The Role of Anxiety in Making Art

Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity. (T. S. Eliot)

REMBRANDT - Portrait of a Young Woman
  1632-   Oil on canvas, 92 x 71 cm

So this week I am taking a painting workshop with my former teacher.
Of course, I am a little anxious about it.
I have prepared all my materials, and packed my bag.
But the anxiety is still there.
I really don't know why, because I have taken classes with him before.
I guess it's just the fear of the unknown.
And, like most artists, I am worried about my skill level.
I am sure everything will turn out well.
But anxiety keeps me focused, alert, and ready to act.

How does anxiety factor into your work?

In one ear...

-ca. 1385...
Oon ere it herde, at tother out it wente. [trans. in one ear and out the other] (Geoffrey Chaucer)

The phrase "in one ear and out the other" rings true for parents of teenagers.

 Quiringh van Brekelenkam 
  Confidental Conversation - 1661  
Oil on panel, 47 x 36 cm  
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam  

We scold, suggest, hint, and demand, yet the words have no effect on them.

We want to help them avoid danger, be healthy and have opportunities.

But we are also susceptible to having words travel through our own heads,  in a meaningless torrent.

What words might you make more of an effort to listen to?

A Yogi-ism for Artists

You can observe a lot by just watching. (Yogi Berra)

The other morning I hunted high and low throughout the house for my favorite coffee mug.

I checked the car, the studio, and the dishwasher.

As I closed the dishwasher, I looked up at the counter and noticed my freshly washed mug serenely sitting there.

I had looked, but I did not see.

As artists, we learn to see, to acutely observe.

It does not suffice to just "look."

My art took a giant leap forward when I was finally able to focus on fully observing my subject.

To do this, I narrow my field of vision.

I observe all the details of the one section of the subject.

The whole is divided into parts.

What do you need to focus on to really see?

 Willem Claesz Heda   Still-Life with Gilt Goblet   1635  
Oil on panel, 88 x 113 cm  
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Healing Power of Art

I have huge appreciation for the healing power of art.

(Melanie Circle)

How has art "healed" you?



STEEN, JanThe Doctor and His Patient   c. 1660?  
Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm  
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam



Daily Art Quote

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. (Lauren Bacall)



 Samuel van Hoogstraten   Still-Life   1666-68  
Oil on canvas, 63 x 79 cm
   Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe



Daily Art Quote

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' (Theodore Roosevelt)



 Gerrit van Honthorst   Musical Group on a Balcony   1622
   Fresco
   Private collection



Daily Art Quote

Everything worth doing is exhausting. (John Polanyi)

Pieter de Hooch, The Courtyard of a House in Delft  
1658,   Oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm  
National Gallery, London

Daily Art Quote

Art is the window to man's soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within. (Lady Bird Johnson)

Daily Art Quote

Vermeer
Woman with a Pearl Necklace (detail)1662-64
Oil on canvas

To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist.  ~Schumann

Frans Hals - Party Painter?

Known for his energetic Dutch genre paintings, 17th century painter Frans Hals depicted bawdy tavern scenes with a combination of loose brush stokes and economy of detail. The effect is fresh and lively.

The Metropolitan Museum in New York is currently exhibiting a small collection of his work, and you can read more about it here.

Yonker Ramp and his Sweetheart1623

Oil on canvas, 105 x 79 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York