June Greetings Artists and Appreciators,
What’s on my mind? To be able to hear my thoughts would be a bit like watching the crawl at the bottom of the screen on a news channel. Sound bites. Bits of things that don’t relate to each other rapid firing through my consciousness. Some that make my heart race momentarily, some anxious, some angry… I try to exercise my teachings from meditation practice. I allow the thought, then I let it go. Frankly, without this tool, I’m not sure what kind of state I would be in given the world around us.
Since I last wrote, I drove to North Carolina to help my mom settle into a new home. Drove out amidst the varying degrees of fear from state to state, arriving, then hunkering down and stretching my energy and physical ability to its max for six days then drove back. I utilized all my knowledge of how to be patient and respectful, while steeling myself for how things might be since I was last face to face with my family. What I realized quickly is that love always pours freely regardless, of course. But the biggest lesson is that outside of the news cycle, everyone has a story, and its not the same as mine. Everyone has their own fears, and in these times, those fears are amplified as we spend more time with ourselves and less time distracted with our outside activities. Fear is debilitating.
Painting is light. Light is both the goal of the artist, and the affect the work has on others.
I am in the middle of jurying a 76 year old exhibition. As I begin selecting and weeding out, the use and portrayal of light is often my very first impression, right up there with the composition itself. We really do chase the light. We seek it to paint it, and appreciators are affected by it and drawn to it.
Light, I would argue, is the opposite of, and the enemy of fear.
I know when that crawl of noise is parading through my head, the minute I give myself to a blank canvas, my own fears and anxieties disappear. Art is my therapist and my medicine for so much.
But here is the best part… Art IS light. Our job is incredibly important. It isn’t selfish to let go of the troubles of the world and dig in to a new painting. Because once its finished, it gets shared, to family, friends, on facebook, and maybe becomes a light that lives on in someone’s home for the remainder of their lives. That my friends, is the thing that has kept me non-stop throughout these past few months. Knowing that it brings something positive to other people. That is what I can do.
When I packed to visit NC, I packed a favorite painting I had done as a gift to my mom to enjoy in her new space. I also took a painting I did with airplanes on a tarmac in an Asheville sunrise for my Uncle and his wife that are so instrumental in making the move possible. They are both in the airline industry. Relocating is very difficult for all involved. But I can tell you, those two gifts of art, stopped the chaos cold. It moved all the anxieties and fears aside for a time, making room for joy and delight and smiles. Art is a mediator. It transcends things that seemingly are so much bigger than that little expression.
Can you imagine, if all the creatives in the world would apply themselves dutifully to their talent right now? Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I would like to think it may just have the power to keep us from tipping over, or at least to soothe and bring back Beauty and Love if we do.
Be the Light…
Natasha Isenhour
PAPNM-President
PS The Taos Plein Air, Fechin and Blumenschein Online Shows Applications are open now!
Share your LIGHT!!!
