I-magic-nation

"Magic Forest," 12 x 12 acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

The world, creation, humanity, burdened down with the "reality" of  technology, science, cultures and "logic" spirals out of control with war, inhumanity, pandemics, with so-called "sapiens" living unintelligently, committing eco-suicide by killing the planet.

Most seem to have forgotten, or lost, or squandered or negated another reality--that of imagination, of the spirit, of magic.

Yet there are still places of magic, of the super-natural, of health and happiness in the crevices of our minds that we never touch or have drugged with everyday existence. You find them in all the arts, in nature itself, if you look, if you imagine.

We desperately need magic more than ever, to rescue us from our depressing "reality" that is not working intelligently for us. 

Amid this latest carnage, I began thinking of physical places that are magic to me, where I am closest to creation and the creator. Only then does creativity take place, from close contact, in my imagination.

A few of those are deep forests, in fact, or in fiction, like Tolkien's Mirkwood,  or Robin Hood's Sherwood, or the Pacific Northwest's rainforests, or ... 

Thus this painting.

The play of light

"The Play of Light," 9 x 6 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

Today's little watercolor is an experiment, playing with color and light, the idea from one of my do it yourself art school projects.

It's an idea from on of watercolor artist Don Andrews' zoom workshops today. So I was really playing around, seeing what would happen. This will happen again in more experiments.

But you know the canyon country, the geology of the Southwest had to grab my attention. That is long overdue this month, where my creativity has been dryer than the country depicted here. 

Help from on high

"From on High," watercolor, 8 1/2 x 5, 300 lb d'Arches rough press paper

When you need inspiration,  "Go to Work!" yell the experts.

The muse shows up when you work, even when you're in the doldrums, when you're in a valley. Don't actually work, just play around, and see what happens. 

"Put butt to chair, pen to paper, and just write" has been an axiom for writers and journalists. I know of many times in writing, I would get the nut graph, and then a lead, and somehow, by the end of the article, the appropriate  conclusion would somehow just show up. I think that's the muse, help from "on high."

Creative people in every area probably have similar experiences. (Aside--I irreverently wonder if that happened when Yahweh created the universe, not knowing exactly how it would go and turn out? Picture the Spirit saying, "Hmmm, let's try this next and see where it goes." No wonder "He" rested on the seventh day.)

I do know it is true in painting, especially watercolor, the medium you want to have some control over, but can't control. And, when you're in the valley, and nothing seems to inspire, or there's no energy, the answer often is, "Just play around," for help from on high.

And for me, I think of the Psalmist, who asked the same question "...where does my help come from?" with

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains...." ---Psalms 121.1

Sort of my mantra too, and even in Oklahoma, as a child of New Mexico and the West, I can remember, dream,  and imagine, the mountains are inside me.

Thus today's playtime watercolor, seeking help from on high, in more ways that one.

A "dormant" month comes to an end

"Time flies," for a birthday card

 
It's been a dormant month for me in blogging and painting after a year of consistent painting, writing, blogging and even reading. And the year is one third gone.

I wouldn't have used that word until I read Austin Kleon's weekly post today: Not languishing, I'm dormant-not-languishing-im-dormant/

It's been a month of lots of personal stress and distractions that seemed to sap me of energy or the will to pick up paint brushes or sit down and write, and my reading has withered.. The month was rescued for me by two trips, to San Antonio and to Canyon, Texas to see my children and families, Vance Clark and Dallas Bell.

"Alone, when shadows grow long"

But there were few paintings, and even fewer inspirations. Every thing I tried seemed to flop. Lethargy, avoidance and procrastination set in. I kept thinking it had been four years since I retired from UCO. That and the passage of time also weighed in. 

Change brings beauty

Today I read Kleon's articles, after rereading his book Keep Going earlier. His metaphor of gardening helped put the month in perspective. We don't always have to flourish. Having been dormant, even in the spring as the world comes back to life,  I'm hoping the visits with my kids and grandkids will help boost my moods.

Earlier this week, I tried three 5 x 7  watercolors, and here they are. They're all about passing time, in its beauty and beastliness, but at least I painted. 

Alone, with art

"Alone," 5 x 7 140 lb Fabriano Artistico extra white cold press paper

"Alone."
Feeling alone and being alone are not the same.
"I feel so alone," I said recently. I'm sure others are, quarantined, or worse, having health or financial or more ruined. 
In these pandemic virus days of plague, racism and political chaos, it's easy to feel alone, cooped up, estranged. 
But there is another alone, being alone, which you can also treasure, actually an escape from feeling alone, or overwhelmed, or suffocated.
Today's #WorldWatercolorMonth prompt "Alone" started these thoughts.
And as I thought about painting, I remembered how solitude, being alone,  is essential for creativity...no matter what kind. 
Being alone is essential just for thinking within, for imagining. And then when you begin work on some form of art, I find, and others agree, that the world and its problems goes away...I am alone with what's before me.
Today's image game gradually, while I had some alone time. Then it was influenced by recent reading of n astounding watercolor artist's work and book, which was also alone time. Branching out alone,  I decided to take some risks with the way I paint. (There is very little color here--complementaries contrasting and emphasis on light.) And yes, some of the risks worked, others did not, so there are more risks to take to improve.
This afternoon, as I began work, and continued, I was alone. Thus the painting of "Alone."

Stories of the last books of the year

Early this month I thought I was through reading books for 2019, but that was before I again browsed  at Edmond Best of Books one day.
I'd forgotten I ordered N. Scott Momaday's novel, House Made of Dawn, and went to pick it up.
I've had an autographed copy of his In the Bear's House for years, but was inspired by the recent documentary Words from a Bear which aired on PBS, and was co-produced by colleague and friend Dr. Desiree Hill, of the Mass Comm Department at UCO.
I am enthralled by the poetic and descriptive power of this book, largely set on the Jemez Pueblo lands of northern New Mexico. I've been there and see and sense the story and country. I will finish it this week, going slowly because the words deserve savoring.
But back to browsing, I found two other books. The first, Embrace Your Weird, by Felicia Day, is a creative self help book, guide, workbook. I'll finish it too, though it demands much thought and work scribbling on the exercises.
that will make 36 books this year.
The other book, The Essential Lewis and Clark, edited by Anthony Brandt caught my eye, because I'd never red the journals. Just into it, but captivated by their description of life just over 200 years ago. And it sets your wanderlust travel fever going.

Today, I found and started reading my dad's old book, How to Paint with a Knife, from 1971. I have most of his art books, and as I've started dabbling in oil this year, my late-in-life DIY Art School needs are increasing. This was also prompted having bought the late Regina Murphy's palette and painting knives as well as acrylics and other materials in February in the Paseo Arts District. See link: Inspiration for change.
The knives are in my studio/office, reminiscent of my dad, and they beckon me to use them.
Those two books will go into my 2020 journal as the first books for the new year. Stories to tell.

Rainy day solitude--my cabin

Rainy day solitude, 10 by 12 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches--First full size painting in months

Creativity comes
when least expected
Rainy day moods
dreams of mountains
and remote cabins
Forests and quiet
Books and thoughts
Journeys only dreamed
Where next?

Whatever happened to "good will toward men"?

Gateway to peace, 5" by 7"

America needs Christmas, and Thanksgiving to come early. Like right now.
Whatever happened to "peace on earth, goodwill toward men"?
The presidential campaign is out of control, full of hatred, meanness, intolerance, anger, falsehoods, stupidity, narrow-mindedness, violence. It's obsessive, depressing, dangerous, destructive and downright nasty.
For a country many people tout as a "Christian" nation, there is precious little evidence  that bears any resemblance to the teachings of Jesus in the Beatitudes,  or of the New Testament.
To wit: Galatians 5: 22-23:

^"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Remind you of anything you see in American politics now, that represents us as citizens? I don't think so.
It's  so bad that for the first time in seven years, I haven't blogged in more than three weeks.  Creativity, which comes from The Creator, withered.
So finally, somehow this weekend, I began my Christmas cards. Only when my brush finally put paint on paper, did I realize what was pent up inside--Hunger for peace on earth, goodwill toward men.

"Living water"

The books of July

I just reserved the latest Harry Potter book from Best of Books in Edmond.
Not for my grandkids, but for me is J.K. Rowling's, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
I'll drive over to the book store about midnight Saturday to see the kids dressed up to get theirs, since it is released at 12:01 July 31. I've done this for all the others through the years, and I'm excited.
It's not a novel though, but a play. Ah creativity. And when I'm through, the grandchildren can have it. But I won't finish it before the end of the month, like I have four other books this month.

Most recently completed was by Mitch Albom of Tuesday's With Morey. It's the time keeper, a fable about the man who cursed us by inventing time, and how we're controlled by time in everything we do. Think about it, and more on that later. We listened to the four CD set on our way to and from New Mexico.
On that trip to New Mexico, in our favorite town at the base of our favorite mountains, the Truchas, we found a little book, another fable, by a Truchas artist, in the High Raod Marketplace.

 It's all about art--Mauve Sky, Yellow House by artist Judith Hert, with paintings by "Morris Mouse." This book also stretches your mind with her/his paintings and fable.
Before that, browsing Best of Books, I picked up my first book by well known western writer C.J. Box. Shots Fired, short stories set in Wyoming, some featuring his main character Joe Picket.
And earlier in the month, I found there  another book, by the super creative Austin Kleon of Steal Like an Artist, titled Show your Work. 

Two fables, two about art and creativity, and some fiction. All inspirational and idea-spurring--a good month, with Harry Potter coming up.

Magic in the pages of October

I found magic in the pages of October, ideas affecting my life and art...another reading spurt, completing four books in four genres--poetry, fiction, self help and spirituality--though the last two could be combined.

Biggest find and pleasure was "Big Magic," by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert gained fame for the chick book, "Eat, Pray, Love, "which I haven't read. But the sub title on this new one grabbed me, "Creative Living Beyond Fear."
The book is full of personal anecdotes, and stories about people overcoming and being creative. I bought my copy from Best of Books in Edmond.
For me, the first part of the book and the closing pages are the most powerful. In between there are gems, but it's padded a little with too many stories perhaps, some needless repetition, and some borderline preaching, rather than just advice and truths.
But some of those truths, overcoming fear that defeats creativity:

• "...I believe we are all walking repositories of buried treasure
• "We all know fear is a desolate boneyard where our dreams go to desiccate in the hot sun."  
• "...if you can't learn to travel comfortably alongside your fear, then you'll never be able to go anywhere interesting or do anything interesting."

The chapter on "Permission" is one of the strongest, and I have more marks here than anyplace else--especially when writing about education  There is poetry here when she writes about her mother (pages 84-85).
Excerpts from near the end:

• "Creativity wants to flip the mundane world upside down."
• "We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits"
• "Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us."

+++
The other October books that awakened emotions and ideas, for future posts:

• Friend, poet and force  in a fedora, Dorothy Alexander's  "The Art of Digression, A fragmented Memoir";  
• Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh's , "Peace is Every Step, the path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life"; 
•  English journalist Paula Hawkins' "The Girl on the Train," a psychological thriller, listened to part of it driving across the wide opens during fall break, and finished at home in print.

Boomtown, Oklahoma, energy icon

I heard somewhere that more than 5,000 people a month are moving to Oklahoma City in the past three  months, thanks to the job market, especially in energy. Boomtown. Perhaps not since the Run, or the 8os oil boom. Don't know.

Devon Tower, seen from The Womb, symbol of OKC's energy growth

But I do know an incredible amount of energy seems to sizzle from the place, a far cry from 20 years ago when downtown was dead, and the state was languishing. The transformation since the Murrah Federal Building bombing is nothing short of miraculous.
I can refer to many trends and incidents, and books have been written about this Dust Bowl, oil bust poor fly-over state changing. Yes, the state is more conservative politically than ever, but there's an undercurrent of energy different from oil and gas that bubbles toward the surface of young people and will change the state even more. 
Sure the conservative politicians brag about our independence, but the downtown transformation was a tax-supported effort, not free-enterprise. And the state still sucks heavily at the Federal teat , with Tinker, FAA, Altus , Enid and more...all of which they ignore, like the current mayor in his national speeches.

If there is one icon of the new energy I see-beyond revitalized Paseo, Plaza District, avant-garde new restaurants, excellent museums, The Thunder, The Devon Tower, and more--it is The Womb, owned by Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips,the weird, stereo-type knocking band that even makes the Neanderthal legislature nervous.
We recently attended the reopening of  this physcheledic gallery off Broadway, thanks to invitations by Jake Harms (future-son-in-law--artist and partner of cool step-daughter Alexx Reger) who manages it and who helped paint much of the  jarring exterior
Look at this place...it is not your stereotype of Oklahoma. Energy oozes from this place like oil and gas from Audrey McLendon's and Cheaapeake's fracking, to the more respectable towering influence of Devon energy's new dominating skyscraper...but it doesn't cause physical earthquakes...just cultural ones.

Me, at entrance of The Vagina, Photo by Susan

As and old-guy, I don't necessarily "like" the art inside, thought a drink inside the "Vagina" is, well, juicy and enervating  and fun. But it doesn't matter. You should see the young people (those under 40 at my advanced age) attending things like this.
This is the kind of energy that is revolutionizing Oklahoma, once old white guys have gone the way of drab buildings. You had to go inside the red-lit "Vagina" to get a drink. It was an adventure, and most of all, fun, because the people think life is supposed to be fun, not uptight.
Art and energy like this is infectious, impossible to ignore, among all the ho-hum or negative images of Oklahoma. Oklahoma's real energy industry isn't under the ground, but above it, in people who demand difference. It's not about being cool, I think, though many do. I think it's about creativity, pushing the boundaries--which is the real pioneer spirit--and having fun.

Lessons from watercolor painting

Great Plains rain...6" by 9"

Art is always a teacher, if I'm willing to learn. I'm drawn to watercolor because the type-A personality in me, the perfectionist, is seeking liberation from the urge to be responsible for everything, to control outcomes.
I learn from watercolor lessons that apply to living, as well as painting, and certainly about seeing. I wish I'd gone to art school, and been able to study and paint with my Dad. But the times are long past for that, so I try to make do with what I've been privileged to learn and attempt over the past 13 or so years.
 There have been some successes, and a lot of failures, but they've all taught me, and kept me either humble or happy, or both. Discouragement has been frequent, but somehow, I've not quit trying. I do know I could be so much better. Some of that improvement comes from reading, especially my periodic notes in a journal. Here are a few.

• A failure isn't a failure if you learn from it.
• You can't control everything, so don't try.
• Being tight negates creativity, art and life.
• Light is much better than dark.
• My skies are the best, because I'm most loose, and free, when I paint them. I love skies. Lesson?
• Diagonals command attention. Straight lines are boring.--in art and life.
• The contrast of light and dark, warm and cool, gives the most impact. Life without contrast is dull.
• Painting is problem solving, and solving those problems takes your mind off all other problems.
• I know how to compose--the trick is to compose and then let creativity take over. Composition is truth--creativity is spirit. Jesus said to worship in spirit and truth.
• Wet into wet gives the most unpredictable, the most lack of control, the most creativity, the most freedom.
• It's taken a long time to develop my writing voice, but even thought it was gradual and sometimes unconscious, it didn't just happen. How can I expect my watercolor voice, style, to just happen? 
• My best paintings--Christmas cards--are good because they're fast and loose. They're impressions from my mind, not a photograph, therefore they're my style. I forget that the bigger the painting. Quit trying to live a life--live today.
• The cards are instinctive illusions of reality, as is all art. Quit worrying about details and paint instinctively. Live instinctively.
• What are the connections between my writing and watercolors? There are if I find them. I see the connections between my photography and painting.
• I've ruined a lot of paintings with over attention to small details, especially in foregrounds. You don't like people who pay too much attention to small details in life and work, so quit.
• Homer and Turner and Russell used anything that worked in their paintings. They didn't care about rules, or expectations. They were secure in themselves and honest, and successful. People who aren't secure in themselves and aren't honest, aren't successful.
• Painting is best when you're having fun. So is life.

Administrators' guide to kill creativity

This is an adaptation  from last year, now that I'll be attending the Oklahoma Creativity Forum tomorrow in Norman to try to learn how to help protect Oklahoma from creativity.

http://stateofcreativity.com/events/okcf/

Calling all idea police: Our state is facing a insidious threat to its stability and conservative, God-fearing, status-quo lifestyle.

We must prepare to challenge and defeat these liberal-socialist ideas and thoughts from beyond our borders, which will be bigger threats than terrorism or homosexuality. Based on my many years of experience as an administrator in higher education, I believe I'm called by God and Sally Kern to provide some proven guidelines for other administrators  on how to squelch creativity. These should be memorized by all  idea police as we mobilize to protect our state from creativity.

Administrators' Creativity Squelching Checklist

• Call lots of long meetings that bore people to death, sapping any creative energy people have with trivia, wasting time that could be spent creatively, and accomplish nothing but bolster your authority.
• Make sure every person has multiple committee jobs that require paperwork and is saddled with several reports on things like strategic planning and program evaluations.
• Demand that all ideas be presented to you first, on the "Permission to Have a New Idea" form. (Sample  of page 1 of 10-page form attached at bottom of this list). Form must be signed by all people involved or affected.
• Remember, it's always more important to have a slogan, changed often, rather than any substance.
• Applicant must  demonstrate on appropriate form how New Idea fits a prescribed list of objectives attached to  the current slogan.
• When presented with the form, ask them if they've filled out the necessary budgetary, personnel, travel, facilities, and other paperwork. Demand those be returned by the end of the day.
• "They can be found on the website," will saddle them searching the web the rest of the day so they'll miss the deadline.
• If they do turn in the forms, tell them they've filled out the wrong ones, because they were changed yesterday.
• Assign their idea to the New Idea Committee for approval, and tell them it only meets once a month. Next meeting will be three weeks from now.
• In talking to them, use lots of obscure acronyms--the ones nobody knows. These confuse, irritate and depress them. It makes them look ignorant and you "in the know." Meanwhile, creativity begins to wither in the barrage of nonsense. Hint: best examples are from the U.S. military and higher education.   
• Insist that they also fill out all the seven-category rubrics for evaluation of the New Idea.(Appendix one to the Permission to Have a New Idea form).
• If they question you, or disagree, accuse them of insubordination.  Refuse to sign their form. Start figuring out how to make their job harder so they won't have time to have any ideas (Remember, there is no statute of limitations on getting even). Assign them to at least one more committee immediately, telling them how essential their experience is.
• If they somehow manage to accomplish all the paperwork for a New Idea, assure them you'll look at it sometime this week, and lose the form in the clutter on your desk. The first time they call about it, tell them you're "working on it." The next time, tell them you  fought for it, but the higher ups, "they," didn't. Tell them to try again next year. Then ask them if they've filled out all the reports from their committee work and tell them they're due today.
• Be very suspicious of people from different cubicles talking together, or to other administrators.  Such conversations are breeding grounds for creativity. Insist on following a "chain of command." Don't let anyone talk to others without your approval. Make them fill out the "Permission to Talk to Others Form" (Find it on our special Squelching Creativity website).
• If all else fails, just make up a policy that forbids the New Idea ("It's somewhere on the website"). 
• Other sure-fire ways to squelch creativity: "We tried that once years ago. Didn't work." Or, "We've never done that before."

APPENDIX

Permission To Have a New Idea Form--page 1 of 10

• Name________________________________ 
• Qualifications to Have  a New Idea (no more than 5 pages):
• New Idea (no more than 5 words):
• Benefits of New Idea (no more than 5 words):
• Potential dangers of New Idea. Make sure to explain how New Idea won't harm Oklahoma, and the guarantees for that. Are there any proven antidotes? (At least 10 pages):
• How will the New Idea make your supervisor look good?
• Review of literature supporting New Idea with APA style citations (at least 5 pages):
• Statistical analysis of effects of New Idea including Chi Squares, ANOVA and Likert scales (at least 5 pages):
• Bibliography  (Warning: You may use only Oklahoma sources):
• List of all people potentially affected by New Idea (include all e-mails):
• Be sure and fill out the next nine pages, signed and approved by every person potentially affected by the New Idea.
• Power point presentation on New Idea must be completed, with lots of small hard-to-read fancy type, bright colors and graphics. Get IT's approval. Be prepared to read every word of each slide  at presentation to New Idea Committee (Power point will probably not work, so be prepared to read entire document anyway).
• (This year's organizational slogan goes here, and on every page)

Admnistrators' guide for squelching creativity

With the World Creativity Forum coming to Oklahoma City this fall, our state is facing a insidious threat to its stability and conservative, God-fearing, status-quo lifestyle.

http://stateofcreativity.com/

We must prepare to challenge and defeat these liberal-socialist ideas and thoughts from beyond our borders, which will be bigger threats than terrorism or homosexuality. Based on my many years as an administrator in higher education, I believe I'm called by God and Sally Kern to provide some proven guidelines for other administrators  on how to squelch creativity. These should be studied by all  idea police as we mobilize to protect our state from creativity.

Administrators' Creativity Squelching Checklist

• Call lots of long meetings that bore people to death, sapping any creative energy people have with trivia, wasting time that could be spent creatively, and accomplish nothing but bolster your authority.
• Make sure every person has multiple committee jobs that require paperwork and is saddled with several reports on things like strategic planning and program evaluations.
• Demand that all ideas be presented to you first, on the "Permission to Have a New Idea" form. (Sample  of page 1 of 10-page form attached at bottom of this list). Form must be signed by all people involved or affected.
• Remember, it's always more important to have a slogan, changed often, rather than any substance.
• Applicant must  demonstrate on appropriate form how New Idea fits a prescribed list of objectives attached to  the current slogans.
• When presented with the form, ask them if they've filled out the necessary budgetary, personnel, travel, facilities, and other paperwork. Demand those be returned by the end of the day.
• "They can be found on the website," will saddle them searching the web the rest of the day so they'll miss the deadline.
• If they do turn in the forms, tell them they've filled out the wrong ones, because they were changed yesterday.
• Assign their idea to the New Idea Committee for approval, and tell them it only meets once a month. Next meeting will be three weeks from now.
• In talking to them, use lots of obscure acronyms--the ones nobody knows. These confuse, irritate and depress them. It makes them look ignorant and you "in the know." Meanwhile, creativity begins to wither in the barrage of nonsense. Hint: best examples are from the U.S. military and higher education.   
• If they question you, or disagree, accuse them of insubordination.  Refuse to sign their form. Start figuring out how to make their job harder so they won't have time to have any ideas (Remember, there is no statute of limitations on getting even). Assign them to at least one more committee immediately, telling them how essential their experience is.
• If they somehow manage to accomplish all the paperwork for a New Idea, assure them you'll look at it sometime this week, and lose the form in the clutter on your desk. The first time they call about it, tell them you're "working on it." The next time, tell them you  fought for it, but the higher ups, "they," didn't. Tell them to try again next year. Then ask them if they've filled out all the reports from their committee work and tell them they're due today.
• Be very suspicious of people from different cubicles talking together, or to other administrators.  Such conversations are breeding grounds for creativity. Insist on following a "chain of command." Don't let anyone talk to others without your approval. Make them fill out the "Permission to Talk to Others Form" (Find it on our special Squelching Creativity website).
• If all else fails, just make up a policy forbids the New Idea ("It's somewhere on the website"). 
• Other sure-fire ways to squelch creativity: "We tried that once years ago. Didn't work." Or, "We've never done that before."

APPENDIX

Permission To Have a New Idea Form--page 1

• Name________________________________ 
• Qualifications to Have  a New Idea (no more than 5 pages):
• New Idea (no more than 5 words):
• Benefits of New Idea (no more than 5 words):
• Potential dangers of New Idea. Make sure to explain how New Idea won't harm Oklahoma, and the guarantees for that. Are there any proven antidotes? (At least 10 pages):
• How will the New Idea make your supervisor look good?
• Review of literature supporting New Idea with APA style citations (at least 5 pages):
• Statistical analysis of effects of New Idea including Chi Squares, ANOVA and Likert scales (at least 5 pages):
• Bibliography  (Warning: You may use only Oklahoma sources):
• List of all people potentially affected by New Idea (include all e-mails):
• Be sure and fill out the next nine pages, signed and approved by every person potentially affected by the New Idea.
• Power point presentation on New Idea must be completed, with lots of small hard-to-read fancy type, bright colors and graphics. Get IT's approval. Be prepared to read every word of each slide  at presentation to New Idea Committee (Power point will probably not work, so be prepared to read entire document anyway).
• (This year's organizational slogan goes here, and on every page)

Cave art

Watercolor

A few years ago, I attended a watercolor workshop at Quartz Mountain art center in southwest Oklahoma. Teacher was nationally renowned Don Nice, and he pushed our limits. I was still discovering watercolor--as I am today.

There is a small cave near the lodge...undoubtedly inhabited by native Americans for hundreds of years in foul weather. It's cool and damp in the summer, and with a small fire would be wonderful in a blizzard, among the ancient granite rocks of  the area. Time seems to stand still.  Today of course, Lake Lugart covers the low areas.

I was a lone journalist and amateur artist among a bevy of art teachers from all over Oklahoma. I was astounded at their talent. single at the time, I was also inspired by the predominately young female teachers. I learned much and made strong friendships. The art spirit was enhanced by evening confabs around the bar, on cold autumn evenings.

How do you paint a cave? This detail of a larger image shows my attempt at something new. Actual painting is 11 by 16, and the scanner won't take it all.

But I hope I catch the mystery and romance and history of the cave, looking out from its mouth to a distant mountain, with the lake in between, in autumn.

I experimented a lot here, and felt linked to ancient cave artists, who painted on the rock walls. I connected with the earth in that cave, and my painting was different. Creativity from mother earth. I learned much about myself. We are small and insignificant and the rocks and the earth will be here long after we are. Is that what Cro-Magnon's cave art was about in pre-historic Europe. How can you not worship life and the earth?