-Stephen Colbert
Vision. Viewpoint. Perspective. Foresight. Hindsight. I'm curious about the concept of "seeing" as a metaphor for wisdom. Did you know that, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word “wise” originally meant “to see?"
I'm also fascinated by how we see our experiences in the world, how we make decisions and apply what we learn to our lives.
When you and I look at something, are we really seeing the same thing? Is my "green" exactly the same as yours? How do we compare and communicate what we see? We all have our "blind spots."
If you've ever been with other people while looking at one of those optical illusions, you know how exasperating it can be to help them to see the "other" image. “Well, if you squint your eyes, hold it a little further away and tilt your head–NOW do you see it?
Our culture wants us to believe that there's only one thing that can be seen. If we see something else, well, we're nuts. Or naive. Or stupid. Society tells us, “This is a vase. If you think you see something else, you're wrong!”
However, there IS more than one reality in these optical illusions. So it is in life. Different people see different things, and often we have habitual ways of seeing. And therein lies the difference between cynics and skeptics.
According to The American Heritage Dictionary, a cynic is (1) “a person who believes all people are motivated by selfishness,” and (2) “a person whose outlook is scornfully and often habitually negative.”
I see cynicism as a bad habit, a "blind spot." Many cynics claim to be realists. Yet, as seen above, what, really, IS reality? A cynic is a disappointed dreamer who sees his or her past experience as a rancorous prelude to future reality. Stuck in their ruts, cynics often resist change, and they are not open to other possibilities.
Perhaps the saddest thing about cynics is that they consciously or unconsciously bring other people down. Cynicism and negativity have a profound effect on morale, It only serves to attract more negativity and negative people. Positive people do not remain in the orbit of cynics.
When I'm confronted by negative, cynical people, I take a step back, because it actually causes me physical pain. I might ask them: "What do you believe in? What are you passionate about? What would you do differently?" But it’s usually an exercise in futility that ends up with the cynic being rendered dumbstruck or redoubling his efforts to convince me how lousy human beings are. It's all about focus.
Maya Angelou wrote, "There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing." Here, Angelou implies that cynics see the worst in any situation and lack faith or trust in things turning around. Cynicism is the next-door neighbor of hopelessness.
Many people lump skeptics in with cynics, and there is a fine line that separates skepticism from cynicism. “Skeptic” comes from the Latin scepticus, and from the Greek skeptikos for thoughtful, as well as from skeptesthai to look, consider. In modern usage, a skeptic is defined as “a person who questions whether any truth or fact can be established on philosophical grounds; sometimes, a critical inquirer, in opposition to a dogmatist.”
Zen Buddhism is a practice that encourages skepticism. Skeptics question, challenge and probe. They wrestle with big questions. They engage and connect with others and with life. And while a skeptic may not know the answer(s) at any given moment, he or she acknowledges that it might be outside the scope of their experience. If nothing else, skeptics are open to the possibility that they might learn something and move to a new place of understanding.
So, how do you approach life? As you seek to understand your life and accomplish what you want, are you a cynic or as a skeptic?

Goodbye 2009; Hello 2010

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 08:17:25 -0800

The end of the year is a time of transition that often spawns reflections on the past and resolutions for the future. How are you with transitions? My friend Andrea sent me a list of questions for making the most out of this year-end transition.
Happy New Year!

Completing & Remembering 2009
• What was your biggest triumph in 2009?
• What was the smartest decision you made in 2009?
• What one word best sums up and describes your 2009 experience?
• What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2009?
• What was the most loving service you performed in 2009?
• What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in 2009?
• What are you most happy about completing in 2009?
• Who were the 3 people that had the greatest impact on your life in 2009?
• What was the biggest risk you took in 2009?
• What was the biggest surprise in 2009?
• What important relationship improved the most in 2009?
• What compliment would you liked to have received in 2009?
• What compliment would you liked to have given in 2009?
• What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2009?

Creating 2010
• What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
• What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
• What major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
• What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
• What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
• What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
• What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
• What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
• What about your work, are you most committed to changing & improving?
• What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
• What brings you the most joy & how are you going to do or have more in 2010?
• Who or what (other than yourself) are you most committed to loving & serving?
• What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?

Yes,You Can

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:34:36 -0800

This video inspired me to redefine strength and courage. Just when we think there are no options, there are always more. “Yes, I can” is a beautiful gift to give yourself.

Happy holidays, dear readers!