Living in "Today"...means exactly that to me. Too many of my artist friends retreat to the past...choosing to substitute reminiscing for actively pursuing new experiences...and embracing change in their lives. They cut themselves off from the world they actively and productively created and choose "play" versus the challenge and risking that comes from continuing to dream...and to discover "Who"... they might become.
I recently spent a weekend in February at a winter gathering of longtime painting friends with my mentor...Poul Thrane...who introduced me to outdoor painting...long before the coined phrase "plein air painter" became a credential for "high" art.Poul is now 84 years young...paints with the same vigour and fire as he did when we first start painting together thirty years ago. However today...he paints from the warmth and comfort of his van...but still...his studio is the outdoors.Nothing has faded...or heightened for that matter in his ouevre. It is simply...eloquently...constantly...
uniquely...Poul Thrane! He continues to teach by example...generously critiquing and guiding
his friends to encourage their own journeys of creative discovery....still enjoined with them in the creative dance of Living!
It is his indomitable spirit...his "joie-de-vivre"...and his dedication to his Art which allows "Me"
to journey in parallel with him...albeit...at a distance physically...yet "easel --to-easel" spiritually.
I conduct my own journey on my own terms...but I have gleaned basic tenets from his journey
that enrich my own. I have sold countless paintings in my lifetime...but those monetary "dividends"will never approach the value of the friendship of mentors like Poul. My daughter Allison's highschool art teacher,Berkley Breene...her mentor and my friend passed away two years ago ...succumbing (in body)to cancer.His funeral was a civic celebration rather than a mournful, tragic dirge. I will borrow his very last mouthful of words to his family at his passing to end this post. It reflects both his... and my own "take" on living in "Today."
"I am blessed."
Much Peace...Stay tuned!
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