Beach Villa

From An Artist Empowered:

Nothing—except you—can prevent you from living an authentic life.

If your desire to create is fueled on less than a fire in the belly, then fully realize your situation: to be self-aware is the goal.

To live your dream, you must wake up and remain awake. The artist’s life isn’t for everyone. You must decide if this observation is relevant for your situation. To maneuver the rugged terrain while avoiding the pitfalls as one ascends the mountain is a required skill that comes with its share of bruises.

After all, you wouldn’t plan on climbing Mount Everest without training, the proper equipment, a seasoned guide, and a party of fellow mountaineers who shared your vision. The quest for art demands no less . . .

The next time you are fortunate enough to catch yourself grumbling about your art life—stop thinking. Grab hold of this moment of disenchantment; it is an opportunity to feel the truth of your fears, doubts, motivations, and the value of your art. Step up and confront your complaints and self-inflicted woes; if you want depth, you must dig deep.

Use disappointment, including rejection to affirm your purpose and to develop your strength of character; this is the object lesson.

Feeling the Notes

The other day I heard a poet on the radio. She was getting airtime because she had received the greatest number or tweets that casted votes in her favor.

At one point, she said that all the tweets affirmed her poetry and her decision to become a poet. Her statement might sound reasonable.

But let’s back up.

What if she hadn’t won the popularity vote? What then, neighbor? Would that make her poetry or her decision to be a poet any less valid?

It’s no vice to enjoy the admiration of others. But to gauge your art worthiness, your dharma, by a show of hands is a tragic misstep—one way or the other.

You are on sacred ground when you know where you stand.

Holidaze

Most of us have some idea when it comes to appreciating a standard of living. We easily get use to the amenities that make life more bearable in a savage world where Mama Nature can be housebroken but never tamed.

When it comes to fine art, there is an implied understanding that it conforms to a standard, which is often debated, and hotly so.

The question for you the artist and you the art collector is this: Can you explain the standard of fine art and prove such a conclusion to your own satisfaction? If you can’t, then others will make this conclusion for you.

You are on sacred ground when you know where you stand.

Emelia’s Starry Night

From An Artist Empowered:

Art & physics
Earth | Space | Time

A fair question.

Why all this information about physics and quantum theory in a book for artists on how to persevere?

While no one can show you how to be original, you can be challenged with concepts that may prove ambitious to comprehend intellectually, but not intuitively—which also follows the path of art. If you engage your intuition for the truth of things, from theoretical physics to painting, you will add gravitas to your palette; remain steadfast and you will glimpse the consciousness behind the mystery of the universe.

If you don’t challenge yourself now, if you don’t free your mind and heart, how will you innovate, how will you create original work?

20 ft tall Buddha (off Canyon Rd, Santa Fe)

On this day practitioners of the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, especially those in Japan, celebrate the birth of the Buddha, who lived in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE and founded Buddhism.

The Buddha—himself born as Siddhartha into the warrior caste, was a severe critic of the caste system. He ridiculed the claims of superiority made by the priests, he criticized the theological basis of the system, and he welcomed into the Sangha, or community of monks, people of all castes, including outcasts: the untouchables.

His most famous saying on the subject is: “Birth does not make one a priest or an outcaste. Behavior makes one either a priest or an outcaste.”