8 of 11

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 4

she, creates through vision. Vision: actively perceiving. Perception is not a passive event. It is a creative event. So the painter looks about for inspiration. No matter what he finds, we must acknowledge that the seed of inspiration is already within the artist. Why would he be looking for a subject to paint? He wants to paint. He wants a decent subject. He wants this because he feels inspired.

He finds a subject. He's more inspired. He begins to paint. He studies the subject and the subject becomes his focus. To hold his focus and to record his observations, he paints. The paint is the medium. Okay, so here we have three players in the act of perception for an artist here, for my example, a painter: We have an artist, a subject, and a medium. In the beginning of the art process, the artist is the witness, a visionary intent on perceiving a subject. We also have a subject, that which the artist perceives. And we have a medium, that which contains the artist's dialog with the subject. This is the first stage of creativity.

In the second stage, the players shift, as if in a game of musical chairs. Now things get interesting. Here the artist stops being an artist. What has happened? He's made so many observations of the subject and dialoged with it that he comes to a point in his painting where he has to make some decisions, decisions about where to take this painting. What is this painting going to be? What is it about? He has to answer these questions and the answers have to come from within. What has he found? He has to talk about that in his art. He has to respond.

Here you can take a micro piece of the creative process and understand this place where the artist has arrived. You can look at the dialog. The subject speaks to the artist, and the artist responds. The response, that is what I am talking about. In the larger act of creativity, a point comes where the subject ceases to dialog with the artist and now it is up to the artist to dialog with the subject. The artist takes over the conversation. At this point, the original subject ceases to be the subject. Now the subject is the artist. The artist has become the subject of the painting. The painting is now about the artist. That's where self-expression comes in. If a work of art carries no self-expression, forget it. Self-expression is part of what art is. It is not all art is about, no way. But it is necessary, necessary, but not necessarily sufficient.

The artist moves from being the inspired visionary

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Testimonies: Is channeling a real experience or is it faked??
We want to hear your view. Write now!