Yesyesyesyesyes. There are two such places where I have experienced this unequalled state. It used to be in my darkroom where I would lose hourshourshours - nothing beyond that closed door even existed. Only my thoughts and the wondrous, sometimes ghostlike emerging images on paper.
Now I experience this when I am behind the camera shooting on a documentary. In this case, the only world that exists lives inside that rectangle of a frame. It is that wondrous dance between me and my subject, precariously yet unbreakably held together by the lens between us.
Athletes call it a state of flow. Meditation practitioners states of jhana. Buddhists, "in the bhav".
It is one of the most wondrous, addicting, most complete experiences I will no doubt ever have!
Thank you, Jen for your inspiring words. And whatever it is that you are going through, may you do so with grace and as little suffering as possible. 🙏
Thank you for the kind words. It's so hard to capture the feeling of this state, but everyone who has experienced it knows it. It is, for me, as close to an ecstatic experience as I will likely ever know. I'm so grateful to have a creative practice, as I know you are too.
I'm so glad you found your way back to making with your hands. The hyperfocus and time blindness of the studio is my meditation, and it helps me feel grounded and more able to deal with life. I, too, started working without plan when I was nearly overcome by grief last year—and I am a heavily process-oriented person. Grief is unpredictable and messy, so it felt right that the creative process reflect that. Not that anyone would see it in the finished work! The making is for the artist, anyway.
I, too, come away from my time in the studio more grounded and less blown about by every wind. So far, I have not found a better therapy for grief than process-based work. How lucky we are to have creative practice in our lives.
How on earth did you find the MOST PERFECT video of all time?!?! This is incredible. "Everyone should have a studio. They should be issued by the government as health-mandated items because it is a place where you line up all those dissonances...and have a good look." Amen to that. Thank you for sharing this!
Even unfinished, this piece is mesmerizing. Engaging. And your musings on art and the sacred never fail to move me. You always find a way to articulate that which is so often beyond words.
Coincidence, Jennifer. I have just now sent a nephew a supply of art crayons and a description of gesture painting. He is in poor shape emotionally, very bright (MBA from U of Chicago etc) but a real mess. His family is desperate. Been on every drug that psychiatry has to offer etc. So, I'm trying long distance art therapy and trying to describe gesture making, using his whole body, expressing his emotions and experiences. I don't know if it will work as it is totally foreign to his experience, but I agree with you totally that Art can save lives. It has magical powers . . . and I'm very glad that you know how to use it. I did too, but that is a story for another day, perhaps over a cup of coffee. David
I love that you're offering this gift of art therapy to your nephew. It can be just as healing as any other treatment. I will say a prayer to the art gods that it brings him some peace. (And, who knows, even if drawing isn't his thing, he might discover that he likes to make other things. It took me years to discover that sculpture was my discipline after trying out so many other things.)
Yesyesyesyesyes. There are two such places where I have experienced this unequalled state. It used to be in my darkroom where I would lose hourshourshours - nothing beyond that closed door even existed. Only my thoughts and the wondrous, sometimes ghostlike emerging images on paper.
Now I experience this when I am behind the camera shooting on a documentary. In this case, the only world that exists lives inside that rectangle of a frame. It is that wondrous dance between me and my subject, precariously yet unbreakably held together by the lens between us.
Athletes call it a state of flow. Meditation practitioners states of jhana. Buddhists, "in the bhav".
It is one of the most wondrous, addicting, most complete experiences I will no doubt ever have!
Thank you, Jen for your inspiring words. And whatever it is that you are going through, may you do so with grace and as little suffering as possible. 🙏
Thank you for the kind words. It's so hard to capture the feeling of this state, but everyone who has experienced it knows it. It is, for me, as close to an ecstatic experience as I will likely ever know. I'm so grateful to have a creative practice, as I know you are too.
Inspiring words from an inspiring human.
🧡🧡🧡
You have built a tribe that will hold you up and wrap you up. Your words and your work mean something. We are grateful.
Thank you so much for you sweet words and for being a part of the tribe.
You got this. Life is tough. You are tougher. ART SAVES LIVES.
Art. Saves. Lives. It’s currently saving mine. Thank you for the encouragement. 🧡🧡🧡
This is beautiful. The words, the work, and the way you are showing up. Thank you for sharing all of it.
Thank you so much, Megan.
Trancendence.
😘
I absolutely love this -- the sculpture, and the writing. You've put the experience of being in the studio into beautiful words.
Thank you! It’s such an ineffable thing, being in the studio. I’m so glad that you felt a glimmer of recognition when you read this. 🧡
I'm so glad you found your way back to making with your hands. The hyperfocus and time blindness of the studio is my meditation, and it helps me feel grounded and more able to deal with life. I, too, started working without plan when I was nearly overcome by grief last year—and I am a heavily process-oriented person. Grief is unpredictable and messy, so it felt right that the creative process reflect that. Not that anyone would see it in the finished work! The making is for the artist, anyway.
I, too, come away from my time in the studio more grounded and less blown about by every wind. So far, I have not found a better therapy for grief than process-based work. How lucky we are to have creative practice in our lives.
https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/liz-magor-everyone-should-have-a-studio-short/
How on earth did you find the MOST PERFECT video of all time?!?! This is incredible. "Everyone should have a studio. They should be issued by the government as health-mandated items because it is a place where you line up all those dissonances...and have a good look." Amen to that. Thank you for sharing this!
It's a unique gift I have. Also can do it with songs... ;-)
Even unfinished, this piece is mesmerizing. Engaging. And your musings on art and the sacred never fail to move me. You always find a way to articulate that which is so often beyond words.
Thank you so much!
Coincidence, Jennifer. I have just now sent a nephew a supply of art crayons and a description of gesture painting. He is in poor shape emotionally, very bright (MBA from U of Chicago etc) but a real mess. His family is desperate. Been on every drug that psychiatry has to offer etc. So, I'm trying long distance art therapy and trying to describe gesture making, using his whole body, expressing his emotions and experiences. I don't know if it will work as it is totally foreign to his experience, but I agree with you totally that Art can save lives. It has magical powers . . . and I'm very glad that you know how to use it. I did too, but that is a story for another day, perhaps over a cup of coffee. David
I love that you're offering this gift of art therapy to your nephew. It can be just as healing as any other treatment. I will say a prayer to the art gods that it brings him some peace. (And, who knows, even if drawing isn't his thing, he might discover that he likes to make other things. It took me years to discover that sculpture was my discipline after trying out so many other things.)
sigh...this...you.
🧡
Subterranean house of worship... let’s build a tunnel between ours
🧡