I don’t know what to write about. I am not sure what to paint. When I feel this way I just admit it and sit here… And wait. OK, what am I feeling? There must be something? I feel emptiness. Openness perhaps. Surely that feels better than emptiness.
What feels open?
When I think of open I think of a sky. A perfectly clear, blue sky with a steady breeze. And the temperature would be that perfect one.
I remember laying in the sand many years ago on the top of a sand dune in Cabo San Lucas. I had just swam a long way in the ocean. My body was tired and I was still wet. The sun felt amazing as did the warm sand beneath my towel. And then a breeze picked up. The wind was about 74 degrees. It was not cool at all but it was not hot either. It felt like a thousand kind touches across my skin. There were flowering pale yellow cactus’ covering the hills that perfumed the air with a delicate sweetness. I lay with my eyes closed and was engulfed in such an overwhelming sense of well being. Joy actually. I felt so absolutely content, so utterly happy, that I never forgot that moment. I am reminded of the confluence of those perfect conditions whenever a wind or breeze brushes across my face and I recognize that force, that perfect temperature.
It reminds me that the possibility for absolute contentedness is just waiting right below the surface of things. Always… Joy doggedly follows us around until we notice it, we might not, but it is always there.
Openness can come out of emptiness. A blue sky with such a perfect breeze can come from the small space of not knowing. And from that, a painting can be started. A painting that I am almost certain will be mostly blue.
What reminds you that you are alive and ready to create?
With gratitude,
Nicholas
P.S. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
3 Comments
Hi! I’m
Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.
With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.
Join me and artists from all over the world in our Free Art2Life Artists Facebook Group or learn more here about Art2Life.
really enjoying your blog, Nick! Its nice you were able to connect back to a touchstone moment of deep joy in your life. Its a great illustration of how to work with mindset as an artist— instead of going to “I am having an artist block!”, you went to “I remember feeling really full and wonderful”. The body, post-exercise, is full of wonderful affirmations of well-being and the general goodness of life, I have found. Its a good way to find home again.
Nicholas, I too am enjoying your blog immensely!
What reminds you that you are alive and ready to create?
My Godfather was Jack Haley, the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz.
He once told me that one of life’s greatest lesson can be found in that movie.
Dororthy said it close to the end , “if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”
I find I am most creative when I tap into the memories from my own backyard. I am 54-years old and I have a lifetime of experiences to share. So yes, memory work as well as striving to immerse myself in the present moment. Doing my best to find the treasures in the day. I keep a journal of what excites my senses. What did I see, smell, taste, touch, hear today that caught my heart?
The other thing is that morning is my best time to create.
I am a early morning person.
Van Gogh said he dreamed of painting and then he would paint his dream
I wake up with a cart load of designs that I created in my sleep.
I can’t always bring them to life, but they are given to me none the less.
I have always wondered if others experience that too?
Off to my little art shack to finish up a painting now.
Cheers to Creativity!
Traci
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