The Wisdom of Giving... and Receiving

"Sunset on Bateaux Channel, Howe Island" acrylic on canvas 12x16 inches
A sideline stab at working in acrylics

"Sugar Moon" - oil on canvas 24 x 18 inches

A demo done in one hour on local Public Television -Gifted at Christmas to a special friend

"Jazzin' Up Summer" - oil on canvas 24x20 inches

A couple of musical interludes... from normal landscape interests

"Morning is Broken" Stonehurst South, NS - oil on canvas 24x30 inches

A painting done for The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Sales and Rentals -SOLD

"Tribute to Hope" - oil on canvas 30x24 inches - Gifted to daughter Lisa for her new home at Bethsheba, Barbados

Perhaps there exists no better time in the year to consider the value of wisdom in one's own journey. New Year is a time of reflection back over the events and happenings of the previous year to (hopefully) create a better outcome in one's life in the New Year that lies ahead. This moment is very much akin to a situation that is familiar to all of us who share a passion for painting in our lives.

The New Year... can be easily compared top a blank white canvas... primed and ready for an image that either lies before us in the physical landscape... or perhaps in the creative labyrinth of our mind. Our palette? Well... each of has his or her own personal choice of preferred "colours" that we have in our "tool box..." a set of unique experiences(both positive and negative) to draw upon... and a modicum of personal time and energy which again is unique to our personal lives and situation.

Painting is, by its very nature... usually an act arising out of contemplation... individual thought and actions. Our processes for the most part are deeply personal responses calibrated by varying levels of skill... initiative and goal seeking. For this reason... we spend much of our time cloistered away in studios or in the outdoors working on our own. For the most part, this is an enriching and satisfying experience... something we all look forward to and enjoy... a form of personal meditation... a pleasant separation from the routines of daily and family responsibilities.

But there does arise a time... when one feels stale... when the "old formula" no longer excites and canvas stares back and does not speak to... or even interest you. Every art form has these barriers, or periods of block. This is the time when each of us looks to others who journey commonly... for encouragement and perhaps a thread of Hope to kick start our feelings of paralysis and artistic impotency. It is truly a time ... when we reach out in search of... Wisdom!

Past societies... even "primitive" or indigenous ones depended almost solely upon their elders to provide wisdom... not only to the adult segment but as well significant teaching and rearing roles in the rearing of children. In that hands on fashion... wisdom was literally handed to the next generations in an active and oral tradition. This method of the passing on of wisdom and leadership guaranteed a predictable and stable transmission and reception of knowledge.

Our too rapidly changing and technologically based cultures of today rely almost totally upon the passage and reception of knowledge being carried out by outside the family sources. Our elders are "used" when convenient... devalued... cut adrift and left to their own devices for support... or warehoused in homes and sites where the responsibilities for care are carried out by corporate or privately owned care facilities. Most often these places are either self-funded or underwritten by government assistance.

In these situations all family members lose really. Adults relinquish daily contact and opportunities to gain life knowledge and children are robbed of their familial connection to the process of aging and the value of sharing time with someone who is with you out of choice... and real love... rather than paid tuition as the factor and incentive to give care.

I am not inferring that this is entirely bad... given economic choices in today's costly rat race. Often it is the only choice possible... given the circumstances. However... given the two paths, can there be any doubt that we have indeed lost something important? The oft said phrase:

"Wisdom and stability come with age."... is undeniable. Simply look across the breadth of your own journey... and tell me if you are not more wise now... as an adult or parent... compared to a time when you lived with your parents?

Wisdom is a gift to be given... but for the transmission to take place... it must also be openly received and embraced.... " a give and take", as they say.

This blog and the blogs of others form a conduit for exchanging wisdom. Wisdom is not necessarily "the stuff "that one expects from intellectual sources. I have found that "Wisdom" has its origin from many sources in my own life. I learn from elders... but I also learn wisdom from children... from friends... from radio interviews... from newspapers... from simply observing Nature... people interacting... visiting the blogs of others... and yes, even from my own failures.

In short... "Wisdom" can be gained from a myriad of sources, but in order to receive it... one must be open to and receptive to it. One must be open to change... to shuffling the deck... working outside the normal box we build around us.

Wisdom takes time to assimilate and digest as well. Too often we jump rashly into action... merely preordaining failure... or a return to old devices... which are... "ordinary." Try some new strategies... but allow yourself time to bathe in new prospects... form themes rather than single pictures. Read about other artists and their lives. Visit exhibitions and galleries. Write journals... keep sketchbooks handy. Form a buffet of ideas and activities to taste and experiment with.

I will leave you with my last five favourite images that I promised from 2011. They are already "old"... and have had their day.I have indeed moved on. But in the process of looking over them... I have refreshed my views about what gave me most pleasure in my painting process during the past year. I purchased a large canvas this morning. It's on the easel... looking back at me. But as blank and white as it truly is... I can already "see" the image that will fill it. I am "imagineering!

But I have much more thinking and preparation work to do... and my next post will outline that searching for the wisdom to proceed. I will conclude this post with a piece of wonderful gem of Barbadian wisdom . It reads simply, but eloquently:

"Don't rush de brush and trow 'way de paint! In our culture... this equates roughly with:"Patience is a virtue." And so it is!.... This post began about a week ago... which partly explains the time lapse! HA HA!!

Good Painting to ALL in 2012!