Art is an image-using system. In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well-stocked trout pond. We've got beig fish, little fish, fat fish, skinny fish--an abundance of artistic fish to fry. As artists, we must realize that that we have to maintain this artistic ecosystem. If we don't give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked. Any extended period or piece of work draws heavily on our artistic well.
As artists, we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become aleart enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them--to restock the trout pond. The process is called Filling the Well. Filling the well involves the active pursuit of images to refresh our artistic reservoirs. Art is born in attention. Its midwife is detail Art may seem to spring from pain, but, perhaps that is because pain serves to focus our attention onto details.
In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do--spiritual sit-ups like reading a dull but recommended critical text. Do what intriques you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery. A mystery draws us in, leads us on, lures us. In filling the well, follow your sense of the mysterious, not our sense of what you should know more about.
A mystery can be very simple: if I drive this road, not my usaul road, what will I see? Changing a knon route throws us into the now. We become refocused on the visible, visual world. Sight leads to insight. Our focused attention is critical to filling the well. We need to encounter our life experiences, not ignore them. Many of us read compulsively to screen our awareness.
As artists, we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become aleart enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them--to restock the trout pond. The process is called Filling the Well. Filling the well involves the active pursuit of images to refresh our artistic reservoirs. Art is born in attention. Its midwife is detail Art may seem to spring from pain, but, perhaps that is because pain serves to focus our attention onto details.
In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do--spiritual sit-ups like reading a dull but recommended critical text. Do what intriques you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery. A mystery draws us in, leads us on, lures us. In filling the well, follow your sense of the mysterious, not our sense of what you should know more about.
A mystery can be very simple: if I drive this road, not my usaul road, what will I see? Changing a knon route throws us into the now. We become refocused on the visible, visual world. Sight leads to insight. Our focused attention is critical to filling the well. We need to encounter our life experiences, not ignore them. Many of us read compulsively to screen our awareness.
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